Q&A: Harry Lang, Pinnacle marketing director

Last week Pinnacle Sports announced a major company rebrand, dropping the ‘Sports’ from its name and unveiling a new logo and website Pinnacle.com

However, the change represented significantly more than a simple face-lift. Behind the scenes, Pinnacle also made major changes to its affiliate programme and is planning big upgrades to its online casino and mobile offering over the coming months.

EGR caught up Pinnacle’s marketing director Harry Lang to find out how the famously low margin sportsbook is turning into a more integrated operator.

eGaming Review (EGR): What was the thinking behind the recent rebrand?

Harry Lang (HL): It was designed to make the brand a bit more contemporary and get consistency across the portfolio. The fact that Pinnacle.com became available was a happy coincidence.

We are a ‘gimmick-free’ business and our new branding reflects that. It’s not necessarily a European-specific focus but I like to think it will help us convert European customers and bettors in regulated markets if and when they come available to us.

EGR: On that note, how is the UK licence application coming along?

HL: The UK market is one of the most highly regarded out of the regulated jurisdictions and you have to do a certain amount of work to be in shape to be awarded a licence. We are ticking off these boxes at present and we have serious intent to get back there.

I know what we can do in the UK with our odds, ‘winners welcome’ policy and high stakes and I’m sure a lot of sportsbooks are worried about how they’ll combat us. There’s no way these guys can match a 2% margin when they’re currently on 7% or more. It’s going to be great fun from a marketing point of view.

We’re in very good shape for that and we’re making sure we do it properly the first time round. I wouldn’t like to commit to a timeline. There’s an intent to have our ducks in a row [to start the application process] by the end of the year, but I wouldn’t like to comment on behalf of the regulator.

EGR: What’s the new affiliate approach and why has it been one of your priorities since joining the business in October last year?

HL: The exciting thing about the affiliate side of things is that we are now going to be offering CPA deals and then adding hybrid deals over the coming month or so.

It’s the first time in our 18-year history that we’ve gone beyond the volume commission and revenue share model. That model meant there were certain affiliates who just couldn’t work with us so it opens up a whole new sphere of opportunity.

We’ve had to do a lot of work to come up with a deal structure that works for us because our model is so unique with such small margins, that we can’t just replicate what Hills, 365, Paddys and the like are doing.

In the long term that’s going to differentiate us but in the short term we’ve had to look at the data to work out a deal that is appealing for the affiliate and doesn’t cut off our nose to spite our face.

The actual number changes with every phone call we have of course but I’d say we are at the upper end of the market average.

It’s good in the long-term for us because it means one upfront cost rather than the revenue share deal where you pay a percent of your net gaming revenue.

The rev share is the more risk averse approach because you don’t pay unless you get a good player, but if you get a huge whale, which is the type of player we do attract because of our product, then you’re still paying a percentage of NGR in two years’ time. No one is necessarily complaining because you’re still doing well, but the lifetime cost of that could be thousands and thousands compared to a one off payment of $150 or thereabouts.

EGR: What has happened to your mobile staking since the introduction of the Pinnacle Lite app?

HL: We were a little bit late to the party with our native app but it’s been hugely popular, although the player values tend to be a little bit skinnier. We have significant plans beyond our native app in Pinnacle Lite – for example we’re planning to have a bells and whistles mobile product, which is in planning stages now but it’s a big project.

We are aiming loosely for Q4 which would tie in nicely with a UK license application, but as I’ve learned with mobile projects, you don’t give an end date, because it’s always evolving.

EGR: How are you improving your online casino?

HL: We have plans to become a more integrated operator and that means investing in our casino product. By next year I’d hope our casino will be world leading. We’ve expanded the games and done some UX optimisation and we’re now in talks with providers for new games across our desktop, mobile and live casino platforms.

Another key thing will be how we promote that. We as a business don’t do bonusing because our sports model doesn’t allow us to. However it’s obvious that if you don’t offer bonusing on casino you might as well give up, so that will be part of our plan going forward.