NEW COMPETITIVE CHALLENGES IN THE GAMING MARKET

Background

The Swedish gambling- and lottery market is regulated by the Swedish government. Only three forms of large-scale gambling are allowed under Swedish law: horse racing (via ATG), betting (via Svenska Spel), and lotteries (via the national movement). The emergence of foreign-based internet gaming sites in recent years has disrupted the once conservative and predictable Swedish gambling market. Competition for the Swedish gambling consumer has increased severely.

ATG`s Challenge

To succeed in an increasingly competitive environment, ATG needed to:

• Identify market segments with the biggest potential for profitable growth
• Identify and get an in-depth understanding of the underlying drivers for selected target groups
• Get insights into how ATG is perceived by consumers and understand which market positions would maximize ATG’s revenue
• Understand which strategy ATG should choose to attain its desired position in the gambling market
• Ensure implementation and success of the chosen strategy across the ATG organization and marketing mix

The LynxEye Solution

Segmentation and target group selection. We first helped ATG to update their consumer segmentation model based on a thorough understanding of underlying consumer drivers. This resulted in a clear choice of primary- and secondary target groups for ATG.

Brand Strategy. Based on quantitative and qualitative research of the chosen target segments, LynxEye helped ATG to create a consumer driven brand strategy which clearly establishes ATG`s strategic brand benefit versus competition. At the heart of this brand strategy is a Core Target Insight that reflects a “secret” about the motivators of ATG’s target consumers – a fundamental secret that ATG’s competitors don’t know, and that gives ATG a distinct advantage for years to come. ATG now has a clear direction for its brand – a direction that the new target groups describe as desirable, ownable over time, and distinct compared to competition.

Implementation of the brand strategy. LynxEye helped ATG brand managers build support and excitement for the new brand strategy by involving key ATG stakeholders throughout the process. We held a series of implementation planning workshops to identify and quantify the gaps between the desired position and ATG`s current position (using LynxEye’s Brand Voyage tool). In these workshops we examined gaps not only from the target groups’ perspective, but also from an operational and corporate strategic perspective. The entire organization involved itself in critical decisions around which strategies, tactics and activities should be kept and which should be adjusted so that ATG could deliver on the selected brand strategy. This effort produced a clear, prioritized change plan.

Results

In 2007, ATG achieved its highest turnover in ten years
ATG has become a more market oriented and consumer driven organization and is therefore better equipped for the increasingly fierce competition in the gambling market
Target group selection and brand strategy have been integrated successfully in ATG`s decision making processes and form the basis for all communication, product development and distribution
An enhanced process for following up on ATG`s market activities thanks to an effective tracking tool