Genting online MD Jeremy Taylor on the Authentic acquisition and building a digital business from scratch
Taylor discusses the massive growth potential in the Spanish live casino market and managing VIPs
Genting announced in late October it had acquired live casino provider Authentic Gaming from LeoVegas for €15m, a deal the operator said would help it “lead the way in the live casino space”.
The acquisition is the latest part of the casino brand’s efforts to build a digital business under online MD Jeremy Taylor.
EGR caught up with Taylor to discuss the operator’s plans for Authentic and its approach to VIPs in the current market.
EGR Intel: How is Genting different to your previous role at Betsson?
Jeremy Taylor (JT): It’s been immensely busy but very exciting – that’s probably the short answer. It’s totally different from Betsson. Genting is a huge organisation as a whole but as an online entity we’re relatively small and still in our start-up phase, so we can’t really compare to an online giant like Betsson at the moment. That’s where we want to be of course, and that’s my role to get us there. It’s been challenging, because there’s so much to do and so much to improve, but that’s all opportunity, which is why i joined.
EGR Intel: Is it fair to say you were essentially tasked with building the online business from scratch?
JT: There was some form of online operation already in existence, but obviously it’s historically a land-based business and I don’t think there was the online expertise to really take it to the next level, which is why I was asked to come in and drive growth. And to do that you need to get your product sorted, your brand in place, plan your European expansion, make sure you have the team, the office, the licences in place, and that’s just off the top my head. There’s been a lot that’s happened already in 15 months, which we are proud of but there’s still a lot of work to go and to do.
Jeremy Taylor
EGR Intel: What’s the thought behind focusing on the UK and regulated markets at a time when lots of firms are leaving?
JT: The UK market is tough, clearly. For us, it’s about gaining market share from others that already have established bases. We already have our land-based presence there so we have some brand awareness to capitalise on. And now that we’ve got a product and a brand, we can go and spend significantly on marketing to tell those that don’t know that we exist that we do. So that’s a big opportunity still. And then outside of the UK, we’re entering Spain, which is fantastic and diversifies our revenues. Spain has only got live roulette as a live casino proposition at the moment, which I believe will change at some point. We will be looking to launch in in the first half of 2020 with gentingbet.es
EGR Intel: A brand like Genting seems to lend itself to a VIP focus, which is obviously at odds with the way the industry is trending. How do you balance that?
JT: Our brand position is more ‘mass premium’ compared to some of our competitors, and that means that we want all types of customers to come in. It’s not that we are targeting the VIPs per se but they might choose to come into an environment that is a bit more exclusive, no different to a John Lewis shopper. It’s just about giving them that personal treatment, just like in any other industry. If you’re flying first class on an airline, you would naturally get a better experience than if you’re flying in economy. It’s about building customer loyalty and offering them an additional exceptional experience.
EGR Intel: How does the acquisition of Authentic Gaming fit into these online plans?
JT: Authentic will remain as a totally independent B2B business, no different to when LeoVegas owned it. It helps us target this convergence between land-based and tap into our land-based estate. And by having them part of the family, it just means that we’ve got that expertise in-house to work with our land-based casinos and start thinking about new innovative ideas to bring that real-world experience online to the next level.