Q&A: SKS365 CMO on its new brand image and Italy’s ad ban

EGR Intel: Why did you decide to make user protection the core principle of your new brand image?

Francesco Gaziano (FG): Responsibility and user protection have been our values even before our new brand image. We decided to make this bond more tangible with this restyling. The new brand image aims to convey the idea of a new planet even more clearly, but the customer is always at the center.

EGR Intel: Does this messaging reflect the fact you are worried about the black market after the advertising ban?

FG: Our brand messaging has always been focused on pure entertainment, safety and responsible gaming, as it reflects our values. Obviously we are aware that the ban could give power to the black market. The ban against advertising also stops us informing users about who is legal and who isn’t, and, above all, about the risks that lie behind illegal gaming.

EGR Intel: It looks like you have evolved your RG and compliance procedures to match the new brand image – is that correct?

FG: Yes. These are just some compliance levers we are working on. We have already developed our structured Compliance Department, through a team of dedicated inspectors engaged in the on-site verification of of all our retail network. Furthermore, at the beginning of the year we signed a partnership with Featurespace, which made its Fraud Hub ‘ARIC’, an Adaptive Behavioural Analytics algorithm capable of analyzing suspicious behavior in real time online cash flows: now we have an anti-fraud/anti-money laundering platform available to Planetwin365. We are also working on a self-regulation code which will provide, among other things, the protection of privacy and attention to under 18s (granted by a special navigation control software).

EGR Intel: You are currently the second largest betting brand in the market – do you expect that to change with the advent of the ad ban?

FG: We are not scared about the ban consequences, we will go on respecting rules as we always do, hoping that the government will return to seeing operators as partners in the sector. Our aim is to consolidate our market leadership through our cornerstones: innovation, responsibility and compliance. Thanks to our strong retail network, thanks to an improved betting and gaming offering, thanks to a renewed mobile experience we firmly believe that this will be a growth year for SKS and its Planetwin365 brand, even without any major summer competition.

Francesco Gaziano, CMO & Country Manager Italia SKS365