Poll results: Unibet should dump Stan James brand

Unibet should retire the Stan James name and re-brand the sportsbook to Unibet, respondents to this week’s eGaming Review poll have said.

Last week, Unibet chief executive Henrik Tj?rnstr?m revealed the firm was leaning towards a global single-brand strategy but at the same time said Stan James had been performing “ahead of expectations” since it acquired the UK bookmaker’s online assets at the end of Q3 2015.

The firm said it would arrive at a final decision on what it will do with the Stan James brand later this year, an admission that prompted EGR to ask readers for their view on which path the operator should take.

And 38% of respondents appeared to agree with Tj?rnstr?m by saying the firm should rebrand Stan James to Unibet in order to focus resources on a single-brand strategy.

And this could well turn out to be the eventual outcome. The Stan James branding on site recently saw the addition of “Part of the Unibet Group”, which some observers consider to be the start of a complete rebranding exercise.

However, 29% felt the Stan James brand was too strong to ditch and said Unibet should keep the name alive in the UK for a dual-brand strategy – something which would enable the firm to cross-sell lapsed customers between brands.

One fifth (21%) of respondents disagreed with the dual-brand UK approach but said the operator should instead rebrand Unibet to Stan James, with the latter thought to have greater resonance with UK punters.

The remaining 12% said Unibet should take the bold step of rebranding to Stan James globally, an outcome which would certainly raise a few eyebrows.