The Stars Group appoints Christopher Coyne to vacant CMO position
Coyne to take up marketing role alongside existing customer-research responsibilities
The Stars Group has appointed Christopher Coyne as its chief marketing officer (CMO), effective immediately, EGR can exclusively reveal.
Coyne, who joined Stars in September as chief customer officer, will retain his existing responsibilities alongside the new marketing role.
The exec previously held the CMO role at Crown before moving to Stars.
He told EGR his priority would be growing the Stars brand from a dominant poker company into a “truly multi-product giant”.
“We have a very successful casino offering but it’s largely been generated by cross-sell,” Coyne said. “The challenge for us is how to reimagine that brand and make it ready for a go-to-market plan which might include more direct marketing.”
“Similarly in sportsbook, it’s a World Cup year and it makes sense to think about how we can make up ground with BetStars. With Andy Lee joining recently the talent there is at an all-time high.
Coyne also suggested he could be looking to expand the Stars marketing department, adding: “It will be about adding to an already strong team with one or two key hires.”
The position of CMO has been empty at Stars for several years, and Coyne said filling the role now demonstrated a renewed focus on growing the brand
“We’ve a world class team at the MD levels and it feels like there’s a strong line-up of talent to generate organic and organic growth in the next 12 and 24 months,” Coyne said. “I can’t wait to get to it.”
The appointment continues the establishment of a top-tier executive team under CEO Rafi Ashkenazi, with Bo Wanghammar, Guy Templer and Robin Chhabra all appointed in the last 18 months.