In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Stephanie Tower, Hai Ng of Neomancer LLC & Spawn Point Pte. Ltd. explains how gambling operators can successfully integrate eSports in their business.
Millennials are considered the Holy Grail in marketing for any industry in recent years. This tech-savvy generation may have greater purchasing power compared to the baby boomers and Gen X, but they are also the demographic that can be hardest to please.
For one, millennials make decisions based on their beliefs and values. Growing up during the recession also plays a critical role on why they’ve become so averse to brand loyalty. On the flip side, millennials are considered impressionable. It means companies may be able to gain this market’s loyalty by advocating their beliefs and values.
In the gambling sector, most operators look at eSports as a tool to lure the millennial crowd, according to Hai Ng of Neomancer LLC & Spawn Point Pte. Ltd.
“Right now, eSports is a hot topic. Everybody is looking at it as a way for casinos and land-based operators, and also online operators to try and get the new millennial crowd. That’s the Holy Grail in marketing these days for any industry,” Ng told CalvinAyre.com. “The interesting thing about eSports is that it is such a niche, it has been in the culture for so long that mainstream business doesn’t really quite understand the people who operate in it, the players, the team, and all of that.”
However, integrating eSports into the gaming industry is easier said than done. Ng pointed out that the problem lies with operators trying to translate another company’s success rather than adapting eSports itself.
The Neomancer executive advised gambling operators to start understanding what eSports is really about since each game and community are different, although there’s no need for operators to know how to play eSports.
“I think the important thing is finding somebody who understands it and not just saying ‘it looks interesting from the outside.’ I think, because it’s been a subculture for so long, it is not transparent. It looks transparent,” Ng said. “The best analogy I could say is, it’s not like looking through a window. It is like looking through an aquarium. So, it always good to get an understanding. And it is very easy to just reach out and talk to people who know the business and who are truly in the business who do play or have been involved in the business.”
