On January 6, LeoVegas AB confirmed that they have appointed Johan Rikner to head their digital marketing department. This is a key move in the restructuring of the marketing leadership at the Stockholm listed company.
Naming Rikner is the first in an overall strategy to restructure the marketing team. He was the founder of Nyheter365 (‘News365’), a Scandinavian based press advertising publishing company, which he sold in 2017. However, he remained on in the company as their Chief Digital Officer through 2019.
He played a key role in Nyheter365’s growth and strategies toward improving their overall viability, a role where he proved to thrive in helping his former company.
While not active in the gambling industry for quite some time, Rikner still comes to LeoVegas with an abundance of experience. From 2008 through 2011 he served as the Swedish Country Manager for European online sportsbook Bwin.
However, this new role is going to be quite a challenge. There is far more regulation involved in the gambling industry then there was when the new director first got involved in the industry back in 2008. Much of this is geared directly towards marketing and advertising, where companies are required to navigate through a myriad of regulations and requirements to be able to operate within the European markets.
This will be where Rikner will face a steep learning curve. He must ensure that he is abiding by all individual regulations from countries where LeoVegas does business, as well as meet the guidelines of the European Union related to marketing and advertising
However, Rikner does not appear to be worried about the new challenges. In fact, he is looking forward to helping his new company reach greater heights. “Its super exciting. I really like LeoVega’s culture and that there is such a consistent commitment to being data-driven. In fact, it is reminiscent of how we did it at News365.I have some experience in building a data-driven organization and I hope to use it to help LeoVegas not only be King of Casino but also King of Digital Marketing.”
LeoVegas is coming off a very successful year. In December 2019 they were named as the Casino Operator of the Year and the Innovation in Casino Entertainment award winner at the SBC Awards in London.
The Sports Betting Community Awards (SBC Awards) recognizes the overall achievements of operators and affiliates across all of the major disciplines within the gambling industry.
