Celebrity endorsements are a key digital marketing trend in the soccer gambling world — and have been for several years. Former Premier League and England star and prolific goalscorer Peter Crouch fronted a number of ads for betting provider Paddy Power during Euro 2020, while the legendary Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has served as a brand ambassador for BetHard.
However, online gambling is changing in 2022, and the modern industry requires a more forward-thinking approach. This is perhaps the thinking behind a new marketing campaign from Sportsbet.io as it unleashes a previously unseen asset in the digital marketing toolkit – the celebrity hologram.
New Technology Developed by Sportsbet.io’s Partners
Sportsbet.io’s partner 2mee developed the technology, which replaces standard notification messages with hologram ambassadors delivered directly to the user’s smartphone or computer device. According to Sportsbet.io’s Head of Sportsbook Joe McCallum, the idea is to “bring Sportsbet.io ambassadors to life for our users around the world.”
Still in its relative infancy, the concept is being trialed as part of the company’s digital marketing approach. If the trial proves to be a success, people can expect to see this kind of digital promotion grow in popularity in the coming months and years as rival companies seek to provide holographic versions of their own ambassador partners to their users.
An Interesting Roster of Brand Ambassadors on Customer Smartphone and Computer Devices
During this trial, users of Sportsbet.io will receive communications from holograms of some of the company’s existing brand ambassadors, many of whom will be particularly impressive to soccer fans of a certain age. One such ambassador is Denilson — the Brazilian who became the most expensive player in the world when he transferred from hometown club Sao Paulo to Real Betis in 1998 and won the World Cup four years later. Other ambassadors include Arsenal fan favorite Ray Parlour and Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier, who achieved 800 games in the English top-flight between them.
There are also ambassadors from outside of soccer, reflecting some of Sportsbet.io’s other online gambling markets. Record-breaking cricketer Brett Lee became famous for his five-wicket hauls while playing for Australia in the late 1990s and early 2000s, while Baruto Kaito, also known as Kaido Höövelson, was a championship-winning sumo wrestler during his own sporting career. Both men will feature in this phase of Sportsbet.io’s campaign.
A Developing Trend for Online Gambling in 2022
How successful the trial of this new technology will be for Sportsbet.io remains to be seen, but it does represent an interesting online gambling trend for 2022 and beyond. Sports betting providers are seeking ways to enhance and augment the experience for their customers, bringing their clients closer to the action by going above and beyond traditional forms of communication and messaging. With artificial intelligence and other smart tech already influencing online gambling in 2022, it’s no surprise that providers now want to take this a step further with holographic brand ambassadors.
