Technology is constantly changing iGaming – but the industry may need to change its approach to marketing to make the most of the opportunities created by the latest touchscreen technology. Mark McGuinness, iGaming Futurologist for leading Isle of Man marketing and communications agency MM&C, explains.
Today it is hard to imagine how we managed to get through our daily lives without smartphone and tablet devices. Touchscreens are everywhere and for some, specifically the under 20 year old generation, touchscreen technology is the norm in how they communicate with the world around them.
This fact presents a challenge to traditional approaches to marketing which have long been based on socioeconomic groups defined by the occupation of the head of the household. Essentially this model is designed to forecast the behaviour patterns of socioeconomic groups and assumes that broadly speaking their income and social class means that they will react in a similar way to the same stimuli.
Many businesses still use this model or variations of it, but some marketers now feel that it’s well past it’s sell by date – especially in view of how technology has transformed every aspect of modern society, and because its availability cuts across economic and social barriers. A new approach which may be able to more accurately predict the behaviour patterns of social groups is based around the concepts of ‘social constructs’ or ‘social constructions’. This model focuses on how individuals and groups interact with technology and how it is used socially – for example, smartphones and how they are used to access Twitter.
In the context of iGaming, marketers need to define the tech savvy generation of 16 to 19-year-olds as the ‘Touchscreen Generation’ rather than defining them in terms of social class or income. This group could be the new gamers, sports bettors, and casino players that all iGaming businesses are looking for. You will note I say ‘could be’ – that’s because I feel the current mobile or gambling apps available are more about the delivery channel and serving the current customer, rather than about attracting this new generation of potential customers. Touchscreen transactions are already huge in retail with many consumers expecting to use touch enabled devices in the purchasing process.
But many gaming businesses are just focusing on touchscreen devices as being one of many delivery channels, and ignoring the customer experience of the ‘Touchscreen Generation’ which has grown up with motion control and other forms of touchscreen interaction.
The Microsoft Surface Pro, for example, is already taking touch, tap, and swipe commands to new levels of interaction – but yet we’ve to see a gaming or gambling product experience designed to unleash the Surface Pro’s awesome capabilities. Then there’s 3D ‘haptic’ touch technology which allows users to push around 3D objects in a virtual workspace, and which is already popular in virtual reality. Apple has already filed a patent for haptic feedback for its iOS touchscreen devices. This opens up the scenario of playing roulette online and being able to ‘feel’ chips as you pick them up and place your bet – but this is just one of many amazing possibilities for iGaming.
As touch technology becomes ingrained in our neural pathways it will become the standard way to interact both socially and commercially. Too many within the iGaming sector are still trying to figure out how to target the ‘Millennials’ with gaming products and services in what can only be described as saturated markets. In fact, what they really need to be thinking about, is the ‘Touchscreen Generation’ and using the amazing advances in touch technology to design experiences and gaming pathways specifically for them. Touchscreen technology is developing so fast that gaming companies which fail to embrace it will be missing out on what is potentially a huge market.
Photo - Mark McGuinness, iGaming Futurologist for leading Isle of Man marketing and communications agency MM&C.
