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European smartphones & Internet Lottery Game Review

 

European smartphones & Internet Lottery Game Review

 

With the amazing growth of smartphones, mobile technology is now ubiquitous and global. It’s everywhere in our lives. The mobile device has become a true communication tool to surf the Web, manage emails or follow leads on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Foursquare for instance. Our mobile phone is like a personal assistant, giving us the possibility to shop, find deals, discover new itineraries or data on companies or professionals… and the list of services keeps growing as more apps are being added.

 

We have become connected cultures. In the UK, according to Nielsen, a measurement and information agency, smartphone ownership was about 61% in Q1 2012 and every day, mobile users access social networks on their phones while getting engaged in different ways to upload photos, read messages, browse profiles, post blogs or play online games. Mobile is a global phenomenon and mobile apps are revolutionizing consumers’ behavior. App revenues have grown at an almost 130 percent compound annual growth rate since 2008. According to the app analytics company Flurry, mobile app consumption has exploded and these mobile apps are now challenging television – a fact that is indeed supported by a slowing down in TV manufacturing around the globe. Simon Khalaf, Chief Executive at Flurry, told attendees at the January Flurry Source 13 Conference in San Francisco: “if your company hasn’t gotten on board the mobile bandwagon , then you’re pretty late.” His company’s surveys show that social networks such as Facebook account for 47 percent of time spent in mobile social apps; for media and entertainment apps, prime time mirrors the prime time for television viewing in the early evening. These numbers are pretty indicative of the mobile success.

 

Mobile apps in particular are disrupting – positively - the way we communicate, we conduct business, we organize our daily chores and we play. Retailers have taken note of that shift and are beginning to better address that new mobile app economy: mobile devices are always on, always connected and retail apps can serve as virtual, portable showrooms that consumers can use to shop anytime, anywhere. Mobile is enabling interaction with consumers on a personal level, providing retailers and brands with new digital sale opportunities.

 

This has become the perfect channel to reach the new population of social/mobile gamers. The demographics speak for themselves, according to SponsorPay, a value-exchange advertising platform providing high-quality brand engagement. In the UK, statistics show that there were only 5 million social gamers in 2000 but the numbers exploded in 2008; then mobile gaming appeared, bringing the numbers of social gamers at 20 million in 2011. A year later that number jumped to 34 million gamers – a 70% growth since 2000: quite remarkable! Also particularly interesting, indicates SponsorPay, is the fact that 45% of app sessions on smartphone are games. In actual demographics, women surpass slightly men in social gaming (54% women, 46% men) and in mobile games (53% for women, 47% for men.) In terms of mobile games, the largest group is the 25-34-year-old range, while social games are more evenly split between 35-44-year-olds and 45-54-year-olds. SponsorPlay took a look at different analytics from companies such as Nielsen, Newzoo, PopCap and AppStats, about who plays the more popular social mobile games:

 

 • Over half of Zynga’s Texas Holdem Poker’s players are older than 26 and 75% of users are male.

• Zynga’s FarmVille 2 attracts 68% of female players with 80% of users older than 25.

• Candy Crush Saga registers the highest percentage of female players: 72% with 66% over 26-years old.

• But Angry Birds Star Wars has 60% of its players above the age of 25 and 50% of users are men.

 

Virtual games only offer virtual rewards, but mobile has made playing a lot more fun. Now, gaming companies are trying to find a way to monetize these fun virtual games, and it was just a question of time before social-media game creators – Zynga, one of the best known names in that industry, Electronics, King.com, Rovio and others – tried their hands at social online betting games. Early this year, Zynga is planning to launch a betting game for the UK market only. Facebook is already offering online gambling to British users with its Jackpotjoy game. And in the US, different states such as Nevada and Delaware are making online gambling legal. Classic gaming companies (PC/Consoles-based games), Web gaming, social gaming and now mobile gaming companies are all fighting for a share of the market but the competition is about to heat up fast thanks to mobile apps. Lotteries cannot afford to ignore a platform that might take a big bite at their own market. Mobile is the gaming ecosystem of the future.

 

 

mobile strategy for lotteries

 

Lotteries, involved in mobile operations, have done so mainly driven by the level of connectivity of their audience. In Sweden, Svenska Spel, with a long tradition of leading digital gaming operations – started as early as 2005 with the launch of a Java app for its lottery games and sports betting – has seen the huge potential of mobile applications. Mobile phone penetration in Sweden has one of the highest levels in the world and with the launch in 2008 of the iPhone, smartphone penetration rate is almost at 100% in this country: a number that will no doubt influence mobile commerce and that will revolutionize the online gaming market – a reason why Svenska Spel has adopted an app solution on iPhone and mobile Web platforms in 2010 and on Android in 2011.

 

The same goes for other organizations such as Tipos in Slovakia that has been offering since 2007 free mobile apps for its authorized games on Apple and Android and soon on Windows Mobile. The evolution of consumption usage via mobile requires offers in real time and easily accessible, and the new priorities with players preferring to engage with a wide range of services on their cell phone have convinced Tipos to launch new game formats. A lot of Lotteries see the added value of mobile gaming applications and have invested in this business model, as explained by Camelot and La Française des Jeux in articles published in this issue.

 

 

Key quality of mobile games: a memorable experience

 

Customer Relations are facing a serious upheaval because of the viral factor of mobile environment and Lotteries in Europe see a necessity of improving the service aspect of mobile offers much more than the product itself. In addition to stand out against the current flurry of mobile applications, a lottery gaming app must provide an amazing experience to drive players to favor it instead of other operators’ apps or even social games. With the mobile gaming market becoming more competitive, it is essential for the actors to be different.

 

In Croatia, Hrvatska Lutrija, in cooperation with iON Studio has developed a unique and innovative mobile application that allows players to track sport events results. The application, Score Alarm HL, enables the player to scan his ticket, store it in the application, thus activating the live score functionality. The player can then select a set of alarms to stay informed of any major changes of the events via push notifications. The application was released on AppStore without advertising and registered in just three days almost 1,000 downloads, more than 6,000 openings and 160 scanned tickets. Given the size of the Croatian market and the iPhone penetration, these figures demonstrate the potential of this solution. Hrvatska Lutrija, that is facing a lot of competition, expects rapid growth sustained by an increased engagement from new users, and a competitive advantage. Android version of Score Alarm HL is being offered on the market since March. Sports fans as well as lottery players will be inter- ested by this mobile app that will let them track live results of their preferred sport games and that represents a new promotional channel for the lottery brand on a new platform.

 

De Lotto in the Netherlands has the flexibility to add new functionalities to its sport betting Toto applications, without having to download updates on iTunes in the App Store. De Lotto knows perfectly that an easy access to gaming apps and a pleasant user’s experience are key to the success of mobile marketing. To that effect, the Lottery also offers free apps, with no advertising and no videos or other disruptions. The Swiss Loterie Romande proposes apps for checking results and playing the EuroMillions and the Swiss Lotto via texting. Downloading the app is free, but true to its responsible game policy, Loterie Romande puts its mobile offers through the same identity controls as for its Internet games, requiring players to open an account with “jeux. loto.ch” online platform. The latest developments have been new games proposed in HTML5.

 

Engagement factors

 

Svenska Spel has set up a dedicated CRM program for players on mobile devices. This is how the Lottery can evaluate consumption usage, best entertaining features and preferred games. Nonetheless the basic principle for a mobile game is to be quick and easy. The Swedish Lottery, by ways of new rewards, tries to encourage increased interaction, which has led the organization to create an absolute bridge between all its game platforms including Facebook, website, mobile apps, etc. The player’s experience remains the same whichever platform is used.

 

Additionally Svenska Spel plays on tested advantages by having appointed ambassadors on social media to talk about the winners, the results or to give tips on betting; by having created fan pages on Facebook for its most popular brands. There is continuity throughout the game offers, seamlessly accessible. Another key advantage is that the Lottery can identify the various segments of its customers and optimize all of its distribution channels.

 

In Slovenia, Športna Loterija has also be making use of a dedicated survey to gain a better idea of the different segments of mobile players: a certain amount of smartphones were given to a group of players in order to follow their purchase behaviors, their experiences with mobile payments and to get their recommendations and wishes for necessary improvements.

 

 

The brand on mobile platform

 

Mobile performance in terms of engagement is no longer questionable, but mobile apps – especially applied to gaming – are far from being a viable economic solution. The security of mobile transactions still needs to be optimized and once this objective is achieved, then mobile gaming moneti- zation will be possible. A lot of Lotteries are following closely a market in rapid evolution - the tablets, which are considered more adequate to games and future mobile payments.

 

The ROI of the mobile economy is slowly improving. For Loterie Romande, the Internet turnover represents about 7% of the total turnover but only 1% of Internet sales is attributed to the mobile apps turnover. Svenska Spel uses advertising in the form of displays and this type of promotion has been particularly successful for the brand. The Swedish Lottery has noticed as well the central role of mobile in rejuvenating the brand and acquiring new customers for example by up-selling on some sport products through smartphone interaction. In Slovenia, the Lottery has invested tens of thousands of Euros to realize its conversion to a mobile platform and in less than 6 years, its mobile turnover is about 3 Million Euros. Lotteries make use of all kind of features to develop their mobile gaming services: QR codes, message banners, mobile games presentation on web pages, announcements at POS, presenting as well a more modern image and an adaptation to new consumption usages.

 

In Germany, the mobile course is a little different, as Internet games have just been authorized. For now, mobile will be used for service apps to facilitate online registration or track games or sport betting results.

 

In 2010, LOTTO Hamburg already experienced success with its “Wincheck App” on iPhones and this year, it will launch a new presence on mobile Internet. Currently, lottery tickets offered on its website are programmed in HTML in order for them to be accessible on mobile devices. The Lottery website is also betting on Responsive Design to guarantee an adaptation to the resolution of smartphones, tablets, classic computers or even interactive TV.

 

Saarland Sporttoto is getting ready to launch a mobile Internet site as well as a free gaming application, more likely in conjunction with other German Lotteries. The Lottery hopes to create a new loyalty channel for the brand by engaging players even more with mobile devices.

 

The same goes for Lotto-Toto Sachsen-Anhalt that is opening up to the online and mobile gaming market by ways of a limited presence on mobile Internet.

 

In a first round, Staatliche Toto-Lotto will focus on “Internet Games” that will be available to all mobile devices enabled with Web functionality.

 

Equally, NordwestLotto Schleswig- Holstein will offer its games on many supports: Internet, iPhones, smartphones, iPads and other tablets.

 

Toto-Lotto Niedersachsen, like the other German Lotteries, will first offer its games on a new mobile Internet platform rather than on apps, due to legal limitations. However elements of its Web concept will integrate with the mobile version to provide players with a homogeneous gaming environment.

 

For GKL, that offers SKL and NKL game mix, the purely mobile approach is not yet possible and therefore the mobile offer will be done via its mobile website. The next step will be to improve the presentation of content on its mobile Internet pages by including videos of its strongest brands’ drawing events.

 

The future

 

Integrating a mobile offer with a gaming strategy simply means that you have to listen to the public and this will only strengthen the reputation of all game brands being offered across platforms from physical networks to virtual environments. As indicated by all European Lotteries, in order to avoid becoming obsolete, a Lottery must respond to the sector’s evolution and above all engage a new player generation hooked on interactive devices. It will take a while for lottery games and the mobile ecosystem to achieve a successful and profitable convergence, but this is an essential step in a growth strategy. Taking a look at the mobile social gaming groups such as Zynga, we can see that the potential of gaming offers is real but progress can be difficult. Social games register great success, but continuity is rare. However, due to their long established business model, Lotteries are planning greater development of mobile games because this is a platform where player interaction can be easy, entertaining, social and personal: exactly what the mobile user looks for in applications.