Strong First Quarter Sets Up Aspire For Successful 2017 – An Interview with Jov Spiero / VP Sales

Aspire Global has made a storming start to 2017, with multiple partnerships signed in Q1 alone. Vice president of sales Jov Spiero shares his insights into the latest market trends and how these will influence the company’s growth this year and beyond.

Gaming Intelligence – Q2 2017 issue

Can you summarise Aspire Global’s (ASG) first quarter performance?
I’m delighted to say that we broke all records for signing up new partners in Q1. Customer acquisition was even stronger than anticipated, surpassing the goals we had laid out in an ambitious business plan. We have worked exceptionally hard to spread the word, and it’s gratifying to see our efforts paying off.

More and more companies are now looking to expand their existing businesses through closer cooperation with specialist platform providers. In essence, they want a solution that will provide them with all the services they require in one complete and comprehensive package.

Upgrading their operations in this fashion enables them to keep on doing what they know best – acquiring quality new players – enjoying all the benefits of being brand owners, while eliminating virtually all the operational challenges associated with operating a successful online casino.

ASG’s industry-leading solution, built around our extensive experience and wide-ranging expertise, covers all aspect of CRM, Support and VIP Management, along with vast regulatory knowledge.

In Q1 we continued to invest heavily in our solution, in order to consolidate our industry standing and provide the very best platform in the market to both our existing clients and our new partner operators.

This technological strategy is built around understanding and fulfilling the needs of our partners, enabling them to achieve their full potential, thanks in part to our advanced tools for player analytics and proactive reporting.

We’ve also expanded our casino portfolio with leading games developers Play’n GO, Blueprint, Realistic, ELK and Thunderkick, as we advance towards our goal of offering an industry-leading selection of slots.

Can you explain why increasing numbers of operators are opting for a complete iGaming solution?

There are a number of benefits associated with a complete turnkey solution. First and foremost, it enables operators to focus on marketing, without the overheads associated with CRM, customer support, licensing and regulation.

A solution such as the one offered by ASG makes the whole process far simpler than it has been in the past. Our suite of software and services enables smooth and rapid entry into virtually any market.

There’s no need for an operator to go through the complex and time-consuming process of applying for a licence, the customer support services we provide mean that operators don’t have to go to the trouble of finding premises and multi-lingual staff, while our back office systems deal effortlessly with KYC, AML and fraud detection processes.

Another reason for this trend is the amount of networking that takes place within the iGaming industry. At numerous conferences, expos and events, affiliates and other potential market entrants can easily find out about how their peers have stepped up to become fully fledged operators through choosing a white label solution. It boils down to this: “He did it, so why can’t I?”

You can’t underestimate the sheer prestige of owning your own brand. It opens so many doors, as well as securing ongoing and returning player revenue streams. The bottom line is that a comprehensive solution doesn’t demand an initial investment in infrastructure, dramatically reducing the financial risk for a new operator.

You mentioned a record high in terms of new partnerships – what can you tell us about your new clients and their target audiences?

We’ve recently closed deals with a wide range of key partners, including existing casinos and operators which have decided to broaden their appeal by creating additional brands.

In addition, several companies specialising in online marketing from the wider gaming industry have also come on board, as well as those from different other sectors, which have chosen to leverage the power of their respective brands by providing iGaming products to their audiences.

We’ve also experienced some very pleasant surprises: several well-known gaming companies, which were already operating online casinos have decided to migrate their offerings from other platform providers to our complete solution.

Why do you think so many of these migrations have been happening?

The iGaming industry is continually evolving, and many issues that were relevant a year ago no longer apply. Operators need to constantly keep their ear to the ground in terms of new developments, best practices and regulatory requirements, and I’m glad to say that at ASG, we’re always ahead of the curve in these and other respects.

The stability of our platform is second to none; this is probably the main factor for choosing us over others. Our quality of service and average response times are some of the best in the business and we offer the easiest route to market there is, since we literally take care of everything a new operator needs to get up and running.

I also believe our clients rightly feel that they’re in a true partnership with us. It is something that’s hard to quantify, but it’s always a big part of the feedback we receive.

How do you ensure the success of each new partnership?

It can take time to achieve the ideal working relationship, as trust has to be earned. What I’ve discovered, however, is that our partners quickly come to rely on our insights.

Because of the nature of our business model, we only succeed when our partner does, and our track record with our proprietary brands makes us acutely aware of the needs of all our partners, from reporting and management tools and grade-A content to the drilled-down data that enables our partners to maximize their profits from each traffic source.

Our partners sign up with ASG because of the reputation we’ve earned for driving the success of our clients through our commitment to close collaboration across any and all operational requirements.

What do you predict for Aspire Global over the next few months?

I’m anticipating continued investment in our platform and further additions to our portfolio of gaming providers, allowing us to further improve our unique offering; more partnerships with leading brands from the gaming world and beyond; and ASG’s entry into several newly regulated markets.