Paddy Power switches to brand-led app marketing
Paddy Power is to transition how it markets its mobile gaming apps within Apple’s App Store to a more brand-led approach in order to improve conversion rates in the ultra-competitive marketplace.
The gambling giant aims to attract iOS users searching for gaming apps using generic terms, such as ‘casino’, by more prominently featuring its gaming brands – which include Paddy Power Vegas and Roller Casino – in its initial results.
Its previous strategy had involved initially displaying screenshots from its game play, but it is now poised to switch to a more brand-led approach after a period of testing, according to Ian MacLeod, Paddy Power, senior marketing manager for its gaming brands.
Speaking today (4 November) at the Mobile Tablet and Gambling Summit in London, Macleod likened the new method of packaging its apps to how production studios presented feature film DVDs.
He said: “For us there’s three areas of search: There’s brand search, there’s paid search, then there’s App Store search.”
Macleod went on to say the company believed the Paddy Power brand, including its brand extensions, were key to differentiating its assets from competitors on the App Store.
“We believe that we’re bringing some of the strongest selling points to the market, including our gameplay,” he added.
During the conference, Macleod also explained to attendees that highlighting Paddy Power’s mobile functionality was now a vital part of its marketing strategy, both online and offline.
He said: “It’s really important to ensure that mobile is prominent on the TV [ads] by having notices like ‘go to the app store’, [and so on].
“We obviously see huge uplifts in the number of mobile searches and downloads whenever we launch campaigns.”
Paddy Power is also focusing on maintaining its “high” retention rates among its iOS audience as more and more gaming apps come on to the market, according to Macleod.
“From a retention point of view, it’s really hard to stay on a user’s screen. If people get bored of an app and stop using it they’ll delete it,” he said.
“That’s not the case with people’s favourites on desktop.”
More than 65 per cent of apps are deleted within three months of being downloaded, according to statistics released by analytics firm Appboy.
Meanwhile, a separate study from fellow analytics firm Flurry reveals that male mobile users are more likely to churn – or be “promiscuous” – to a competitor’s app than female audiences.
