SUZOHAPP: "We're entering the next step in the evolution of US sports betting and retail has a big part in it"

In this exclusive video interview with Yogonet, Tiffany Sadler, Marketing Director at SUZOHAPP, shares insights on how the company innovates in the gaming space and the keys to effectively communicating its products to the manufacturer's growing network of clients. Moreover, Sadler delves into the opportunities offered by retail sports betting and discusses how the vertical has evolved in the US.

Can you provide us with a brief overview of your work as director of marketing for SUZOHAPP? What are the keys to communicating the company's products, which might be complex on a technical level?

I am the director of marketing, but that essentially means that I'm currently the head of marketing, product and engineering. I look at all of our products, from R&D and engineering, all the way through marketing and campaigns and our go-to-market strategy.

As for the products, we are a niche market within the industry, only focusing on hardware. For that reason, we need to communicate to our customers the value of these solutions, and that comes back to what they are trying to achieve.

Rather than inundating our customers with the technical aspects or trying to get them to understand something very quickly, it's important to show them that we align with their values. The focus is on keeping the message simple and showing them that we have products that are fit for their goals.

What are the strategies SUZOHAPP employs when expanding into new verticals, such as sports betting and lottery, or entering new jurisdictions?

The industry and SUZOHAPP have seen the emergence of multiple new verticals over the past few years. We have what I would call a multi-pronged approach.

The first piece is research; learning what the customers and the end users want in the vertical, and understanding what are the needs of operators and manufacturers. We make sure to know as much as we possibly can about the entire life cycle of a market, from each little component that is a part of it. 

Then we take our gaming knowledge and look at how the industries can meld together, and how we can translate the expertise that we have in gaming to best practices and thought leadership that would apply to a new vertical. SUZOHAPP has been in the industry for over 30 years, so our team has plenty of experience in gaming.

For example, sports betting has a lot of the same elements as traditional gaming, especially when you're looking at the retail side of it. We look at how can we approach sports betting with a gaming mentality, taking those best practices and learnings from years of experience in the gaming industry, and applying them to a new industry. We help newcomers skip the difficult learnings and elements to make the industry successful at a faster pace. 

How do you make sure that partners and stakeholders are educated on the company's latest offerings in these verticals?

In terms of getting our customers aware of our products and making sure that they know what's coming down the pipeline, it's all about presence and education.

We're constantly looking at how we can help educate our customer base and the end user, either through editorials or through panels at certain events, especially at trade shows. We participate in about 15 trade shows globally on an annual basis. 

Then we have our social media channels and outreach through trade publications. We do a lot of participation across the industry in every single way to help educate our customers.

SUZOHAPP's stand at ICE earlier in the year

Speaking of events, SUZOHAPP participated in the SBC North America Summit last month. How important are trade shows like this one for the company?

For us, events are extremely important. Given that we are a hardware company at heart, our customers want to be able to touch our products. They want to be able to see, look, and feel how our products are going to work. "What sort of size is it? What does it look like? What does it feel like? How heavy is it?" – There are certain things that just can't be translated with an online photograph, or even with a video.

When we showcase our products at trade shows, it gives them such a big impact, especially as a lot of these shows have attendees that are from a global footprint. The ability to showcase our product live for a wide audience allows us to translate the nuances of these products into something visual and physical.

As you mentioned, we did just participate in the SBC North American Summit. It looks like there are going to be some changes over the next few years with the locations of key events such as ICE, but SUZOHAPP will be there. We're very excited for our next show at G2E. We will be bringing new products to the show.

Moving our attention to trends in the gambling sector, online sports betting has become a huge topic in North America. However, SUZOHAPP is a firm believer that retail can play a key role in helping evolve the industry. Why is that?

The industry of sports betting in the US sort of evolved in an opposite way to how it did in Europe. In Europe, it was a retail sports betting market at first, and then a lot of growth happened online over time, especially as a result of the pandemic. But because sports betting emerged in the US and was legalized in multiple jurisdictions during the pandemic, it almost had a flip approach.

There's a real opportunity for growth within the industry now that most jurisdictions that potentially will open have already opened. The way to grow those markets is to invest and look at how to create an immersive experience in retail. People want to be back in social atmospheres. When you think of the best time to place a sports bet, it's centered around watching a game, and you do that in a social atmosphere with your friends. It's inherently social. And that requires a retail-supported environment. 

We believe that by having the right products in the right avenues, where people can watch the game and take advantage of things like in-play betting, there's a huge opportunity for growth. In Europe, for example, roughly 75% of sports bets are done for in-play betting rather than preemptively ahead of the game. In the US, that's the opposite. There's so much opportunity for growth and additional revenue in the US.

SUZOHAPP terminals for partner Fanatics Sportsbook

These discussions surrounding US sports betting come as we enter more than five years since the door was opened for legalization on a state-by-state basis. What are some of the main challenges and opportunities that you see ahead, now that we leave an initial period marked by speed to market and enter consolidation?

I think there's a lot of potential. When we look at the US market, it's very fragmented. You have jurisdictions that are led by tribal entities, others that are led by government entities... It's such a dynamic market, and almost somewhat volatile in that it can change from state to state very drastically. 

When we entered this market, and by "we" I mean when the US entered sports betting as an industry, the speed to market was essential. It was approached with how quickly and who can get there first – having that first-player advantage was huge. Now we're starting to get to what I would call the first turn, where operators and platforms are evaluating what's their next step. "How do we evolve? What's our version two for any sort of jurisdiction?"

That is a more focused approach. It will be more careful and intentional rather than simply just trying to be the first one in. We'll see a lot of evolution in the customer experience, whether that includes more micro-betting or more specific event-tailored localization. There's been a lot of new developments that we've seen show after show, but how those pieces get integrated into the mass market has yet to develop. 

There's a lot of opportunity for that user experience and growth, and overall just making it a solid and consistent experience across the board. We're excited about that next step in the evolution of sports betting, and we think that retail has a big part in it.

As July begins, we wave goodbye to the first half of the year. What are some highlights of 2024 or SUZOHAPP thus far, and what should we expect from the company over the upcoming six-month period?

A highlight thus far was that we had a phenomenal ICE, which kicked our year off strong. We had a new design for our booth and launched quite a few new products, along with our SUZOHAPP marketplace, which we offer to operators and OEMs in the industry who are looking to offload their overstocked products to other industry players through us.

Through the marketplace, we're able to facilitate a sale that maybe they wouldn't be able to, so for operators or manufacturers that have that overstocked product we can be a helpful source to help keep their costs low or mitigate costs of things that they've already purchased by transferring that cost downwards.

As we move towards the second half of the year, looking at G2E, we have a few new partnerships that we're launching and we're very excited about. We also have new products that are going to be showcased with them. Be sure to stay tuned and come visit us at G2E, as there'll be a lot to see at the SUZOHAPP booth.