GMB - Tell us a little about the trajectory of End To End, the market in which it operates and the customers it serves…
Reginaldo Diniz - We are a business intelligence and solution architecture company that works with a focus on strengthening and enhancing the relationship between fans and the football club, through the activation and conversion to the partner-supporter and sports consumers programs in general. We are a multidisciplinary team with expertise in digital marketing, B2C and B2B customer management, omnichannel service technologies, systems integration, consultancy and customer portfolio management. Today we serve clubs such as Palmeiras, Ceará Sporting Club, Clube Atlético Mineiro and Clube de Regatas do Flamengo. For each club we have different or complete full service services for member-supporters.
How did the company face the problems generated by the COVID-19 pandemic? How has the crisis affected the daily work?
The crisis affected us like most companies inside and outside the segment. However, we have made some decisions that define us, and we are managing to apply them. The most important is that we do not dismiss any professional from the team, we do not apply proportional reductions in remuneration that we had from our contractors and we expand the workforce. The second issue was to maintain, even in the home office, the entire team acting strongly in the management of what we call the value chain in new initiatives for retaining and expanding the club's member bases, even without games and ticket sales. Our widely reported initiatives and cases such as Ceará, Palmeiras and Atlético have served and still serve as inspiration for other clubs in Brazil.
Speaking directly of sports betting, have you followed its regulation process? How do you see the first minutes delivered by the Ministry of Economy so far?
The minutes point to a safe path for the betting market. The provisions on advertising and prevention of money laundering give the sector credibility to the public. There is one point or another that needs to be worked on more, such as the bidding model. But I believe that this is something that the ministry and sector will quickly find an understanding.
As a first effect of the new law and regulatory process, we had the arrival of brands from betting sites as sponsors, mainly in football. What is your assessment of this phenomenon and what possibilities does it open for the sector?
Club sponsorships are very important for the industry and for teams. First, to break down any resistance that may happen to the public that is not used to the market. And, in a second moment, to show fans that the companies are partners of his great passion, even more in a difficult moment like the pandemic. It is necessary to activate sponsorship even more, create customized products for each type of supporter. But it will certainly happen in the near future.
Many betting companies have also invested in marketing actions with athletes and influencers as ambassadors. As a company that monitors reactions of behavior and consumer interest, do you already see any acceptance or rejection of bookmakers among fans in Brazil?
Today the perception is that there is no strong rejection among football fans, but I believe that more because of the association of companies with clubs than with athletes. I remember SportingBet's first advertisements with Paulinho, Verdum and Edmundo, for example. It was a good gateway. But the fact that a Sportsbet.io, a NetBet or Betsul, for example, print a shirt that fans can wear, helps a lot to make the brand more familiar to them.
One of the company's services is the implementation of digital platforms and channels for Partner-Supporter programs. Do you believe that this service can also be used by sports betting operators? What will be the benefits for them?
I have no doubt that it is. Serving the customer should be the main attribute of a company that wants to make consumers loyal to their brand. The advantage is that football has a tripod unmatched by any market. The fan is a client dressed in passion and will always be loyal to the team, invariably loyal even in times of defeat and always decides to buy with passion. Having these three elements as pillars to meet the demands including allowing to ensure transparency, quality of information, availability 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in an agile and practical way through digital service platforms, is certainly another important tool for those who want to bet.
One of the pillars of End To End is to help transforming the experience of companies with their customers. The betting industry in Brazil suffers from prejudices and moral restrictions from different parts of society. Do you believe that the company could help transform the image of the sector? What would be the way?
We can help to transform the image of the sector. It has already been much debated internally, including. We have some projects designed for gamification with betting sites for certain audiences. We are now looking for companies to carry them out.
Do you see the regulation of sports betting as a possibility to improve Brazilian sport by bringing more investments to clubs and also a new audience that today does not follow modalities and that can start due to the betting?
No doubt. Anything that brings revenue to the sport and the country is beneficial. If there is an increase in audience, even better. There is a younger age group who loves to test knowledge, challenge themselves. The way of consuming sport has changed very fast, there are always two or three screens opened by the youngest during a game. The same person cheers in multiple ways.
Today there are some projects and lotteries that involve prizes based on the results of football. What is your assessment of these projects and how can betting companies use them as an example to get closer to the fan?
The Brazilian certainly has football and betting among his main passions. The sports lottery was once the apple of the eye in the 70s and 80s, but it lost breath compared to other games like the Mega Sena, more attractive when it comes to the possibility of a prize. Timemania is important for clubs, but little publicized by both the organizers and the beneficiaries. The closest thing to the ideal fan engagement format and within the logic of betting, and it is an absolute success, is the gamification of Globo, Cartola. Looking deeply into the relationship between the fan and his heart club, inside and outside the partner-fan programs, we see a lot of space to transform this contract more and more attractive, dynamic and why not fun and profitable through the logic of betting.
For example, the biggest partner program could be a connection between a small percentage of monthly fees that serve to bring the idea that, in addition to the investment or sense of belonging, the fan could have the chance to bet and be rewarded. I see this as a good lever for clubs and programs to become less and less dependent only on ticket purchase priority. All of this in a legal and transparent way.
Thinking that sports betting will achieve good results with taxes, audience, investments, profits for operators and bettors, do you believe that the legalization of games with casinos, bingos and other modes can benefit? What is your position on the legalization of other types of gaming?
Anything that is legal, regulated and transparent can be good for football. It brings in foreign currency for the country, investments for the sector, jobs, taxes and you can also promote revenues that make it possible to maintain our talents and have healthier clubs financially. It is necessary to have mechanisms against money laundering and fraud, so that championships, federations, clubs and especially fans are protected. If all of this is done, it can be beneficial for the country and for Brazilian football.
Source: Exclusive GMB
