GMB - Recent movements of the company makes that more people talk about Mobius in Brazil, but perhaps there are still those who do not know well what it does worldwide. Could you describe the main activities and what differentiates it from their competition?
Lynn Pearce de Freitas - Mobius Interactive is an online gaming operator with a variety of unique offerings catering to diverse demographic groups. Mobius Interactive’s co-founders have extensive senior-management experience across B2C and B2B marketing in the iGaming industry, specializing in eSports, sports betting, casino and live casino.
Co-founder and COO, Robin Lawson, has extensive senior management experience in VIP, esports and operations management over the past 10 years and was the COO for esports.com, which raised over $5.5M as a start-up ICO and was sold to a major German media organisation. Co-founder and VP: Marketing, Nicholas de Freitas, has strong insight into online trends across international markets and has extensive experience in project management, digital and product marketing in the gaming industry, liaising and building relationships with software developers.
In partnership with leading eSports and iGaming platform UltraPlay, Mobius Interactive seeks to attract a network of high-net-worth gamers from around the world. Mobius does this through the use of loyalty and gamification programs designed to enhance engagement by leveraging state-of-the-art customer-relationship management systems and joint ventures with media companies and affiliate networks.
One of our main differentiators is our highly skilled and experienced Customer Service team who have extensive experience in running large call centres within the gaming industry over many years and their ability to connect with and liaise with our player base genuinely sets us apart from other gaming startups. In addition, when we started the company, we decided to make esports one of our key differentiators – and when the pandemic happened and the lockdowns ensued with the majority of sports being cancelled, it was clear to us that we had made the right decision and we continue to follow that path.
With its investments in advertising, a huge advance of Mobius Interactive in the Brazilian market is clearly noticeable. What led the company to accelerate its entry in the country?
We always planned on entering the Brazilian market with our main global brand Mobius.Bet, and when we were offered this fantastic opportunity to advertise our brand on Globo.TV, we decided the time was right to use the World Cup Qualifiers as our vehicle for launching into the lucrative Brazilian igaming market. We are a team of gamers at heart and knowing that Mobius.Bet would be displayed prominently throughout the qualifiers in Brazil was a no-brainer for us! Besides, Brazil is a soccer powerhouse that holds more World Cup victories than any other team and having them compete against the best teams throughout Latin America is like a dream come true for us - we are just as excited about the games as the fans are – all the way to Qatar in 2022!
What results do you expect to get from your advertising campaigns both in stadiums and on Globo broadcasts in World Cup Qualifiers? What kind of ads will we see?
As part of the brand awareness campaign, we are focusing on the Mobius.Bet logo and url to be showcased on LED in the stadiums for the World Cup Qualifiers. We are currently putting together a massive 360 degree campaign around all the events and at this point it is a moving go-to-market strategy, due to the uncertainty of the pandemic and potential lockdowns which may cause postponements or other disruptions during the World Cup Qualifiers, therefore we need to be flexible in our planning to accommodate any change to the actual dates of play.
The company runs three strong brands like Mobius.Bet, Aragon Casino and Club Double. How can they conquer the Brazilian gambler?
Mobius Interactive Ltd’s brands are a never-ending stream of real, live customer interaction, a multi-dimensional journey focused on entertainment, the overall player experience and great customer service support.
Mobius.Bet is designed to appeal to Esports consumers aged 18 to 38, combining loyalty programs, targeted gamification, and product merchandising into one seamless package. Catering to consumers aged 21 to 45, AragonCasino.com brands itself along the lines of medieval and modern fantasy, mimicking elements of The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. Club Double targets the 30 to 65 age demographics, showcasing a theme that combines classic old Hollywood and vintage Miami/Las Vegas.
Should the players wish to bet on Aragoncasino.com or Clubdouble.com, there would be no reason why they could not do that as we will have the same promotions across the board for now and it will be the player’s preference to play at whichever he/she prefers.
However, we are launching into the Brazilian market with our main brand, Mobius.Bet based on the knowledge of the region and backed up by the research we have done, this is the one that both esports communities and sports betting players prefer in this region.
As we are heavily focused on esports and have been involved in the esports communities for quite a while, we are happy to have been approached by a number of esports companies with special online tournaments, sponsorship opportunities and partnerships – and right now Brazil is placed 4th globally in the esports arena, this synergy in the local Brazilian market works well with the Mobius.Bet brand for now and into the future.
Why did the company decide to start supporting the Brazilian National Team rather than entering the local market through clubs or local championships?
When an opportunity presents itself and gives you a kickstart into a new region, you run with it. We always had an interest and continue to do so to speak with clubs and local championships, so will be on the lookout for any chance to do so going forward – this advertising on Globo.TV is just the start. However, when we do a deal with any media company, affiliate network or partnerships in esports and sports betting – we take it very seriously and look to form partnerships for the long-term, rather than rushing in and taking the first offer that comes our way. We are already having talks with various parties and will continue to do so even more going forward, to capitalise of this great opportunity we have been given with the World Cup Qualifiers and Mobius.Bet and are open to all offers in the region that will allow us to create synergies within the local Brazilian market.
Brazil is a grey market, legalized but not yet regulated. Does this situation modify Mobius' plans? Will the regulation benefit your interests?
We believe in obtaining licenses in all countries that offer regulated environments and will take this as the opportunity presents itself – and if it aligns with our marketing strategies.
The management team are already consulting with local advisers to becoming regulated within the market as soon as the legalities have been finalized. This shows our intent, as a company, in taking the Brazilian market seriously before we expand into other Latin American jurisdictions. Whether the final regulations will benefit our interests or not is still to be determined, we wait alongside all other companies in the region who are determining whether it would be beneficial or not, obviously we are hoping that the final outcome will be fair to all parties involved.
What are the following actions of the company for the rest of 2021 and in the future?
Prior to the opportunity presented to us in Brazil, we were already in negotiations for obtaining a sub-license from a land-based casino in Mexico, preferably doing a deal that would benefit both parties for the long-term, as we are have had experience in land-based and would like to utilise both offline and online environments, not only for casino but also for esports tournaments, as one of our main goals is to get more involved in the esports communities globally.
Our immediate plan is to expand the Mobius.Bet brand throughout Latin America, as we have recently launched our ClubbDouble.com brand in India and as we are headquartered in Canada, the team are already positioning AragonCasino.com to go into the Canadian market and will be looking for licensing opportunities in that region.
It is not very common in this traditional industry for a woman to reach the highest position within a company. You are the CEO of Mobius. Can the feminine view be key to leadership and decision-making on various issues? Do you feel that more and more women are accessing the board of gaming companies in the world?
That is an interesting question and funnily enough I have just written an article titled “Unicorns in Business Globally” where I raised the question with regards to women in leadership positions and how easy – or not, it had been for them to raise finance opposed to their male counterparts. It turns out that many of the women managed to raise funds but not nearly as much as the men, which is one of the common arguments in this space. Similarly, the number of companies led by women which went public over the past decade only account for a fraction of all companies which completed an IPO during the same period.
However, in the gaming industry, as women we are often being given the opportunity – a lot more so than other major corporate environments. This is backed up by the fact some of the most important positions in the gambling industry are now held by women and that some of the most high-profile people in the business are women. Denise Coates of Bet365 fame consistently inspires me, who could not admire her amazing achievements to date? She is the highest paid woman executive in the UK!
In January, Entain confirmed the appointment of Jette Nygaard-Andersen as CEO when Shay Segev stepped down to join sports streaming platform DAZN – making her the first ever female CEO of a listed British gaming company! In mid-February, Bragg Gaming Group announced the appointment of Lara Falzon to its board. In the same month Entain announced that Stella David and Vicky Jarman would join its board, while Flutter named Holly Koeppel and Nancy Dubuc non-executive directors. Once again the gaming industry proves its worth by being first out of the box – which is one of the reasons I love being a part of this industry.
The thought that struck me when reading about all these appointments at the time was that all these deserving women were given the opportunity by men with foresight and vision to do so! I can relate this back to my own experience when co-founding Mobius Interactive Ltd, as I believe in working together, making difficult decisions as a team, all focused on the same path and goals, which in turn leads to absolute clarity and ultimately to the success of this company.
Gary Eldridge, President of Mobius Interactive Ltd, suggested that I become CEO of the company. I took his suggestion back to my co-founders, Robin Lawson, COO and Nicholas de Freitas, VP: Marketing and the decision was instant and unanimous. I am fortunate to have such skilled, experienced, and strong co-founders as core members and directors in this venture, backing and supporting me daily! As a team we are hugely aligned – and unstoppable! I believe we have our groundwork firmly in place and are now perfectly positioned to grow our brands and Mobius rapidly within the regions we enter globally.
Source: Exclusive GMB
