Poker’s new face
Stereotypes are hard to break. In the case of brands, it can be even harder. All too often, you see a company whose business has evolved to such an extent that their original brand is no longer relevant. It is important to have a vision of the future – of where the market can and may go, so that the brand is flexible enough to evolve as the company evolves. The more controversial the industry, the more important this becomes. A case in point is the online gaming industry.
A few months ago, I was unexpectedly introduced to the world of poker. I trod cautiously, nervous that I was entering a world of smoky back rooms frequented by middle-aged men with names like ’Texas Dolly’ and Dave ’The Devilfish’ Ulliott. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournament was won by 18-year-old Annette Obrestad from Norway who walked away with over £1 million. And if you look at the winners of the WSOP in the last few years, you will see that a new breed of poker players is emerging. They are young. They could be Vietnamese or American. They could be academics or accountants. They could be women. The number of entrants in the WSOP main event has grown from around 800 in 2003 to over 8,000 in 2006. In the United States poker is now the third most watched sport on cable television.
This phenomenal rise in popularity is not restricted only to tournaments. Last year, the London Business Forum held a seminar about the similarities between poker and business; and Harvard Law School launched an initiative to promote poker as an educational tool. The world has finally discovered what poker aficionados have long known – poker is a game of skill. You have to know whether to call, raise or fold. You need to know how to calculate your pot odds, and you have to manage your bankroll. It requires a grasp of mathematics and psychology.
Much of this rapid growth in popularity has been fuelled by online gaming companies. You can play from the comfort of your home, whenever you want, for as long as you want. The two biggest obstacles to the adoption of poker – learning and an intimidating environment – have been removed. Poker now represents over 20% of the $20 billion online gaming market, making it the most popular game of the industry.
As poker has clearly become respectable and mainstream, it presents an interesting challenge for online gaming companies. The leading online gaming brands began as start-ups in offshore tax havens, often employing tacky ad campaigns. Today, they are publicly listed companies with management teams, accounts and operations to match those of respected blue-chip corporations. However, to the public at large, they still carry the stigma of ’gambling companies’, complete with erroneous images of questionable accounting and unsavory executives.
As the appeal of poker continues to grow, the challenge for online gaming companies is whether they will be able to make the transition to mainstream entertainment brands just as their most popular game has done. In the long run, the ones that do will be the ones that survive.
12 February 2008, posted by Ayesha Malhotra