Launching a new gambling brand in the UK today is not an easy task, given the fierce competition and the current tax landscape. However, the team behind Bet St George – the latest player on the block – is determined to succeed despite the market austerity.
The brand, led by Chairman Nic Brereton, went live last week with a simple idea behind its brand – championing English sports and tapping into the national pride around the world-class athletes that the country has to offer.
And with Brereton having someone like Andre Au by his side as Head of Marketing – someone who learned the ins-and-outs of a successful marketing campaign through previous stints at Ladbrokes Coral, Betfair and Betsson Group – Bet St George is confident it has the potential to become a household name in the long-run.
It all starts with a message, and the message here is clear and concise – the brand is bringing English fans closer to English sports.
Au said: “No operator is truly leaning into England. We’ve seen nation-focused models work in Wales and Scotland but England hasn’t really had a bookmaker built around its national sporting identity.”
As Au pointed out, there’s already been two examples of bookmakers hyper-focused on a UK nation, namely McBookie in Scotland and DragonBet in Wales.
“England is a very large and diverse market which hasn’t really been attacked to be fair. I think maybe operators assume that national identity with its diversity wouldn’t resonate in the same way but we don’t really think that’s the correct assumption. We believe there’s a lot of pride in the English sporting identity across all the various sports.
“Bet St George is about English sports, English events, giving those moments the attention they deserve. So we’ll be prioritising the England markets, creating standard offers around them.”
How to be different
Intense competition comes with the territory, and that is especially true in the UK where you have the likes of William Hill, bet365, Betfred and many more battling over market share. But the size of its opponents does not faze the up-and-coming brand, in fact it could actually work in its favour, Au believes.
“It’s clear that a new bookmaker like us can’t outspend them. So instead we’ll be competing on clarity of our position with the England-first focus. In general, large operators will have scale advantages, but that in itself will dilute their identity. So our advantage is really having agility and conviction in what we want to stand behind.”
That conviction is clearly stated in Bet St George’s marketing pillars, which are built on the foundation of patriotic punting across England’s most important sporting events on the calendar.
“One of the main things is obviously the inclusive English identity. Our messaging reflects modern-day England – diverse, competitive and ambitious,” Au stated. “We believe that this confidence differentiates us.
“We’ll be building campaigns around England’s biggest sporting occasions across the board, so football, rugby, cricket, etc.”
Speaking of football, one cannot go on without mentioning England’s upcoming participation in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and it is easy to predict what Bet St George’s playbook will be during the tournament.
“Naturally, England-related markets will be front-and-centre for us. So what you can expect from us is enhanced specials, player markets and confident pricing for the tournament. I think what we’re willing to do is take a clear position on England. If England wins and it costs us, that’s just part and parcel of it.”
Adapting to the higher taxes
So far, the goal is set – leverage national pride stemming from English sports and incorporate this into a marketing strategy to gain market share. But times are tricky when it comes to marketing spend.
With the UK raising the Remote Gaming Duty up from 21% to 40% this April, and General Betting Duty going up to 25% next year, the general expectation is that these hikes will have a significant impact on the operators’ overall marketing expenditure.
The team behind Bet St George is well aware of that, with Au adding that the best approach for the operator is to be smart with its investments, and that there is still plenty of room to grow if a good investment strategy is implemented correctly.
“The tax environment urges us to be more cost-conscious. In general, we’ve got a very data-led approach. So we’ll be testing lots of different things to find out what works best for us. And then we’ll make sure we invest more in those areas. There’s still room to operate responsibly and competitively within the new framework.”
Marketing gallop
Lastly, in line with its self-proclaimed mission to champion English sports, horse racing will also be put under the spotlight on the Bet St George platform – and that includes the prestigious Cheltenham Festival which starts tomorrow, 10 March.
As a whole, horse racing in the UK has gone through a bit of a decline over the past few years, unable to properly recover its audience numbers ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
The tax hikes have introduced additional complications, with a number of UK betting brands considering scaling back their racing sponsorships, and BetMGM and bet365 being the latest operators to do so.
This, however, may represent an opportunity for Bet St George to fill the vacuum left behind, and its patriotic messaging could fit in nicely when it comes to an intrinsically British sport such as horse racing.
“In general, many live sports are facing challenges,” Au concluded. “Racing just has to adapt to the new audience behaviours. Key events like Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National still really capture the nation’s attention, so there is still that interest in the sport.”
Bet St George is planning to make an appearance at the Cheltenham Festival to get the word out about the new kid on the block, so be on the lookout for a very English-themed marketing campaign that will certainly stand out among the crowd.