Sorte Online, the largest digital innovation platform in lotteries and one of the main ones in the segment in the country, stands out in the online lottery market, having already distributed more than R$205 million in prizes to players across the country.
The company could not fail to be present at the biggest meeting of the world iGaming industry, ICE London 2023. To find out about its impressions and results, we spoke with the company’s Marketing Manager.
Thiago Arantes is the CMO of Sorte Online, with more than 15 years of experience in the area, accumulating several skills in the sector. Since 2021, he has been at the forefront of Sorte Online’s marketing, leading high-performance teams focused on Acquisition, Engagement and Branding.
The iGaming Brazil portal interviewed Thiago exclusively to find out, among other things, about his experience at ICE London, which took place from the 7th to the 9th of February.
See the interview in full.
iGaming Brazil – In a general context, how would you say the event was?
Thiago Arantes – It’s the biggest gaming event in the world, the dimension, its magnitude, it’s really impressive. It wasn’t my first time at the event, but every time I’m quite impressed with what it symbolizes.
The main opportunity of the event is networking, on site we meet again and meet many people who help to understand the global perspective of the market, understand the conversations that are taking place, how they are being treated and raise the discussion. Every time we go to an event like this, we have a thermometer about how the world is facing the games, Brazil… And then we come back with that and we have homework.
This time it was very clear, last year it was already well lit, but in this edition it was noticeable that Brazil is the ball of the hour. They spoke a lot about India, but Brazil was one of the centers of attention at the event in relation to the expansion of the sector. As far as the presence of Brazilians at the event, as well as the general interest of the event in us, it was a remarkable attention.
iGaming Brazil – What were the main innovations presented? And regarding the online lottery market, any news?
Thiago Arantes – What I tried to look at at the event was the world’s perspective regarding lotteries and new iGaming business fronts. What became very clear is that online lotteries are opportunities to reinvent the lottery segment and that it is through them that we will continue to grow and be able to create new products to bring new players closer. Understanding the digitization of lotteries and the creation of new digital products within the segment is what will enable the maintenance of growth and consolidation of lotteries in the coming years.
If you look at the lottery market, historically it has taken a little longer to adopt these new technological trends, take advantage of them and manage to evolve, and then I’m talking about “how the lottery sector understands personalization”, “how it understands digitization”, “as he understands better integration with other more digital gaming verticals”. So I understand that this is the moment when we are ready to take this important step in growth. It is already known by all that we need to digitize ourselves and that there is a great opportunity in this process to increase this reconnection with new players.
With that in mind, I understand that regulation is the most challenging aspect that markets are trying to solve when it comes to digitizing lotteries. There are very notable advances like the US, with very interesting digital models for the player, for the operator and for the regulator, where everyone wins.
There are models and lessons that already happen in New Jersey, for example, one of the symbolic markets, Texas as well. But, in Brazil, we still have a lot to improve, as there is a great opportunity to evolve, to diversify the products so that it adapts to the new times. We have time to do this and the opportunity exists, we just need to be able to move forward in the best possible way with the commitment of all involved.
iGaming Brazil – What did you manage to extract from the contents that you will certainly bring as a lesson to Brazil?
Thiago Arantes – The main thing is the importance of developing new digital products that understand the behavior of this new player. How we create these new products according to the demands and trends that are happening today.
iGaming Brazil – Another important point is that there is potential to develop more intelligent models for engagement based on individual behavior. We have a lot of navigation information from these players, especially behavioral information, and with all this it is possible to create experiences that are more interesting for them. This is something we have to keep in mind both in product development and in the development of the entire engagement journey during product use.
iGaming Brazil – Can you talk a little bit about how the day-to-day of the event was?
Thiago Arantes – The event is much more about networking than about lectures, the focus is really on connection. In the conversations we managed to understand what is happening, the new platforms and trends. Participation gives you a lot of insight into technologies and a lot of networking. Basically, the day-to-day was understanding the new platforms and how we can create new business fronts or even new platforms to improve the experience we currently have. Marketing technologies in general, also understand the global regulation strategy, see how the world is regulating, what are the decisions and the countries that have obtained the best results and their strategies. It was also important to reconnect with Brazilians and meet the people who are shaping the market.
iGaming Brazil – Give your overview of the event and talk about the importance of your presence at the fair, especially with the topics that were discussed and are related to the Online Luck market.
Thiago Arantes – I believe that we are at the right time to make an exponential leap, we have companies here in Brazil with great potential. And Brazil’s engagement numbers with sports betting during the Cup opened the world’s eyes even more to other gaming verticals here in the country.
I understand that it is always important to look at what is being done abroad in order to be able to create something that is unique and that understands our public here. I think it’s not copying, it’s doing it our way, like Brazilians always do. And I’m very optimistic about what we can build from now on here in Brazil with these companies that are here making this happen and the potential in regulation that we envision.
