March/April 2015 // Public Gaming International //
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form is an open source platform that easily
integrates into the existing technological in-
frastructure of the lottery or gaming opera-
tor. It is customized to the specific needs and
priorities of the operator. The important
thing is that the Bit8 platform learns from
the experience of the customer, synthesizing
countless data-points into concrete correla-
tions that truly inform the whole process of
delivering more value to the customer. In the
end, it’s not about the data, it’s about deliver-
ing more value to the customer. Capturing
the data is the easy part. Bit8 has unique ca-
pabilities that convert the data into meaning-
ful intelligence that drives business decisions.
We think that this platform has the DNA to
become the number one CRM platform in
the world. And we know it has the power to
make the most sophisticated CRM applica-
tions fully accessible to our lottery custom-
ers. It is our task now to roll it out into the
operations, work on it, invest more, and take
it to the next level. All it needs is investment
and exposure, meaning markets.
INTRALOT is so strong in sports-betting
where CRM is vital to just survive in that
competitive space. How do your capabilities
in sports-betting inform or enhance your ca-
pabilities to serve your customers that focus on
traditional lottery games?
A. Kerastaris:
The basic principles of
knowing your customer and delivering
value to the relationship are the same. The
process of using that knowledge to create
products and business processes that are
valued by the customer, of making sure that
all business decisions are driven by the ba-
sic principle that everything you do should
deliver value to the customer - those prin-
ciples are the same in traditional lottery as
they are in sports-betting. How the prod-
ucts are designed, packaged, marketed, and
made accessible to the consumer, should
all be driven by data-analytics which is the
brain of a high-performing CRM system.
But isn’t sports-betting a lot different from
traditional lottery, and appeals to a different
player profile altogether?
A. Kerastaris:
Absolutely. Much dif-
ferent, but the fundamental role of CRM,
turning customer data into business intelli-
gence that drives decisions and enhances val-
ue to the customer, is the same. Understand-
ing and analyzing the patterns and habits of
your customer is still the key to building a
sustainable business model. That should be
at the very center of the organization.
Sports-betting is so much more competi-
tive than the traditional lottery business.
And the customer acquisition and retention
skills and methods that we learn from sports-
betting can be applied to great effect in tra-
ditional lottery and transform the business.
You operate as a B2B as well as a B2C. How
does your experience as an operator which
sells directly to the consumer inform your
role as provider of technology and services to
other operators?
A. Kerastaris:
At the end of the day, we
all must focus on the end consumer. It is the
consumer who decides whether to buy the
product or play the games. It is the consumer
who drives all business decisions. An effective
CRM provides that never-ending feedback
cycle, the live model that gets reevaluated and
adjusted based in new information gleaned
from customer behavior and response to past
actions and methods, implemented anew,
tested again, and reevaluated again. This
feedback cycle informs the earliest stages of
product inception, product design, technol-
ogy R & D, engineering, and all aspects of
operations. In the end, everything we do is
for the purpose of creating value for the cus-
tomer. Our customer includes the operators
of government-gaming and lotteries. But
even then, the best way for us to be of ser-
vice to those customers is to understand how
to help them deliver value to their customer,
which is the consumer, the player. So, our fo-
cus really is always on the end consumer.
What is an example for how CRM directly
increases sales?
A. Kerastaris:
We really need to have a
more expansive view towards customer en-
gagement and how that increases sales. Look
at the way consumer products companies en-
gage the consumer. And they are doing it with
products that are not nearly as fun and excit-
ing as games-of-chance. Procter and Gamble,
for instance, knows today that your baby was
born yesterday and in twoweeks they send you
free Pampers at home. Likewise, by knowing
what games appeal to each individual player,
Lottery can tailor its communiques directly to
the specific interest of the player. You can see
how this would increase sales.
Technology as the
Enabler, and Not an
End in Itself
Everybody talks about content, content, con-
tent. But it seems to me that maybe we are
underestimating the importance of all the
other factors that comprise the overall con-
sumer experience.
A. Kerastaris:
I fully agree. Businesses are
all engaged in a process of creating a prod-
uct or service, and delivering that product
or service. Both must be performed to the
highest standard for the consumer to appre-
ciate the value of the content. Blockbuster
content like Game of Thrones attracts good
distribution as will a blockbuster lottery
game will garner positive buzz and distribu-
tor support. The thing is, most businesses
have a broad portfolio of products that are
not all blockbusters. Lottery certainly does.
Effective distribution is the backbone of a
diversified portfolio of products.
That is what INTRALOT does. All our
resources are channeled towards creating the
overall player experience that supports the
distribution of a broad and diverse portfolio
of gaming products. And that’s where the
rubber hits the road. Excellent execution in
all aspects of creating a superior consumer
experience is what will attract good content.
Of course, great content does make a big
difference. And the creation of great content
requires imagination and genius.We do appre-
ciate and respect that. But there are two things
about that. First, there are lots of brilliant
people creating great content. I would submit
