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// Public Gaming International // March/April 2015
Philippe Vlaemminck
Partner, Altius Law Firm
Philippe heads the ALTIUS EU Regulatory and Trade Practice. He has more than 25 years specialist ex-
perience in EU law (Regulatory and Litigation) and trade law (WTO and anti-dumping) Vlaemminck
has considerable litigation experience before the Court of Justice of the EU and the EFTA Court and was
among the first private lawyers who were granted the right to appear in a WTO dispute settlement hearing.
He is widely regarded as a leading player in the current debate on gaming and gambling in the EU, and
has been involved in every gambling case before the CJEU and the EFTA court. Vlaemminck also acts as
a legal advisor to various EU Member States and operators. He regularly speaks on gaming issues and is a
frequent contributor to gaming law periodicals and journals such as Public Gaming International (USA),
European Gaming Lawyer (UK), IGaming Business and World Online Gambling. He has been awarded
the IMGL President Cup award 2010. Philippe Vlaemminck is ranked top tier in Chambers Global
2013—Gaming & Gambling.
Russell Young
Senior Vice President of Interactive and Mobile Experiences, Stratacache
As Senior Vice President of Interactive and Mobile Experiences, Russell Young works within STRATA-
CACHE’s ActiVia product group to develop new digital experiences for consumer engagement, establish
critical strategic partnerships and originate new business opportunities.
Prior to joining STRATACACHE, Russell has spent 10+ years deeply involved with the digital signage
industry, representing Fortune 100 technology companies and speaking at industry events on global trends
and technologies. Russell graduated from St. Leo University in Florida while carrying out an eight-year
enlistment in the U.S. Navy where he served in Desert Storm and Desert Shield. A native Texan, Russell
lives in Dallas with his wife and three children.
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these changes and carve out a growth strategy
for themselves in this new world of multiple
channels and media?
A. Kerastaris:
The dotcom world is
building global brands. They are brand-
ing the operator, not just the games, ap-
plying the idea of a global brand to their
businesses. This kind of branding has not
even touched our industry. And this is
one of the key things that INTRALOT is
working to change.
The dotcom operators have taken advan-
tage of the fact that regulatory frameworks
have not evolved with the market-place.
They operate in a global market-place and
regulatory frameworks apply to national
market-places. The fact that their op-
erations are not licensed in every country
they operate does not prevent them from
building powerful global brands. Illegal
gambling far exceeds legal gambling, which
is absurd, and unfortunate. All forms of
gaming, gambling, and lottery need to be
regulated and taxed. That is the best way,
if not the only way, to get control of the il-
legal gambling markets. That will also pro-
vide the basis for the development of global
brands for legal gaming operators.
Government-lottery operators do have
a huge competitive advantage, though.
Their land-based connection to the con-
sumer will help them to consolidate a
higher degree of brand loyalty. They just
need to augment that land-based retailer
connection with a more robust online
connection. Online operators are build-
ing global brands, but there is no customer
loyalty to those brands. The online con-
sumer quickly migrates to whomever has
the best value proposition today. Lottery
can leverage the online connection to rein-
force its long-term position of strength in
the land-based market-place to become far
more powerful than the countless online
brands which are entering the market now
and in the coming years.
In fact, it is very exciting to think
about the potential for growth for the
government-gaming sector. Sure, there
are things we need to do differently, and
building out our multi-channel connec-
tion to the consumer is one of those. But
the competitive advantages that lottery
has over all other sectors include its bond
with the consumer that has been built
up over many decades. Its reputation for
integrity, security, corporate responsibil-
ity, affiliation with good causes, and great
games—these are assets that nobody eas-
ily can replicate.
■
Antonis Kerastaris Interview …
continued from page 48
