Food, Wine and Crypto Casinos

Roman Emperors knew what they wanted, and what their public wanted – bread, wine and entertainment.

Things haven’t changed much, really. We want delicious food, good wine that gives that pleasant buzz and a thrill – be it gaming, travelling, gambling or even extreme sports.

It just so happened that as a professional marketer, I’ve been working in iGaming since 2008. Have seen a lot – poker rooms, casinos and sportsbooks, and now in the last 8 years, predominantly the crypto niche of gambling. 

Yet I’m very entrepreneurial, and for the last decade I’ve established, owned and managed a handful of food and wine businesses – from a wine retailer to a vegan restaurant, natural wine bar, underground bar and a Mexican restaurant.

Let me tell you smth – marketing is as important for an ultra-competitive niche of crypto casinos as for restaurants. And they are not particularly different. 

Marketing Strategies

With marketing defined as ‘satisfying customer needs and wants profitably’ (my CIM Diploma truly pays off), restaurants and crypto casinos require a marketing strategy big picture approach, a brand (a concept, you may say as well), and only then drilling down to details like product – games or menus, people – teams and staffing, price and promotions. 

What I see is a new restaurant starts with a nitty-gritty of detailed recipes and creates a place that caters for everybody and, in reality, nobody. Similarly, some crypto casino founding teams invite a senior marketer ‘to create the strategy, brand and plan’ literally a few months before the launch, when all the product and tech details are done and dusted. They don’t want a strategy; they want this marketer to validate their assumptions and do some magic in making these assumptions and product decisions a success. Come on, you already realise that it is wrong (in the very beginning) and quite impossible (noone is a Harry Potter, crying aloud). 

Let me illustrate. 

Many of us heard about the grim statistics that 75% restaurants close in their first few years.

The entry barrier for a small to medium establishment is fairly low, and many love their food and drink, so they think that it’s a good idea.

This idea then needs to be transformed into a concept, business plan and marketing strategy. Which is a rare thing in the restaurant business.

Now, let’s think about crypto casinos. Even if you are not a gambler, you’ve heard of Stake. Just giving you an example for now.

Until recently, the barrier to entry into this market was fairly high – technology, licensing, fairly small niche market.

It’s not like this anymore. Technology, especially if you’re ok to use white label, is cheaper and widely available. Licensing is also easier, especially if the owners, with the crypto native stance, are ok to serve global grey markets.

So when there is a new Italian restaurant on your street, and you’re finding out that they are not different in any way from your already established go-to place. There is an obvious question – why another one, and how will they beat the odds of failure?

There is a similar situation in crypto iGaming. The new ones are popping up as mushrooms after a good rain, and the majority are failing to establish any difference in product, value, or experience at all (same casino games, same sportsbetting markets, everything is pretty much the same, but the logo on the top left side).

Now I have successfully worked out a marketing strategy for my restaurants and similarly worked as a senior marketer for crypto iGaming. So when I receive up to a dozen requests a week to have a chat and maybe join yet another team, I wonder how the company that aspires to be the new Stake can do that by offering ‘the same things’, and less? It’s yet another restaurant, and they expect marketers to constantly pull some magic tricks.

Oh yes, it is not a rant to blow off steam, it is just my observation that many industries and the respective market players lack something important – a comprehensive marketing strategy. 

And with the AI development, the owners feel like they will generate something unique without a marketer. Can I just say that I’ve asked AI to generate me some seemingly unique recipes based on some ideas? They were basic and lacking substance; they will fail. Same with the crypto casino marketing that requires hypothesis testing and methodical selection of tactics that work together to highlight the brand and its positioning, not just create noise.

Growth

And now let’s talk about Growth.

I will say something unpopular here, but the elusive Growth isn’t always healthy for the business. If not properly prepared for.

Again, let’s see about a restaurant- if they have a 50-seater capacity and they are full. They might try to rush the guests to turn the tables quicker and introduce a quicker production. All in all, it is going against the quality and the guest experience.

See something similar to gaming? Yes, the product is digital and scalable as F. But customer service isn’t, affiliate relationship management isn’t, and the company should be ready to invest and grow together with the yearly development. Not always happening. Marketing budgets get even more constraints, and the growth targets become more aggressive. 

Branding and Customer Acquisition

Both restaurants and crypto casinos need to acquire new customers. How important is the brand here?

I will argue that customer acquisition without a strong brand is expensive. A brand without acquisition tactics will result in a lack of customers.

If you build a strong restaurant concept and brand, and start putting gasoline on the guest acquisition, you’d nail it. Provided that the product is up to scratch, corresponds to your brand, and you provide a good service.

Afterwards, you can work on the average check and frequency.

You now see the similarity, right? User acquisition in crypto casinos is brutal. If you nail the brand, product and user acquisition, you move on to improving the deposits and frequency of play.

Not so different afterall.

My Main Takeaways on Food, Wine and Crypto Casinos

Marketing strategy is a big picture direction that should be at the core of the business and drive every further direction and initiative. 

A clear understanding of who you are as a brand and which customers (audience) you serve is key. This will drive your product, design and communications plans. Not vice versa.

Staying true to who you are is being consistent, and your customers and guests would love and appreciate that. That’s loyalty and sustainability.  

I’m not building marketing for the sake of it; as an entrepreneur, I’m building a system that will truly fuel the business to make the planned profits.

PS. And yes, you can pair wine with tacos. And no, I’m not necessarily suggesting hiring McDonald’s marketer for your new crypto casino.