Marcos Oliveira (Image source: Clever Advertising)
Working in the US is not a new thing for Clever Advertising but expansion of the market is the novelty, said CCO Marcos Oliveira.
In an exclusive interview ahead of this week’s SBC Summit North America, he opened up on the ‘ongoing process’ towards reaching higher growth in the US and why he is targeting several affiliate licenses by the end of 2022.
We also discussed the merits of ‘cherry-picking’ the best states to enter from a regulatory perspective, with Oliveira concluding that servicing clients remains the key business value since they will “count on us to perform” in any given state they themselves are entering.
SBCA: How are you positioning yourself for the US market? What can you learn from what others have done right or wrong so far?
MO: We got the New Jersey license when it was initially issued, but for media buyers’ businesses like us, it was difficult to monetize traffic when it is set to one state alone. So we broadened the strategy and decided to obtain licenses in other states – it is an ongoing process and we expect a great 2022 in the US market.
Right or wrong is an abstract concept for us, you know. What is right for one person might not be right for someone else. What we can say is that trailblazers are the ones that encounter more difficulties and hurdles to overcome but, normally, are also the ones that get the advantage and get ahead of the competition.
For Clever, competition is not seen as an obstacle because we are mature enough to know the hoops and loops of licensing processes and we have a track record of performance to understand if what we have been doing is set to reach higher growth. We are certain that we are on the right path.
SBCA: In a previous interview, you said that Clever places 80% of its attention on market research; how difficult is that in the US with so many different rules on a state-by-state basis?
MO: The United States has a historic background in the gambling industry and the regulators have deep knowledge of it, mostly based on the brick-and-mortar business. So for them, it is easier to present a solid regulation, mirroring it to the online business.
If one sees the United States as a big licensing process, one could get lost in it and perceive it as a difficult market to …….