SiGMA’s Malta Summit is just around the corner, kicking off on April 28 at the InterContinental Hotel, writes Lauren Harrison.
Ahead of the conference–widely regarded as the industry’s biggest networking event, with over 6,000 gaming professionals in attendance–iGamingFuture is teaming up with headline speakers for a series of first-look interviews, offering a taste of the conversations shaping this year’s agenda.
Our first guest is one of iGaming’s favourite industry executives, Nikola Jellacic, Chief Marketing Officer at Casumo.
Fast approaching three-years at Casumo, Nikola’s impressive career spans a collection of top roles, ranging from an eight-year stint at Google to Director of Global Brand Strategy and Growth at SuperBet.
We began by asking Nikola:
You’re going to be speaking at the upcoming SiGMA Summit Malta. With so many different events happening in the iGaming industry, schedules can quickly become overcrowded. How do you choose which events are most valuable to attend? What’s so special about this event?
“Honestly, there’s at least one event somewhere in the world every week, and a lot of the topics get recycled. So my filter is pretty simple: Who’s actually in the room, and is the conversation going to move past the usual talking points?
“SiGMA Malta passes both tests.
“Malta is home turf for a big part of our industry. The density of decision-makers you can have a real conversation with, not just a badge scan, is hard to match.
“And the agenda isn’t afraid of uncomfortable topics, which is exactly where the most useful conversations begin.”
What will your session be about, and what will attendees learn from your case study presentation?
“I’ll be sharing how we’ve been building Casumo over the last couple of years, the thinking behind the brand, the “Casumoverse” and how we’ve tried to move away from the short-term, burn-and-churn playbook that still dominates much of the industry.
“The key takeaway is this: Performance marketing alone isn’t enough. In regulated markets with rising costs and tighter rules, building real brand equity is what makes acquisition efficient and drives long-term player loyalty.
“I’ll walk attendees through what that has meant for us in practice – the choices, the trade-offs and what’s worked.”
Your panel session is titled ‘The CMO Review: Campaigns Under the Spotlight’. In brief, what do you think are some of the key components of a successful marketing campaign in our sector?
“A few things I keep coming back to: First, know what you’re actually trying to do. A lot of campaigns try to acquire, retain and brand build all at once and end up doing none of them well.
“Second, respect the player. Regulated markets don’t reward shouting louder – they reward being recognisable, trusted and consistent. Creative that treats players like adults outperforms creative that treats them like a CPA target.
“Third, commit. The campaigns that work are the ones the business actually stands behind for long enough to let them compound. Killing something in week three because the dashboard didn’t light up green is how you guarantee you’ll never build a brand.
“And fourth, measure the right things. NGR and LTV will tell you a lot more about whether a campaign worked than a click-through rate will.”
Are there any other sessions or speakers on the agenda, apart from your own, that you’re really looking forward to seeing at iGX and why?
“Plenty, but if I have to pick one, I always try to catch sessions from people I’ve worked with before or whose teams I respect.
“Seeing what ex-colleagues are building at other operators is genuinely one of the best parts of these events for me.
“Beyond that, anything on the regulatory side–UK, the Nordics, the emerging frameworks–because that’s the reality we’re all navigating, and the honest conversations on those panels tend to be more useful than anything else.”
Editor’s Note:
With a packed calendar of industry events throughout the year, Nikola’s approach is simple: Focus on who will be in the room and whether the agenda is willing to tackle uncomfortable topics. That’s where the value lies. And, for him, Malta passes both tests with flying colours.
During his session, attendees can expect a practical, behind-the-scenes look at modern marketing – specifically how to build brand equity through gamification in a way that supports long-term growth.
He’ll share how Casumo has moved away from the short-term, burn-and-churn playbook towards an immersive and sustainable, 360-degrees approach to player engagement.
These are practical strategies, broken down on stage through a detailed real-world examination of gamification–the good, the bad and the ugly–led by one of the strategy’s strongest industry advocates.
SiGMA Malta is April 28-30 at the InterContinental Hotel. There’s still time aplenty to get your tickets.
