Symplify: A Peek Behind the ‘Screens’ of Nordic iGaming Veterans

With over two decades of growth within the highly competitive iGaming sector, Symplify has amassed an almost infinite pool of knowledge and expertise.

Leveraging this, they have been able to navigate the digital transition we’re currently seeing in the industry. Staying true to their Scandinavian roots, they have developed innovative, new tech to help push the industry forward, especially in regard to player engagement.

We caught up with Paul Crisp, Chief Market Officer at Symplify to get his perspective on the challenges and opportunities for growth in the iGaming sector. More importantly, he speaks of the future and how Symplify plans to help its partners continue to grow for another two decades.

Symplify have been in operation for over 20 years, quietly growing your market share. How have the needs of your customers changed over the years and what impact has this had on your market approach?

“Multichannel communication was naturally the first stop for us. Back then you could go as far as to say there was little difference between a typical e-commerce set up and a fledgling iGaming (poker) start-up. Having the kind of proud legacy that we have; we’ve been lucky to witness the birth of players within the iGaming sphere that are today market leaders. The late noughties saw a sea change in how iGaming approached their CRM and audience management, what started with an initial saturation of the market drove iGaming to think more broadly, i.e. attach as equal importance to retention as acquisition. Not insinuating that acquisition is easy, it is certainly not without challenges moving a player through the conversion funnel, however, retaining and reactivating players is far more labour intensive. I would say that was one of the primary motors behind our success and most importantly our product development. Many of the iGaming CRM strategies that are standard practice today were born out of this incredibly fertile period.”

Symplify has a great strategic partnership with Finnplay. Can you tell us more about your relationship’s dynamics and how the partnership benefits are effectively passed on to your customers?

“We’ve been good at putting together interesting and rewarding partnerships over the years, and Finnplay is no exception. For us both this provides an opportunity to offer the operator unparalleled service and expertise. For an operator looking to start up or re-platform, the concept of being able to tie down a PAM and a CRM system out of the box is a huge win. Both companies have a wealth of experience in their fields, creating a medley of technology and expertise that will have a huge impact for the operator.”

Scandinavia is world renowned for being a leading tech hub. How have Symplify’s Swedish roots impacted the quality of products you provide and your approach to innovation?

“What a superb question! Without giving away the average age of the average Symplify employee, the ones located in the Stockholm HQ have been lucky enough to be part of the steep trajectory of the digitalisation of Swedish society. This has naturally meant early adaptation for the majority of us, leading to an early digital industry that sprung up in major cities. Being part of that community early on has of course left a lasting impact on the character of the company Symplify.”

Some of Symplify’s customers, such as LeoVegas or Mr Green have been loyal clients for over a decade. What is it that has kept them using your services for so long?

“That’s really a question for them. However, if I am pushed to give an answer I would say it’s reliability and our ability to innovate against their ever changing market demands. Both companies have become, rightly so, household names. Both have been incredibly innovative and have matured and adapted just as the market has. In each case, the company has grown and looked inward in terms of keeping itself at the top of its game, we have been lucky enough to have been along for the ride. To put it bluntly, if Symplify were the same Saas solution it was when we started our journey, we most likely would not be able to call them customers today. When I mention the growth and innovation engine that iGaming is, Mr Green & Leo are both very prolific contributors to that engine.”

What does the future hold for Symplify? What key aspects will drive your growth, enabling you to last for another 20 years?

“For us a cornerstone of growth is building the product in synergy with our customer base. Obviously, we will lean into our experience and learnings of the past 20 years, however, there must always be an organic element to the development path of the product. We have also prided ourselves on the close nature of the client-supplier relationship. We saw the Saas industry grow and grow, which is obviously exciting, however, one thing we notice a lot is that while customers’ expectation of service has grown, the actual importance of service seems to have been overlooked by a good portion of our contemporaries. We will not make that mistake, we believe and will prove that scalability must be applied to every aspect of your company’s mission, not just the sales.  So, for us, an organic and agile approach to product development and service and support that if not matches, can exceed the customers’ expectations.”

Editors’ Note:

From speaking with Paul its clear to see that retention and reactivation are the key focuses going forward. Although far from an easy task, he doesn’t believe acquisition is as labour intensive. The solutions Symplify provide have been developed with this solely in-mind, keeping their partners’ player base engaged for over twenty years!

Regardless of their level of experience, they have been careful not to rely upon this, especially in such transitional times. They continue to make way for the organic element of the development path and this has been fundamental to their continued success. We look forward to seeing what’s next.