How do Brand Ambassadors and Influencers Help Online Poker Brands?
How do online casino sites advertise themselves? There are really two avenues that they need to approach. Firstly there are players who already want to play and are actively seeking a website to play on, so making sure that they are able to play roulette, blackjack, slots on the casino sites here is just a case of showing up on google. For the more reluctant player, it can often come down to marketing, using celebrities to show it as a cool and acceptable thing to do. Let’s take a look at some of the best sites where it is definitely safe to play, such as the review of Velobet casino.
Neymar Jr. and PokerStars
In 2015, PokerStars decided to part with lots of money to collaborate with Brazilian soccer sensation Neymar Jr. The ultra-popular player brings poker to the attention of multiple new audiences due to his massive presence within the world game. Given his longevity at the elite level of the sport (consistently playing in the UEFA Champions League and the FIFA World Cup), people will try PokerStars because Neymar Jr is seen to be enjoying it. PokerStars has wanted to tap into the Brazilian market for many years as the nation has been noted as one of the most poker-active countries in the world.
Neymar Jr. famously transferred from Paris Saint-Germain to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia ahead of the 2023-24 season, meaning he would be based in a country which forbids all types of gambling. That has not dampened the player’s motivation for poker however as he has still stated that he wants to pursue a career in poker after he retires from football. He may just have to do less work with PokerStars while he resides in Riyadh to avoid persecution.
Lucia Navarro and 888 Poker
One market that has untapped potential is the Iberian peninsula, which consists of both Spain and Portugal. 888 Poker is trying to promote the sport and its brand through Lucia Navarro, a female Spanish poker player in Portugal. She has a pre-existing following as she built up a decent social media presence by blogging her global adventures playing poker at various tables. 888 Poker hopes to bring more people to their site due to her social media work.
Steve Aoki and the World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour celebrated 20 years of existence back in 2022 and decided to go on the offensive with a strong marketing campaign. One such exercise was to enlist Steve Aoki as a brand ambassador. The world-renowned disc jockey has a global reach with millions of followers on social media and countless fans who attend his live concert performances in critical areas like the United States and Japan. Having Aoki tweet or communicate about the WPT spreads awareness about the brand to a new audience who might never have considered playing poker.
Daniel Negreanu and GG Poker
While some poker platforms attract celebrities from other fields, GG Poker, for the most part, has tried to make its brand ambassadors prevalent poker players. Daniel Negreanu is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in contemporary poker, adored by most of the poker community for his devotion to the game. This method attracts diehard poker fans who already like the pastime, unlike other companies trying to find new fans by working with non-poker entities.
Abhay Deol and Junglee Poker
Abhay Deol is one of the most famous actors and figures in the Indian film industry (and nephew of the popular actor Dharmendra), having starred and featured in many successful domestic movies. More recently, he has broken into the mainstream and even gained some international acclaim, having worked extensively with Disney+ on productions like 1962 and Spin. In 2023, Deol signed a deal with Junglee Poker to become one of their brand ambassadors. The fact that such a famous Indian actor is promoting the poker platform means that Junglee Poker will be brought to the attention of a vast Indian audience.
Kannapong Thanarattrakul and Natural8
Thailand is one of the emerging areas for online poker, with a modest following but not amongst the top 10 by any means. Natural8, as an online casino and poker platform tailored towards Asian audiences, is looking to coerce the demographic by signing some of the region’s top poker players like Kannapong Thanarattrakul, the most successful Thai player in the contemporary space.
Maria Konnikova and PokerStars
Maria Konnikova might have been born in Moscow, Russia, but she is truly an American success story. She and her family emigrated to the United States when she was just four years old. Now 40 years old, Konnikova graduated from some of the most prestigious American universities like Columbia and Harvard, later becoming a New York Times bestseller for several publications. She used her smarts to launch a successful poker career and attracted PokerStars, as she became a brand ambassador for them, as she attracted a more intellectual audience to the pastime.
