Conclusion drawn from “The importance of localisation: cracking the LATAM market” panel
A
s part of the SiGMA Group Americas Digital Summit, which was running from September 22 to 24, an expert panel was held, focused on the importance of localization in the Latin American market.
The importance of localization: cracking the LATAM market
Moderator Oliver Debono, CEO at Kondor Gaming, sat down with Fernando Garita, Head of Business Development LatAm at Betcris, Juan Carlos Dellepiane, Sales and Business Development Latam Hub at Pragmatic Play, and Juan Ignacio Juanena, Business Manager at Enjoy S.A.
A pivotal question tied to the concept of location is ‘How should a business localize towards customers entering this rapidly growing market?’
Garita has a simple answer: “Hire local people”. He continues:
“We have very good people in Latin America with a lot of experience. And that will be one of the best experiences you will have to trade your own customers.”
Ignacio adds to the conversation; addressing how to create the trust found in localization:
“You have to focus on two or three countries and say, OK. Is it possible for me to make this kind of investment without a hub, customer support with just focussing on two or three countries?”
He further expands on the importance of customer support in order to build trust:
“I mean, local people that know the players that know the culture and always seeing as a customer. That’s for me, the difference I mean, if I’m a new customer, I don’t know what to do, how I would like to be treated by the customer support.”
Overall consensus regarding the topic falls around establishing a local presence and support.
Think global, act local
It is an easy mistake to tackle the LatAm market face without understanding the complexity of the countries that make up the region. Understanding the difference in language, dialects, culture, and customer preference is vital to successfully enter the LatAm market.
“So, going global thinking global but act local. So, we need to focus in the culture of the situation and the country we are working on”
Garita states during the panel.
In terms of market areas to target, Carlos highlights the approachability of online gaming in LatAm:
“Online gaming would happen have happened 100% in maybe few years, but I see Covid19, the only thing that may accelerate the process, but there’s still, Casino games, they have a big preference around the population of Latino population.”
