European sportsbook bwin has today unveiled WettBuddy, its new approach to customer engagement, ahead of this summer’s World Cup in Russia.
In what it claims is a first for the industry, bwin has joined forces with tech start-up Tokabot to bring their group chatbot technology to the sports betting market in time for the world’s festival of football.
Launching this month in Germany and Austria in a trial phase before a wider roll-out, WettBuddy will be used to engage bwin’s customers throughout the World Cup and beyond. Providing interactive real-time and context sensitive content, including match stats and trivia, the application promises a more interactive betting experience, tailored to each individual customer. It will also enable bwin to serve up relevant offers, directly relating to their user’s interests.
Initially operating via Facebook Messenger, WettBuddy will be available to consumers via a simple on-board sign-up process. Once signed-up, the virtual betting buddy will then be on hand to start conversations around their favourite team, upcoming matches and events or respond to the questions or comments posed by the user.
Commenting on the launch, Stephan Heilmann, head of DACH at parent company GVC, said: “Our commitment at bwin is to provide our players with a complete betting experience. WettBudy is all about engaging the customer to provide a more personalised, richer interaction between them and our product, maximising the enjoyment of gaming with us. A first for the industry, all in all, it is set to be the perfect online companion for the sports betting fan this summer.”
Yaniv Levin, CEO of Tokabot, added: “We believe that social fan engagement, using Tokabot’s unique approach, is the key to the future of the entire sports eco system unlocking new opportunities for all stakeholders. Naturally, Tokabot is also a perfect fit for the sports betting segment, both from the business and the user excitement aspects. As a start-up company, we are looking forward to showing our strengths and ability, en route to a long term and successful relationship with a great partner as bwin.”
