Exlusive Mr. Gamble Q&A with Aleksandar Dašić from from Bragg

In this exclusive Mr. Gamble Q&A, we had the pleasure of speaking with Aleksandar Dašić, Product Marketing Manager at Bragg, in an insightful interview led by our CMO, Paul Puolakka. Bragg has established itself as a leading global provider of full-service iGaming content and technology solutions, catering to the ever-evolving demands of the worldwide gambling industry.

Aleksandar provides valuable insights into their development process, collaboration with studio partners, and how their innovative tools empower operators to create engaging experiences for players worldwide.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What is your role at Bragg Gaming, and how did you enter the iGaming industry?

I've been part of the iGaming industry since early 2016, when I joined the well-respected affiliate website. Through hard work and dedication, I quickly progressed within the company, climbing the ladder to take on more responsibilities and gain deeper insights into the industry. In 2023,

I transitioned to Bragg Gaming as a Product Marketing Manager, where I now focus on building strategic partnerships with affiliate websites and streamers. My journey has allowed me to blend my industry knowledge with hands-on experience, creating impactful collaborations that drive our brand forward.

Bragg Gaming is known for its multinational presence. How does having offices in diverse locations like Toronto, London, and Las Vegas enhance your global strategy?

Bragg is a community of different voices coming together to work towards a shared vision, to make this company the content and technology supplier of choice for the iGaming industry. Offices in diverse locations give us access to a broader range of voices, people which can influence our company to its benefit. Additionally, by being located in iGaming hubs like Las Vegas, we can be closer to the companies we want to partner with and that require our products.

What makes Bragg Gaming's technology and content solutions stand out in a crowded iGaming market?

There’s several factors which may make our technology and content solutions stand out from the crowd. On the technology side, our technology is modular, meaning prospective partners can choose which technologies they would like to take on, additionally, our technology is easy to integrate into an existing iGaming operator's offering, and does so without significantly impacting that offering.

On the content side, the breadth of our in-house studio content, as well as the strength and diversity of our multiple third-party content are a crucial differentiating factor, in the fact that we can offer customers access to more than 10,000 titles. Additionally, on both content and technology, we utilize data-driven insights at all levels to create an iGaming ecosystem which responds to the needs and demands of the market.

Bragg offers bespoke turnkey technology. Could you explain how this benefits operators looking to launch or expand their online casino or sportsbook offerings?

Technology costs money, that’s a simple fact. Developing your own in-house technology can be hugely expensive, and many companies do not have the financial resources or infrastructure necessary to support these kinds of projects, while also maintaining the quality of their day-to-day operations.

This is where the technology supplier comes into its own, and at Bragg, our turnkey technology aims to provide companies in the iGaming sector with solutions which allow them to launch online, or expand their current offerings. No more is this evident in the land-based sector, where we can help both land-based gambling operators and lotteries transition to the online space across many markets.

Also by offering this on a bespoke basis, we can respond better to the technology needs of the individual operator concerned, providing tailored solutions to their requirements. This isn’t always on a full platform basis, sometimes they just want a specific part of our technology, and they want it quickly to respond to those market issues. Our solutions are easily understood, deployed and integrated into any offering, be it large or small.

How do you ensure that Bragg’s exclusive games portfolio meets both operator and player expectations in terms of engagement and innovation?

Constant dialogue and data collection. We maintain a constant dialogue with our operator partners throughout their journey with us, assigning dedicated account managers to collect feedback and engage with them regularly. Addressing player expectations is an integral part of what we offer our operator partners, because our games portfolio is not what players want, they will not partner with us.

But more than that, players' expectations change daily, what’s popular one minute is not the next, but extensive data collection at all stages of the player journey allows us to discern player trends and respond to them accordingly with content and titles that engage. As an example at a market level, our development teams have developed specific types of mathematical models for players in the U.S. and Europe, and our slots development studios specialize in different styles of slots for different markets.

At the end of the day, Bragg’s aggregation and content partnerships serve to create a diverse community of development studios representing many markets and brands, this coupled with our Fuze ™ marketing and engagement platform allows us to meet different operator and player needs as required.

Compliance is a major focus for Bragg. What measures do you take to ensure your games are certified across multiple regulated jurisdictions?

For me, it's about constant engagement throughout the regulated market journey. Drawing on our experiences of market entry, it's important to us to engage with local stakeholders and to get an understanding of the local regulations quickly, tailoring our solutions to match.

At the same time, that knowledge and experience can also be hugely valuable in approaching new jurisdictions, because we have a more complete understanding of the sorts of questions we’ll be asked and the requirements of the market. But beyond that, beyond just entering a market, it's about ensuring that we remain compliant, because at the end of the day, that’s the expectation from our partners and something we deliver as a matter of course.

For example, in the Netherlands, we recently updated our systems and technology in line with changes to responsible gambling standards surrounding deposit limits, and advertising.

What role do your partnerships with leading content testing houses play in maintaining Bragg’s high compliance standards?

Testing the compliance of our content is a hugely important checking mechanism for Bragg’s content, we have an extensive internal quality assurance process, which is an integral part of our games development roadmap, and our games are tested and retested internally at every stage. External testing via content testing houses underscores that commitment to quality, also giving regulators working with the testing houses peace of mind that we are compliant with their standards.

8. How has Bragg's approach to technology and content evolved over the years to keep pace with changing trends in the online gaming industry?

Being a versatile company is a virtual prerequisite for Bragg, we have to be alive to the changing world of technology and how it might affect our operator partners and players alike. Our technology and content teams keep a strong working knowledge of the wider industry, engaging in regular training sessions on new technologies and industry trends we choose to develop technology in support of. But it's also about knowing your customer, and as I’ve said previously, we’ve got a very robust process of engagement with them which spurs many of the content and technological innovations we’ve developed over the years.

What do you see as the key trends shaping the future of the online gambling industry, and how is Bragg preparing to capitalize on them?

Undoubtedly there will be greater regulation for the sector, that’s a fact of life, and Bragg as a responsible provider of iGaming content and technology has to respond to that. We also expect to see new markets opening up in places like Latin America, Canada and the U.S., as well as new areas and markets opening up in Europe. We’re watching developments in France, Finland and Poland, where online casino regulation is being debated and markets are being opened up. We’re particularly interested in the LatAm market, and places like Brazil, where we recently opened an office following incorporation of a local entity there.

We want to be able to directly deal with Brazilian operators and there’s no greater advantage than having boots on the ground, it provides a localization that many other companies just don’t have. It is one of our strategic objectives as a business to be present in regulated markets for iGaming and something we work constantly to achieve.

Aside from greater regulation, we see a strong role for AI in the future iGaming industry, a trend we’re already embracing with our Fuze ™ marketing and promotional toolset, which includes an AI powered game recommendation system. It can also be impactful from a responsible gambling perspective in identifying at-risk players.

How does Bragg Gaming balance technological innovation with the need for strong user engagement in the online casino and sportsbook sectors?

One of our biggest assets in that arena is our award-winning Fuze ™ player engagement toolset. Fuze is a modular system which includes tools which aim to engage players at all stages of the player journey from conversion, engagement to retention. We achieve this by deploying tools such as flash jackpots, tournaments, quests, an AI powered games recommendation system, bonusing and other tools.

These tools are constantly evolving, being upgraded and added to, achieving a crucial balance between creating strong user engagement, but also constantly innovating our user engagement offering and ultimately the user experience itself. At a wider level, we constantly engage with our operator partners, and have an open door policy towards their suggestions, because at the end of the day we design products that cater for their needs as well as those of players, and if we don’t respond to those needs we’re not doing our job.

What role do managed services play in Bragg’s offerings, and how do they help operators maximize their success in a competitive market?

Managed services, which includes our marketing and operational services provide support to operators who maybe don’t have the infrastructure to support them on their own, or who maybe want to outsource parts of their operations for the resultant efficiency savings.

The marketing element of this includes access to Bragg’s MS team, which has more than a decade of experience in online casino, sportsbook and lottery operations. Our team has developed special methods of customer interaction and support for building genuine relationships and maximizing return on investment (ROI). This includes data driven, rather than ideas driven marketing support, specialisms in quality communications rather than bombarding the player, and usage of the Bragg Fuze ™ player engagement and marketing toolset.

The operational element of this is far more infrastructure driven. This includes ensuring a smooth and seamless player journey through items such as comprehensive customer support, anti-money laundering support, KYC (Know your customer) support as well as payment, risk and fraud prevention management. Working extensively with our operator partners using these services, we foster active dialogue and long-term value, creating long lasting relationships between operators and their players.

Looking ahead, what are Bragg’s main objectives in terms of market share growth and expansion into new regulated markets?

As a business, we want to significantly grow our market share in all of our 30+ existing regulated markets, but we’re particularly interested in growing our proprietary and exclusive content in the U.S. market. Until now we have been focusing on content in the U.S. & Canada, but now we are ready to provide aggregation & Fuze™ in the U.S. and Canada.

We are interested in PAM, turn-key and custom tech opportunities across the Americas. We’ve taken steps to transition to a regional approach across our commercial team with dedicated managers for each operational region, we’ve also appointed one point of contact for each product vertical. We’re also onboarding and looking for new games studio partners, developing localized content focused on specific markets.

Lastly, do you personally play casino games? If so, which online slot or casino game is your favorite?

Personally, I’m a big fan of Atomic’s Cai Fu - Emperor's Ways. The reason it stands out to me is its innovative Connect & Collect mechanic. In today’s saturated market, you will see a lot of repetitive games, with similar or even cloned mechanics, which rarely bring something new. The Connect & Collect is new and fresh, and creates a constant chase.

Any spin can lead to add wilds, free games orbit in-game jackpots. As long as you manage to connect your way across the grid (with special symbols) you are guaranteed to collect one or even multiple prizes. In a time where we see a lot of repetition, this game series shines through its uniqueness.