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In this second installment of our Affiliate Manager Interview Series we talk with Martyn Beacon, affiliate manager for Betfred.com. These fun and informative question and answer sessions are an opportunity to get a personal feel for the people who run the affiliate programs, and we hope they will foster rewarding and productive relationships between GPWA members and sponsors.
Cheers Martyn, how are you today? Are those Red Bull cans still stuck to your head?
Hi Matt, I am good thanks. The Red Bull cans are firmly wedged I am afraid; I struggle finding hats that fit these days!
Would you please tell us a little about Betfred.com?
Of course, Betfred dates way back to 1967 as a high street bookmaker and was started by Fred and his brother, Peter. Since then Betfred (formally known as Done Brothers Limited) has grown from strength to strength, forming massive sponsorship deals with Manchester United Football Club and also Wembley Stadium. Betfred now has well over 600 shops across the UK and is known as the World’s Biggest Independent Bookmaker with turnover in excess of $2.8 billion.
Betfred joined the online phenomena late (2004) but has seen a lot of success since then, firstly with the sports betting, then with the casino and poker following in 2005 and bingo more recently (2006). We have a great reputation in the Europe. With regards to the future of Betfred, Fred has committed $125 million to the expansion of the company over the next five years.
How well do you know Fred Done, from whom Betfred gets its namesake? Could you take him at the poker table?
Fred is a hands-on type of guy and is very interested in the day-to-day goings on within his business, from analyzing figures to spotting new opportunities for Betfred. It’s fair to say he has his finger on the pulse!
With regards to taking him at poker, his stakes are a little higher than mine and if I did beat him on a table I am not sure I would have a job to come back to.
Please tell us a little about the Betfred affiliate program. What is unique about it?
The affiliate program has been running now for only 17 months after its launch in June 2005. We are currently undergoing a complete redesign of the site to bring it up to date and push it forward as we aspire to be a leading affiliate program in the gambling world. The new site should be live by March 2007 if all goes to plan.
We offer our affiliates the full range of earning opportunities from poker and casino to bingo and slots. To accompany this we also provide a full range of banners, links and other marketing material/creative that affiliates can use in order to increase their earnings with us.
The affiliate team is made up of two people currently, I head up the department and I have Sam Darby (Deputy Affiliate Manager) working alongside me (my bitch) who mainly concentrates on the sports betting side for Betfred Affiliates. We like to reward our affiliates and offer what now seems to have become a much loved monthly freeroll for all our affiliates, we stick a bunch of cash in a pot and then let battle commence. Both Sam and I play in these games as bounty players to add an extra bit of spice to it.
You say Betfred just launched several properties in conjunction with the Manchester United football club. How are they doing? We assume you’re a Manchester United fan now…
I am not a big football fan but have been an armchair supporter of Manchester United all my life since my dad and brother are season ticket holders.
We launched the Man Utd products in the second half of 2006 and since then have also seen the poker room grow in size. Of course at the start, the participation was slow until the word spread, but all is looking up now as Man Utd fans start to get involved. The casino is also generating some decent figures of which both Fred and Alex Fergusson are more than happy with! We set this live on the affiliate program in December 2006 as an added bonus to our affiliate program.
How do you approach working with portal webmasters?
I like to be completely open with all our affiliates and I also like to think I am very approachable, especially with a pair of cans on my head….Red Bull cans that is!We have a mutual respect for all affiliates as this helps us develop our working relationship further. It’s not a case of “us and them”, it’s a case of building up relationships and giving back as much, if not more, as the affiliates put in. I believe that we are completely flexible with our program and look to incorporate new ideas and offers from our affiliates; after all they are part of the team!
What has been your favorite bonus or promotion while working with Betfred?
There have been a few. On the affiliate front, I gave a twist to one of our regular freerolls. I turned the game into a cops and robbers situation in which the robbers were the Betfred Affiliate Managers and the cops were the Betfred Affiliates. Both robbers had a bounty on their heads, and the affiliate who knocked them out of the tournament (or captured them) took the bounty. This turned out to be a great incentive game for the affiliates in which we received a huge amount of positive feedback.
It’s great to get involved in these types of games and we encourage all types of banter in the chat facility as it helps us to get to know our affiliates better. We give US legislation.
We heard you recently became a proud parent; Congratulations!
Yeah, thanks man. Being a father is awesome, and I think we did good as she is a little star. We called her Macey May Beacon, she was born on December 10, 2006 and weighed in at 6lb 4oz. All credit must go to my wife Lynsey who didn’t bother with any pain relief throughout!
What is your favorite gambling game?
It’s got to be Texas Hold’em (now have to limit as I have to budget for nappies!). I also like to dabble on the Roulette table but tend to be pretty rubbish.
If you could have a guest cameo appearance on any television
show, what would it be?
I would have to go old skool with this one, how about Saved by the bell (1989 series). I fancied my chances with Kelly Kapowski (a.k.a. Tiffani-Amber Thiessen). Whooot!
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23 January 2007, 6:17 pm #1
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Affiliate Manager Interview Series: Martyn Beacon - Betfred
Last edited by casinocitymatt; 1 February 2007 at 8:36 am.
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