the ad is the casino floor | nick talarico

The *Ad* is the New Entry Point

Nicholas TalaricoFounder & CEO

Super Lucky

2

Some Context & Assumptions• lightly-funded

• casino-style content

• but, no RMG content

• games that justify UA spend

• you accept that many/most of your paid UA comes from other slots apps

• you accept that there’s no bulk discount in UA; CPIs increase as spend scales

Steady State: Casino Floor = App Stores

=

…but

• enters their app / the app store• scrolls lobby / charts for the

machine of their choice• same• same

• same...

• enters the casino• scans the floor for the

machine of their choice• plays• becomes open to change if:• current machine is unlucky• just wants a change

• chooses by scanning for:• recognized• Interesting

Simplified Slots Player Behavior

Ads Change Things

Focus on UA isn’t Anything New• top advertisers:• large teams of designers & UA managers• thousands of designs• hundreds of millions of dollars annually

But We Noticed that, as Time Went On:• CTRs dropped

• CVRs dropped• and correspondingly, CPIs increased

January

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CTR, CVR, & CPI over time

CTR CVR CPI

Our First Step was to Keep Things Fresh

Lots of Machines in our Network

And Therefore, Lots of Ads as Entries

It’s the Network, not the App

AD

AD

AD

AD AD

ADAD

AD AD AD

AD AD

AD

AD

AD

We Were Auditioning Themes

...And Also Quickly Testing New Slots

Lots of Information• which ads/themes attract a lot of people• what play type is attracted by ad/theme• what math types retain players who come in on which themes• what math types monetize players who come in on which

themes• when players come in on X theme, what’s the best theme to

move them to

• combine it all to attract a lot of high-quality players

Comes With Drawbacks• tech

•machine design

• assets

• ads

•UA / campaign management

• economic

Tech Engine

math

integrations

art

socialsreels

Machine Design Variations

Assets Not Much You Can Do

UA team

ads PM

designdirector

designers

Ads Designers in the Data

UA / Campaign Management Tools• PROGRAMMATIC BIDDING• launching• bidding up / down• pausing• audience creation

• WORKFLOW TOOLS• uploading ad creative• permutation assembly

Economy Tune Holistically• while the multiplication of some things is GOOD:• entry points• various machines• ad creative

• our strategy does multiply some things that are BAD (or at least pose a challenge):• free login collect• big wins• ability to play for free in network

We try to view our economy holistically, as well as discretely.

In Summary• Fresh creative keeps CTRs & CVRs up, CPIs steady• No better way to keep creative fresh than with more content• More content allows you to maintain CPIs as you scale spend• …but also allows you to test all sorts of new machines• Network effect is massive• Comes with drawbacks, but there are some efficient ways of

managing them