Sarah Blackburn, Founder & Director at GameOn
GameOn are hosting the Marketing Track at NEXT.io New York. What does that responsibility actually involve?
Hosting the Marketing Hub is about curating a space where marketing leaders can step back from day-to-day execution and focus on something bigger: brand meaning.
This year’s theme, Building Brands That Stand Out, reflects a reality we see every day. Operators are competing across the same acquisition channels, using similar mechanics, and often speaking in similar tones. The brands that win are not just visible, they are distinctive.
Our responsibility is to programme sessions that explore how iGaming, entertainment, and sports brands can build relevance, loyalty, and long-term value. That means moving beyond tactical marketing conversations and into strategic brand positioning, cultural connection, and sustained differentiation.
It is about elevating the conversation from noise to meaning.
How do you decide on the central themes for a marketing track like this?
It all begins with NEXT.io inviting experts within the industry to become part of an advisory board and who use their shared experience and network to create an agenda that we feel people will want to attend but also, learn something from. Our advisory board this year included Jennifer Matthews, Hillary McAfee, Jamieson Selby and Corey Padveen.
This year, we started with a simple but important question: in a saturated market, what actually creates staying power?
The iGaming landscape is highly competitive and heavily performance-driven. Acquisition metrics dominate the conversation. But sustainable growth is not built on acquisition alone. It is built on identity, consistency, and emotional connection. Brands that endure are the ones that stand for something clear and recognisable.
That thinking shaped the direction of the Hub. We focused on themes that move beyond short-term noise and into long-term value creation: brand differentiation in crowded markets, cultural relevance and entertainment crossover, loyalty beyond bonuses, and strategic storytelling that builds equity over time.
We were intentional about ensuring every session ladders up to one central idea: visibility is temporary, brand value is durable.
That is why the agenda moves logically from strategic positioning into practical execution. Sessions like Stand Out or Blend In: How Memorable Marketing Lowers CAC in Gaming make the commercial case for distinctiveness. Authenticity Building challenges surface-level brand claims. And Beyond Search: The New Rules of Player Acquisition explores how discovery is shifting in an AI-driven ecosystem.
Each topic has been selected because it reflects a genuine commercial tension brands are navigating right now. The goal is not to create isolated panels, but to programme a cohesive narrative around how brands move from attention to relevance, and from relevance to long-term value.
What is the process for identifying and selecting the right panellists?
Selecting the right panellists is one of the most important aspects of programming the Hub, because the strength of the conversation ultimately depends on the people having it.
We start with credibility. We look for leaders who are actively shaping brand, acquisition, or growth strategy within their organisations. This is not about theory, it is about experience. The audience at NEXT.io expects insight grounded in commercial reality.
But titles alone are not enough. We also look for perspective. Do they have a distinctive point of view? Have they built something meaningful? Have they navigated real challenges around brand positioning, AI adoption, customer acquisition, or crisis management? The theme this year is about standing out, so the voices on stage need to reflect that same clarity and conviction.
Balance is equally important. We intentionally curate a mix of operators, suppliers, affiliates, technology providers, and brand leaders. That diversity creates healthy tension, and tension drives stronger discussion. A panel where everyone agrees is rarely memorable or useful.
Finally, we consider delivery. The best sessions are candid, commercially honest, and practical. We brief panellists carefully to ensure the discussion moves beyond surface-level talking points and into real examples, measurable impact, and lessons learned.
Ultimately, the goal is to build panels that do what great brands do: offer something distinct, relevant, and worth paying attention to.
What would make you feel the track has been commercially successful once it concludes?
For me, commercial success is not measured in room capacity or applause. It is measured in what happens after the conversation ends.
If leaders leave the Hub reassessing how they position their brand, how they deploy AI, or how they measure acquisition beyond short-term CPA, then we have delivered real value. The sessions are designed to challenge comfortable thinking. From lowering CAC through distinctiveness, to building trust beyond surface-level community claims, to preparing for crisis before it hits, every discussion connects brand to enterprise value.
Success also means momentum. Are follow-up meetings happening? Are partnerships being explored? Are marketing teams taking ideas back to their boards and reshaping strategy? When insight translates into action, that is commercial impact.
Ultimately, if the Hub helps shift the industry’s conversation from short-term noise to long-term brand equity, then it has achieved exactly what it set out to do.
What are the biggest challenges in programming the NEXT.io New York Marketing Track?
The market is fast-moving and performance focused. It would have been easy to build an agenda dominated purely by acquisition tactics and short-term optimisation. But the theme demands something more strategic. We have to ensure the programme consistently returns to brand meaning, relevance, and long-term value, even when discussing AI, bidding models, or affiliate dynamics.
Another challenge is balance. AI is clearly a dominant topic this year, so incorporating sessions such as The AI Dilemma and the State of AI in Gaming is essential. At the same time, we need to ensure technology discussions do not overshadow broader brand conversations around authenticity, partnerships, and crisis management.
Finally, cohesion is critical. With topics ranging from prediction markets to omni-channel content to celebrity-led branding case studies, the real work is ensuring they all connect back to one central question: how do brands build staying power in a saturated market?
Programming the Hub is about protecting that narrative. Every session must earn its place by contributing to that overarching story.
