We managed to catch up with Shaun O’Neill this week, our Silver Sponsor for the upcoming Scandinavian Affiliate Super Summit in November, to find out how the move to Estonia and the new affiliate program are going.
How did you get involved with the affiliate industry?
I was working for a brokerage firm in the UK, and after three years I found myself running the biggest and most successful team of brokers in company history. Realizing I had peaked within the company, I started to get bored. So I began looking for new challenges.
At that point I was offered the role of Sales Manager for the leading gambling publication in Germany and Spain. This proved to be my first real taste of the gaming industry. Soon I was dealing with most of the major operators in the business. In all honesty, I really got hooked when I started hearing about all the trips to exotic countries, the wild conferences and the parties. But the biggest lure had to be the money that I heard people were making.
After two years of working for the publication, I was offered a great opportunity with Wager Profits, where I became the Director of Affiliate Marketing. Recently I left to head up the Affiliate Department at Nordic Gaming and create their affiliate program. Four months later we now have a live program that’s flying off the shelf.
What do you like most about the job?
The variety of things that my job entails. It’s never boring; there’s always a new challenge. There really isn’t any segment of the business where your dealings are what I would call “regular.” It’s something different every day.
How are you settling in Estonia? Do you like Tallinn, and would you recommend it to us affiliates?
I have to say so far I love being back in Europe, and Estonia is a great country. I’m living in Tallinn so I’m back in the city, which is also great. One of the best things about Tallinn is that you have all the amenities of city, but you don’t have the stress and noise of huge metropolis like London.
There are some interesting changes happening at Nordic Gaming Group, lots of new faces and some good buzz. How has the launch of the program gone?
Nordic Gaming Group has seen a number of changes recently, ranging from a new CEO to a new brands manager, and now of course there’s the affiliate department. Setting up the affiliate program for NGG has been good at times and very stressful at other times. There’s also a steep learning curve. But you tend to forget all of that once you are live. The feedback from the affiliates is that we are converting very well thanks to all of the local branding that we’ve been doing since 2002.
What do you anticipate for the future in the affiliate industry?
No matter what your views on the affiliate market are, it’s here to stay and it needs to be. No matter how big your marketing budget is you’ll always need the affiliates to support you in your efforts. I don’t see affiliates as “us and them”. I firmly believe that affiliates are an extension of our marketing department.
What are your plans for the Nordic markets?
We have a lot of new and very exciting things happening within the company. This normally happens when new staff are added to the team – everybody comes in with great ideas. So we have some new products launching over the coming months, and we will continue to work in local markets to further add to the brand value.
What will you be putting in this year’s sponsor’s bags?
Come to the event and you’ll find out!
Shaun will be a Silver Sponsor at this year’s event. He will be sponsoring the conference bags, and speaking in the panel discussion on “What it takes to make it big in Scandinavia.”
Some facts figures, Age, Place of birth, Fav. Food, What you drive, Favorite game?
- 32 years old
- Surrey, United Kingdom
- I don’t have a car yet as I have just relocated to Estonia from Costa Rica, but I am currently looking at an SUV.
- My favourite game has to be roulette, but I don’t tend to play that much in the online casino.
You can contact Shaun directly on:
