The iGaming industry is built on people, relationships, and long sales cycles — and few understand this better than Märit von Stedingk, Head of PR and Communications at Alea. In this episode, she offered a candid look at what it takes to build brand presence in a sector where regulations, competition, and constant noise make marketing uniquely challenging.

Speaking from the bustling Alea booth at ICE Barcelona — complete with an oxygen bar and a hyperbaric chamber — Märit shared how the company approaches visibility, storytelling, and long‑term brand building in a way that feels both intentional and refreshingly human.

ICE is known for intensity, and Alea leaned into that reality by designing a booth that offered the opposite: calm. With a hyperbaric chamber, oxygen bar, and a space to reset, the team created an environment where conversations could happen without the usual event‑floor chaos.

For Märit, this wasn’t just a gimmick — it reflected Alea’s philosophy. The company focuses on people first, and the booth became a physical expression of that value.

One of Alea’s biggest announcements at ICE was the launch of its agnostic jackpot engine — a flexible tool that allows operators to run jackpot campaigns across any game, from any provider, with full control over limits, timing, and player segmentation.

What sets it apart is the jackpot simulator, which lets operators test profitability before launching a campaign. Historically, jackpots have been powerful for retention but expensive to run. Alea’s system reframes them as a revenue‑positive tool rather than a cost centre.

It’s a strategic shift — and one that gives operators far more control.

Alea’s hyperbaric chamber isn’t just a wellness feature — it’s also the setting for Under Pressure, the podcast hosted by Alea founder Alex Tomic. Märit explained that the concept was born from late‑night, unfiltered conversations with high‑level executives about ambition, pressure, and the personal cost of leadership.

The metaphor is intentional: under pressure, diamonds form. The podcast aims to reveal the human side of industry leaders — the part rarely seen on panels or press releases.

Märit was clear: finding the balance between digital presence and event presence is difficult — but essential.

Events matter because iGaming is a face‑to‑face industry. Deals take months, sometimes years, and require multiple touchpoints. But digital content keeps the conversation alive between those touchpoints. The goal is simple: when prospects arrive at the next event, Alea should already feel familiar, relevant, and unavoidable.

This is where partnerships — like Alea’s collaboration with Ace Alliance — become powerful. They extend reach beyond the booth and into the broader industry narrative.

Two forces shape the industry: regulation and the nature of online gambling itself.

Every market has its own rules, restrictions, and sensitivities. That means B2B marketers must understand not just their product, but the regulatory environment of every geo they target. Alea’s role as a tech partner — not just a game aggregator — gives them the insight needed to guide clients through these complexities.

For marketing, this translates into one core principle: localisation is everything.

According to Märit, many brands misjudge ROI by looking only at short‑term numbers — leads, conversions, immediate sales. But in iGaming, the sales cycle is long. The real metric is return on opportunity:

• How many touchpoints were created?
• How many conversations were advanced?
• How many doors opened?

Brands that evaluate events purely by immediate sales risk under‑investing in the very activities that build long‑term growth.

Märit sees two major trends shaping the next year:

• Content fatigue — the industry is oversaturated, and audiences can’t consume everything.
• Sharper channel selection — brands will need to choose two or three channels that truly reach their audience, rather than trying to be everywhere.

She also highlighted the growing importance of LATAM, Brazil, and Africa, where B2B marketing is still developing — which means opportunity for brands willing to localise and invest early.

For anyone entering iGaming marketing, Märit’s advice is simple:

don’t be scared, and be ready to unlearn everything you think you know.

The industry is young, fast‑moving, and constantly rewriting its own rules. Flexibility isn’t optional — it’s survival. And that’s exactly what makes the space so exciting.