Australian betting is intensely competitive. Loyalty in betting isn't about the best odds; it's about feeling understood.
TAB's manual offer system worked brilliantly for the top 1%. High-value clients got personalized "miss by one leg" promotions that felt custom-tailored. But the other 790,000 users? Generic blast emails. Irrelevant promotions. Offers for horse racing sent to basketball-only bettors.
The challenges:
Manual allocation couldn't scale
Users felt invisible: when you bet exclusively on NBA games and receive AFL promotions, the message is clear: we don't know you
Betting is deeply personal. People have teams, sports, rituals. Generic offers break immersion
No progression system; no reason to return beyond placing bets
Our research revealed: users don't just want better odds; they want to feel understood and rewarded for loyalty. They'll accept slightly worse odds from a platform that "gets them."
We mapped user journeys, then did something unusual: we stopped looking at other betting apps. Instead, we studied RPG mechanics that keep people playing for hundreds of hours.
The answer: visible progress, earned status, and meaningful rewards. Games make you feel advancement. Every action contributes to something larger.
We asked: What if betting offers worked the same way? Not random promotions, but a progression system where every bet contributes to status, every win unlocks rewards, and expertise becomes visible.
The mechanics weren't new; they've worked in gaming for decades. The application to betting? That was the innovation.
Business ↔ Users:
Business wanted engagement. Users wanted relevant offers AND recognition for loyalty. AI analyzed patterns continuously: horse racing fans got racing offers timed to events, basketball bettors got NBA offers on game days. Gamification rewarded consistent engagement.
Relevance, rewards, and revenue aren't opposing forces. They're symbiotic.
Innovation ↔ Familiarity:
Introduced AI and gamification wrapped in familiar betting patterns. Sophisticated mechanics underneath. Trusted format on top.
Possible ↔ Ideal:
Our breakthrough: treat it like premium rewards: Amex points, not Candy Crush. Sophisticated gamification. Elegant interface. Serious about rewards.
AI-Driven Personalization:
Automated allocation for all 800K users
Offers tailored to sports followed, bet types preferred, events cared about
Operations shifted from execution to strategy
Venue-Specific Tokens: Drew inspiration from Pokémon GO. Enter a TAB venue? Token value increases. Place a bet there? Bonus multipliers. Physical network became experience advantage.
Customizable Offer Packs: Users selected their style: Pure racing? "Exotics," NBA season's you're only focus? get the "NBA Promo pack," multi obsessed? We have just the thing. You're not receiving what we think you want; you're selecting what you know you want.
Loyalty & Rewards: Unlocked new tiers based on engagement, not just spend. Frequent engagement earned exclusive offers. Loyalty became visible and rewarding.
Game Mechanics: "Boosting" and "Shielding" tokens with animations. Boosting increased returns. Shielding provided insurance. Both created decision moments: when to use, when to save, and more!
Increased Personalization:
The design aimed to shift psychology from "TAB is trying to sell me something" to "TAB knows what I care about and rewards my loyalty" through targeted offers and visible progression.Gamification Driving Adoption:
Venue-specific tokens incentivize physical location visits. Customizable offer packs give users control over their experience. Progression mechanics (Boosting, Shielding) make betting more strategic and engaging.Competitive Advantage:
TAB's unique combination of AI personalization + physical venue network + gamification systems creates differentiation competitors struggle to replicate.
TAB Offers proves AI personalization alone isn't enough; you need gamification that makes users want to return, progress, and engage deeply.
The lesson: combine AI's analytical power with game mechanics that reward loyalty and progression. Study gaming psychology. Build systems that reward and delight. Make progression visible. Make loyalty meaningful.
We could have optimized for short-term betting volume. But that creates manipulation, not value. Instead: optimize for relevance AND reward. Trust that engagement drives long-term revenue.
In betting and fintech: users don't just want better features. They want to feel seen, understood, and rewarded for their loyalty.