Odgers, who joined Virgin Bet as head of marketing in July 2025, previously held significant marketing positions at Sportpesa, Sportingbet, and Greatodds. With Virgin Bet set to launch in South Africa in March, she has been promoted to general manager, leading the company's initiatives in this vast market.
Her marketing expertise is critical to her role, as she emphasizes the importance of branding in the iGaming industry. "I think many people will echo the sentiment that our business has largely become a marketing business," she stated. "In iGaming as an operator, marketing is a cornerstone to the success or failure of your operations, and oftentimes having a non-marketing background can hold you back from that investment. To capitalize on the early brand equity, you need someone quite brand-focused and courageous in their strategy."
Odgers acknowledges that while marketing plays a pivotal role, the product must also be strong enough to retain customers. "At some point, obviously, your product has to be good enough to retain customers, but for now, the brand is something that’s going to attract South Africans to us," she explained. "I’ve worked with multiple operators to have a financially sound background as well, which adds to my product-focused experience. Marketing is vital, but I am also very compliance, finance, and customer satisfaction-focused."
She expressed optimism regarding Virgin Bet's launch, noting that South Africans are receptive to established brands like Virgin. "My initial reservations were that it’s a brand new brand. Everyone knows Virgin, but Virgin Bet is unknown in South Africa, so we were relatively conservative in our target setting for our first quarter of operations," Odgers shared. "However, if you go in with a trusted brand and a good product, South Africans are willing to give you a shot, which is exciting in a saturated market."
When discussing goals for the coming year, Odgers highlighted market share as a key objective without specifying numbers. "Market share is a target for all tier-two operators in South Africa, trying to gain traction and compete," she noted. "We’d love to be in the top percentage of tier-two operators and then improve from there. Additionally, building a retention base is crucial for us, and a healthy retention rate indicates that our product is successful and that we're making the right changes."
As the World Cup approaches, questions arise about the marketing strategies used by operators. H2 Gambling Capital Managing Director Ed Birkin previously commented on whether the industry spends excessively on marketing, warning that neglecting marketing could diminish operators' visibility. Odgers believes the approach should depend on the operator's customer base and cautions against letting major events dictate overall marketing strategies.
"I don’t believe in a four-week tournament defining your whole marketing strategy for that year," she stated. "You should certainly focus on it but creating an entire campaign around a short tournament can limit long-term vision. Spending substantially on marketing shortly before an event can lead to ad fatigue very quickly. Instead, a balanced increase in acquisition spending is beneficial."
Kyle Goldsmith, who joined Clarion in December 2023, has transitioned from sports journalism to become a senior reporter focused on Latin America for iGB.
