MANCHESTER, England, June 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Betfred.com received the prestigious 'Best Innovation in Social Marketing' Award at the EGR E-gaming Operator Innovation Awards ceremony in London yesterday (June 6th).

The Operator Innovation Awards bring together the most creative organisations in the industry, with Betfred.com recognised for their pioneering approach to social marketing.

Betfred.com use a host of innovative tools and products to engage and acquire new customers and beat off competition from Paddy Power, Playstudios, Sports Gaming and Winamax to land the award.

In particular, the Gibraltar-based operator has been a key sponsor and partner of We R Interactive's social football game I AM PLAYR. The highly popular game boasts over 10 million registered players and average monthly users in excess of 1.5m.

Managing Director of Betfred.com Chris Sheffield commented, "I AM PLAYR has been a great social vehicle for exposing our brand to millions of targeted potential customers and the concept is highly innovative."

"Betfred.com is embedded throughout the game and it even features a cameo appearance from Fred himself and is a great example of how social media beyond the usual channels can really be used to engage with customers at a much deeper level."

With specific regard to the award, Sheffield remarked, "We are delighted to have been recognised for our achievements within social marketing."

"In addition to our work with I AM PLAYR we have employed other products such as mobile and Facebook fantasy games to engage with customers and have embedded social channels within key products."

"For instance the Betfred.com Goals Galore mobile application allows customers to tweet selections to their friends and social community direct from their betslip. This has proved very successful and was responsible for our customers winning nearly £1m in a single afternoon after a tweet forecasting a 45/1 shot seven fold Goals Galore bet was taken up by thousands of followers."

Sheffield added, "The Goals Galore twitter tip is a great example of how the power of social media can be used in the realm of e-gaming and we are always delighted when customers get a result and are able to share their winning experience."

"We hope to continue to innovate in this space and there is no doubt that our investment and innovation in both mobile and social technologies has been a huge factor in our extraordinary growth."

A spokesperson for E-gaming Review revealed why the judging panel had chosen Betfred.com for the award, saying, "Betfred were able to deliver something different with a strategy that shows a clear progression of ideas and expertise."

"They keep things simple while effectively using social channels to ramp up customer engagement, allowing them to stand out among a number of impressive competitors in a particularly strong category."

Yesterday's win is further testament to the culture of innovation at Betfred. In 2012 Betfred Mobile beat off competition from 18 leading operators to land the accolade for 'Best Innovation in Mobile' at the mGaming Awards.

Betfred.com

Betfred was founded in 1967 by Fred Done and is now the World's largest independent bookmakers, with over 1350 retail shops. Betfred acquired The Tote in June 2011 and has exclusive licenses to operate pools products on UK horseracing. Petfre operates the Betfred brand online and on mobile, offering a range of products including an online sports book, casino, poker, bingo, games, lotteries and mobile gaming, for which Betfred won the Innovator in Mobile 2012 award. Betfred.com produced the UK's biggest online win of over £5.1 million and is home to the popular Goals Galore and Double Delight/Hat-trick Heaven football promotions.

We R Interactive

We R Interactive are a pioneering social entertainment company. Fusing premium-quality film production and interactive storytelling underpinned by gaming mechanics We R Interactive create unique, shareable experiences that bring millions of people around the globe closer to their passions.

We R Interactive's first releases, I AM PLAYR and LYROKE, are unique multi-platform games that offer fans a new way to interact with football and music.

Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited (t/as Betfred) (Registered number 1277703).
Registered Office: The Spectrum, 56-58 Benson Road, Birchwood, Warrington, WA3 7PQ.
Registered in England and Wales.

SOURCE Betfred