CP Media talked to representatives of the BGaming company, a rapidly growing provider of content for online casinos, about the global art initiative “When Art Meets Gaming” that has already realized several artistic collaborations with famous artists. Maria Nesterenko, PR Manager at BGaming, told us more about the initiative, its essence and marketing component, the process of realization, and the artists involved.
— How did you come up with the idea to create such merchandise?
— Everyone likes to receive gifts, and our partners are no exception. We always strive to choose high-quality and relevant gifts that could surprise, inspire, and distinguish BGaming among competitors. Our team never makes decisions just for show — we put deep meaning into every idea. That’s what happened with our global initiative “When Art Meets Gaming.”
We went beyond gambling or rather combined it with art, which allowed us to distinguish ourselves as not only a cool gaming provider but also as a provider with global creative marketing ideas. Collaboration with local artists in online format harmoniously transitioned to offline, and we created the WOW merch.
I’m sure our customers enjoy wearing BGaming hoodies, t-shirts, and sweatshirts featuring artists’ artworks and fondly remember our company. With such exclusive merch, BGaming managed to add extra value to gifts and share it with the iGaming community.
— Can you tell us about the process of collaboration between artists and your team?
— Collaboration with artists is definitely a new line for BGaming. The process of choosing an artist takes quite a long time as it’s important for us to find someone to feel real inspiration and alignment with. When selecting an artist, we pay attention to their portfolio, work experience, cooperation with other brands, and their creative approach, which will bring the characters of BGaming slots from a completely new and unconventional perspective.
We usually choose two or three artists at the final stage to create images of the characters in a test format, and then we select a “winner” together with the marketing team. Next, we keep working with the artist on interpreting the characters: making edits, suggesting ideas, and discussing next steps. We work together to perfect the art. When all the details are agreed, we move on to creating banners, merchandise, and stand design.
The process of interaction with artists isn’t always easy and smooth, but we’re driven by our main goal of making the collaboration unique, vivid, and catchy. We’re willing to overcome any challenges along the way to achieve such amazing results.
— Will you use the artwork somewhere other than the merch?
— We certainly don’t leave artwork without attention. The artist’s work becomes an integral part of our exhibition stand, and we always integrate it in a balanced way on the walls so that every visitor can “touch” the art, see the result of cooperation between BGaming and the artist in real life, and, of course, take colorful photos!
Since the “When Art Meets Gaming” initiative is global and we’ve already started cooperation with the fourth local artist in Malta, we’re planning to create a separate section on the BGaming website dedicated to this project. There everyone can learn more about all the art collaborations, view the artworks, and read the stories of their creators.
We aren’t going to stop here. In the future, we also intend to conduct unconventional marketing activities and collaborations to further surprise and inspire our audience.
— What artists were involved in the creation? Can you tell us more about them?
— It all started with ICE London. In January 2023, we partnered with Thumbs, an English street art artist, to present popular BGaming slot characters in an unusual, new visual format:
- Elvis Frog;
- Joker Queen;
- Cactus Cowboy;
- Johnny Cash.
The second artist we were lucky to collaborate with for the iGB Live exhibition in Amsterdam was I AM EELCO, who is one of the top 10 best street art artists in New York. He was very enthusiastic to “reformat” our characters and present them from a completely new side!
Our third collaboration was with Spanish world famous artist Jay Kaes exclusively for BGaming’s participation in SBC Summit Barcelona. This muralist gave an unusual interpretation of our main characters from Book of Cats, Penny Pelican, and Elvis Frog slots.
— The SiGMA event in Malta will take place in November. What are your plans for it, and will there be any merch there?
— We’re already actively preparing for our participation at SiGMA Europe. Maltese artist MARCAMIX has given us the final samples of his interpretations that we’ll use to get ready for the exhibition.
Of course, we can’t go there without merch: high quality, colorful, unusual, and the kind that many people are waiting for. 🙂 Gifts, promotional products, and stand design — everything will be complemented by the artist’s works. We don’t reveal details since the most interesting things are ahead. We’re looking forward to seeing the characters of BGaming slots in a new non-standard interpretation online and offline. We invite everyone to visit the BGaming stand #2109 at SiGMA Europe and become a part of the “When Art Meets Gaming” initiative!
