Online wagering group appoints former Nova CMO as marketing chief

ASX-listed online wagering operator, BlueBet Holdings, has recruited Tony Thomas as its Australian chief marketing officer.

Thomas boasts of more than 20 years’ experience in marketing and digital roles across media, technology, entertainment, food and beverage and retail categories. For the past three years, he’s been consulting on brand and acquisition strategy across tech sectors.

Prior to this, Thomas spent nine years as chief marketing and digital officer at Nova Entertainment, overseeing digital marketing and brand strategy. During this time, he’s credited with driving significant growth, helping Nova triple earnings.

Before Nova, Thomas had a stint as head of media and advertising at Coles at the time of its ‘Down Down’ campaign release and was also formerly marketing director at Ninemsn. In addition, he spent nearly six years as marketing director of PepsiCo.  

“Tony is a world-class marketer that thinks differently, and we’re delighted to be bringing his expertise, drive and track record of supporting growth to BlueBet,” the company’s CEO, Bill Richmond, said.

BlueBet offers wagering products on 31 sports in Australia and internationally, plus entertainment and politics wagering markets. It reported annual turnover of $133 million in FY22, up 5.6 per cent year-on-year.

“Tony has developed and executed some of the most recognisable campaigns in this market over the past 20 years and importantly, built teams and cultures that align with BlueBet’s values and disruptor mentality. Tony is bringing a strong strategic mind to the company and has exciting ideas about how we can take our brand and proposition to the next level,” Richmond continued.

“Tony understands BlueBet is a challenger brand with a unique proposition and appeal to Australian punters and we think his expertise and vision will make a real impact to our business.”

Thomas also saw it as an exciting time for BlueBet as it experiences strong growth in market. His appointment comes just weeks after the company announced a $500,000 strategic investment into UK-based free to play sports gamification platform provider, Low 6.

“I’m looking forward to helping accelerate its growth agenda, disrupt the market, and continue to take market share,” Thomas commented. “There is a real challenger brand mentality at BlueBet, filled with smart and passionate people, and this is exactly the sort of business I love being part of. As a challenger brand, we need to work faster and smarter and create big, impactful ideas that cut through in a competitive market.

“Australians have lots of choice when it comes to punting so creating an Australian brand Aussie punters love is important. The BlueBet team has done an outstanding job and have a ton of industry knowledge and I’m excited to be joining such a high performing and passionate team.”

Don’t miss out on the wealth of insight and content provided by CMO A/NZ and sign up to our weekly CMO Digest newsletters and information services here.  

You can also follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO conversation on LinkedIn: CMO ANZ, follow our regular updates via CMO Australia's Linkedin company page