The Future of Digital Entertainment with G2A CMO Mona Kinal

Brent Peterson (00:00.13) just say hi welcome to Talk Commerce. Welcome to this episode of Talk Commerce. Today I have Mona Kinal. Mona go ahead do an introduction for yourself. Tell us your day-to-day role and what we're going to talk about today. Mona (00:12.648) Hello, everyone. Hello, Brent. Thanks, first of all, for having me. It is a great pleasure. My name is Mona and I'm a passionate marketing professional with more than 20 years of experience across e-commerce, retail, sports, fashion, media and entertainment industry. I have worked for some of the largest global brands. such as MTV or Nickelodeon at Viacom, at Discovery Networks, on the agency side for advertising and peer agencies. I launched startup e-commerce businesses. I was working for omni-channel brands. And for last years, I've been working happily at G2A.com, which is the world's largest and most trusted marketplace for digital entertainment. where more than 30 million people from 180 countries have purchased more than 100 million items from 75,000 digital offerings across gaming and non-gaming. So as you can see, this is quite impressive. And I hope today to share a little bit of my knowledge as well as some insights into what it takes. to stay at the forefront for myself as a marketing professional, but also at the forefront of the business for g2a.com to stay relevant for the audiences, which is like one of the greatest challenges these days for everybody, whether it's a small or a big brand. So I hope it's going to be interesting and you can stay with us. Brent Peterson (01:58.36) Yeah, that's fantastic. And we both talked about that. I didn't tell you where I come. I come from Minnesota, which is in the middle of the country. And I'm on an island and now in the middle of the Pacific. And you come from Poland. And you're on an island in the, not in the middle of the Atlantic. we both have a similar journey as well. I'm not a very good surfer. I just tried to surf on Friday and I did terrible. But we're both in surfing locations. So we have that in common. Mona (02:00.167) Woo! Mona (02:23.812) Yeah, we do. Brent Peterson (02:26.04) Alright, so let's talk a little bit about G2A. My previous experience was in the agency space and one of our biggest clients was Universal Music. So I'm familiar with the market and some of the background of that. But tell us your story and how you got to G2A. Mona (02:45.424) Yeah. So basically my story as a marketing professional, as I mentioned before, has led me to G2A for a few reasons. First of all, I mostly love working for a global brands because this is quite of a challenge because every market is different and you need to have a global perspective, but you need to think local to stay relevant. So first of all, the challenge has brought me to G2A of that kind. Secondly, it's been digital entertainment as such and a digital specific business model of G2A.com because G2A.com originally started as an e-commerce online video game store in 2010. Then over years, G2A.com noticed that there is a bigger potential to switch into marketplace model and kind of a all digital of marketplace model where buyers could buy from sellers all range of different products. Then there was a pandemic and the COVID-19 has actually reshaped the market totally. Basically, entertainment was a significant part of it. It shaped completely new customer and completely new ways of behaviors for the customer. And g2a.com managed to jump into this whole new specifics of the customer's behavior and basically reshaped its way of working. afterwards, we managed to expand and enhance further business strategy and jumped into other categories to offer all digital experience to the customers. So basically first it was all about video games. It was all about hard gamers and experience for them and offering. And then after pandemic, it started to be more than that because a new customer like... Mona (05:02.427) casual gamer arrived, not just a hardcore gamer or hard gamer as we call them, then they started to look not just for video games, but also for other offerings such as software, e-learning, gift cards, subscriptions. So we thought, okay, why don't we create this first and very specific one-stop destination for all that's digital? And it's been working very well since then. And we've been growing really fast basically across this digital space. And of course it is very challenging because it is like how to stay relevant for the target audiences, how to stay safe these days in terms of cyber security, how to gain trust, how to differentiate yourselves from everyone else. And this is exactly what's on my plate every single day. Brent Peterson (06:01.73) Yeah, so G2A, tell us where you started. You started in Europe and now you're entering the US market. Tell us a little bit about a background of the platform and where it's going. Mona (06:11.587) Yeah, so we are a digital, all digital marketplace offering gaming. So everything that's about gaming like games, DLCs, in-game items, as well as non-gaming, such as gift cards, subscriptions, software, all e-learning. This is all sold by quality and verified sellers from all over the world. And we are present pretty much everywhere. It's been 180 countries for us and our primary market is United States. This is a core market for us and our core marketing activities focus on the US market. Not only of course, we've got some more core markets like Spain, like UK, like Germany, like Poland, but major, major market for us remains United States. Brent Peterson (07:08.448) And so you had said earlier that you've now broken into sort of e-learning and some of the other software packages. Now you're competing against some of the other larger marketplaces. Tell us how you're kind of working in that realm. Mona (07:23.822) Yeah, definitely. at the moment we are, mean, digital as such and e-commerce as such or marketplace as if you like, is one big cake for the customer from their perspective. Basically they don't want to think like, okay, maybe I go there, I go there. They just want to be attracted with anything they need to get things done basically. So they want to have convenience and a great user experience. They want to have a great brand that would feel, look and speak to them in this very unique, nice way. So the content, know, or the marketing channels that they are selected and personalized in a way to approach them. They want to see that this is safe and secure. So for example, they've got like all this payment methods in place. you know, people say that in their research, that 77 % of users are not willing to finalize the purchase if they cannot take or use their primary and most favorite payment method. So basically we've been on the forefront here as well with more than 400 plus banking channels that we offer, know, that makes us super attractive from that perspective as well. We are using the global payment methods as well as very local payment methods, know, like Blic in Poland, don't know, Bizum in Poland. in Spain and that works really well in terms of the credibility and trust. We've been using all of the modern technology to stay relevant. Speaking of AI, for example, you know, it's in the security as much as in the verification process for the sellers, as much as in marketing space and the content creation. I'm sure we will be talking about that a little bit more shortly. So yeah, that's how you do it. how complex these days the business is and how complex their marketing role at the moment actually is. Brent Peterson (09:31.63) The marketplace is 100 % digital, are you doing some physical items that have to get fulfilled? Mona (09:36.469) No, it's 100 % digital and we've been very advanced in plenty of aspects such as cyber security, for example, and we have managed to achieve this anti-fraud rate lower than industry average and we've been remaining so for many, many years. That is actually kind of... giving us this position that is standing out, you know, across the industry. And we are very proud of that. And this is something we never compromise on basically. So, so yeah. Brent Peterson (10:14.766) Do you find that the Western appetite for gaming is more than say India or Mexico or South America? Is there a uniqueness to the Western attitudes towards gaming? Mona (10:26.964) I would say that gaming as a digital entertainment, because that's exactly what we need to call it so these days, it's a big thing, know, it's no more kind of a niche thing for some of the people sitting in the basement, you know, like the stereotype of a gamer, it doesn't exist anymore. It is a very big industry and it's growing. So basically gaming differs. depending on the location, but also type of a user. You've got the PC gamers that play the game on the PC. You've got the gamers playing on mobile. You've got the console gamers. You've got the game pass gamers, basically. So it's like changing rapidly. And to stay ahead of this race and to stay relevant for the gamer as such. is very complicated. What's more, they want a personalized content, know, they want inspiration, basically, differs between those client segments that are very complex and very advanced. You've got heavy gamers, you've got casual gamers, you've got families, you've got youngsters. So basically, this is everything that we need to address daily. And it's getting even more complicated. Of course, we've got tools to make it easier, like AI, for example, that helps with the research and analysis and all that. But on the other hand, it's still the creative aspect and the non-standard approach and this very good profile selection and mix of channels that gives you this advantage. Basically, if you do it well, then you are at the forefront. So I would say that it differs depending on who you are talking about or where is the gamer, it very much differs. Brent Peterson (12:29.026) You mentioned the pandemic and how that was a shift in how the marketplace has worked, digital marketplaces, and now AI is really changing it. Tell us a little bit about how AI helps merchants on your platform, but also how it can help the end user. Mona (12:44.129) Yeah, so basically AI is no longer, you know, a buzzword. It is part of our daily lives, starting from the chat, GDP, you know, and an average person daily using it for anything they need to write or find, you know, in the internet. It's very helpful. And then you can think of big brands creating even whole advertisements, based on AI. So basically we are there as well. We've been using it in a marketing campaigns. We've been using it in a marketing content. We've been using it in all type of content, articles, and everything to position ourselves in a sale and so on. But what's even more important, I would say, is that we use AI, of course, with the support still of human beings because we still need to be involved to make sure that this is working well for the business, this is working well for the end customer. So basically, we are using it, for example, as I mentioned before, AI in the process of verifying sellers that start selling on our platform. So AI helps us basically to make it faster, to make it more... precise and to make it better, basically. Then we use AI in data engineering and data analytics. So basically, the client segments that I mentioned are very much depending on the AI as well, but also this kind of big data solutions. We use systems like Syneryze. that helps us in this personalization and this exceptional guidance for the customer. We use it for the customer service in a way as well to make it automated, but also make it faster for the client that doesn't really want to wait for connection and the call with the person, especially for the global business, helps because then... Mona (14:47.114) you don't really need to stay on the phone, you know, like 24 hours. So basically it is a very big convenience. And then, you know, it's a, as I mentioned, cyber security. So basically we use, we use this whole infrastructure that serves as the first line of defense, I would say. So we are monitoring, mean, AI is helping us to monitor and analyze certain patterns of behaviors. It is like, predicting the outcomes of unusual behavior. So basically it prevents at the end of the day this fraudulent activity and it added outcome basically. So it is being trained over time and this machine learning is then used for future cases. So it's getting better and better each time. So yeah, it's been very helpful. In all of those aspects, would say, yeah, it's a lot. Brent Peterson (15:46.222) Yeah, I think that's exciting to hear. A lot of times people just think of AI still as just generative and they forget the fact that it can do so many more things better than just write content. And I think what you talked about finding those patterns is such an important part, even in segmentation for marketing. Talk a little bit about how it's automating some of the workflows. Cause it sounded like you were saying you're using AI to help automate some of your workflows and make both the backend experience and the front end experience better. Mona (15:56.715) Absolutely, yeah. Mona (16:03.495) Absolutely. Mona (16:15.752) Yeah, so basically, if you think about customer value management, or if you like the marketing automation, you can basically use AI to design the whole flow of communication with your end user, which is in your database, basically. So if we've got data, we can personalize content, we can adjust the communication. intensity or communication frequency to the user. Whenever there is, for example, a gaming premiere, like, I don't know, Spider-Man coming or Monster Hunter coming, and we know the history of the purchase, the system helps us basically to select the user that would be most willing to jump in, you know, and return to buy and so on. Then we can also add some more products that the user could be interested in, or based on this history, but also predicting potential customer behavior moving forward. Then it would adjust the communication. So basically, if you prepare a few different lines of creatives, for example, then it would match the profile of the user depending on all of it, all the behavior or the history of our user in our database. then it would say, okay, why don't we send a web push to this user, I don't know, two days after, or maybe if we have a mobile, why don't we send an SMS just to make sure that he gets alerted about certain opportunity that arises at the G2A, and so on and so forth. So basically, I would say that it's almost like an endless journey that we've been... a part of at the moment and it's only up to us how we can take advantage of it and how much we can open up to what's out there. Brent Peterson (18:22.302) From a marketing standpoint, are you most excited about right now? If we take away a genitive AI, what are you most excited about? Mona (18:26.926) I'm yeah. Yeah, I would say that because I'm a passionate brand evangelist myself, my core thing is the brand. So at the g2a.com we have developed a while ago a very concise and I think a really great marketing brand positioning which stays around G2A stands for GATE. to adventure. So basically we positioned G2A as a gate to adventure to a digital world basically. So when we speak in a marketing language, we act in two brand archetypes. First, we are explorers. So we want to inspire our users to see what's out there in digital, to discover more, to see how they can increase their potential in digital. And it's a very democratic positioning because we communicate pretty much with everybody despite location, despite gender, despite age or the digital savviness, I would say. It's about youngsters as much as about the silver generation because it's all there. So we want to be a democratic brand for everybody and be like a guide for them in a digital space. And then there is a second archetype. which is a caregiver. And this is all about assuring them, ensuring them that we are safe place, that we can be trusted. That's all what I mentioned already before, know, starting from all these systems, the prevention systems ending with this payment methods that make it all convenient for our end user. So basically, I would say that this brand's journey is and the AI. is something that I mostly myself as a brand evangelist and marketing professional mostly excited about moving forward and what we can do with it, you know, and all this, I don't know, would you argue made the reality that we can create, you know, the mid journey that we can use in creating the content, you know, and all this, this, this campaigns and the messages that we can pass through. It's actually endless opportunities out there. Mona (20:51.113) And also a great mission because as G2A.com, we want to democratize digital entertainment, as I mentioned. And I believe that this is only helping us, the AI as well, and the digital as such, to get even wider with our message and to actually get access to everyone and encourage them to jump in and join these digital adventures with us. and it's for benefit for everybody. It's about using digital to move the world forward in a way. That's actually something that I'm mostly excited about. Brent Peterson (21:29.262) That's awesome. The one thing we forgot to do in the very beginning of the show was to do the free joke project. And since we have a few minutes left still, I do want to get it in. So I'm going to tell you a joke. And all you have to do is give me a rating, 8 through 13. 8 through 13 is the Mona (21:39.346) Alright! Mona (21:46.257) Okay? Mona (21:54.344) I can't hear you. I can't hear you. Mona (22:00.818) I think I lost you. Brent Peterson (22:08.75) How about now? jeez. right, all right, hold on. There we go. All right, sorry about that. Mona (22:09.988) Yeah, we are back. Mona (22:15.036) Yeah, let's be reminded that you are in the US, I'm in Spain, you know, it's still a big distance. Brent Peterson (22:19.53) Ha Right. Yeah. All right. Here we go. I'm going to tell you a joke. Give me a rating eight through 13. Brent Peterson (22:31.136) I went to a psychic. I knocked on her front door. She yelled, who is it? So I left. Mona (22:40.903) And I would say it's a 10 because you already told me that it's like the very smart way to say that it's like the, you know, I'm pointing at 10. So yeah, but truly it was a 10. I loved that. Brent Peterson (22:44.728) That was so... Brent Peterson (22:53.966) All right. Alright, good. Yeah, thanks. I meant to do it in the beginning, but it's always good to get it out of the way, right? Mona (23:03.533) Yeah, and I also love your face, you know, when you when you say the joke, it's like so serious, you know, and that's 10 as well. You know, it's like perfect. Brent Peterson (23:11.882) Yes. Yeah, I used to do some speaking in Germany and even in Poland and it was really hard to get a reaction from the audience, especially in Germany. You know that the German flag represents, there's some colors in the German flag that represents humor and the color is blue. Mona (23:28.273) Yeah. Mona (23:32.943) Right, I'm getting it. Blue is my color for sure because I'm like the water person, you know, similarly to you. So let's just stay with that. And our flag consists of blue for sure, yours and mine. Brent Peterson (23:34.88) I told that joke at Brent Peterson (23:40.748) Right. Brent Peterson (23:46.686) Right, yeah, perfect. Good, so Mona, we have a few minutes left. Give us a prediction on 2025. What does it look like for the gaming economy? Mona (23:58.181) Yeah, so I'm really sorry. Okay, just give me a second because my daughter is here. She just gave me She just came to give me a kiss. Okay. She is gonna be At some point a little gamer as well. So basically this is inevitable. So I would say that that's Okay, Mimi, Sorry about that. Okay, so basically, first thing that we have already discussed, definitely it will be AI. It will continue to grow. It will continue to get even more important for everybody pretty much, no matter which industry it is. And I would say that those who can take advantage of it sooner than later will win. So that's probably the first one. Brent Peterson (24:28.512) No, no, no problem. Mona (24:57.095) Definitely from the business perspective, marketplaces, I will go into gaming in a minute, marketplaces are actually worth adding as well. Marketplace will continue to strengthen their positions in the business. And already we know that, for example, in Europe, 65 % of revenue in online sales is driven by marketplaces. So that will continue. to expand as well. Then in terms of the gaming, I would say that we will see more and more involvement of brands into such platforms as Roblox or Fortnite, for example, because the research also say that users are more willing to buy from the brands that are showcased in their favorite game or space where they are. And basically, platforms such as Roblox or Fortnite are not just platforms, they are like communities. So basically the users, they spent a lot of time there. And already now in US, it's more in the generation Z than on TikTok. So basically they spent more time there than on TikTok, which means that they... They are part of the community there. So they are being inspired there, but they also create content actively there. They also shop there. So basically it's much more advanced than anything else before. So it will very much impact the gaming behaviors and the marketing brands basically moving forward. What else? We will definitely see more of this trend, you know, that we will have more entertainment. coming from the gaming space. So we will see more of the films, more series based on games, you know, because all these publishers, they know that this is very exciting and it's also very good business. So definitely we will see more of that coming, you know, so it was some at some point like Lara Croft, you know, and Tomb Raider, but now it's much more, you know, we will see probably more of a Mona (27:21.579) switching between different ways of gaming. So basically, you've got the Nintendo console, you've got the PC, you've got mobile. So more and more users will be switching between those different channels or devices because they are like business was getting omnichannel at some point, they are getting kind of multi-device as well. So there is... a lot of amazing stuff coming up in gaming. It will be still growing. It will be very much impacting the user's behavior. It will be shaping it. And we are very excited to be part of it. Brent Peterson (28:09.292) That's great. Yeah. And I think you're right that we'll see people going from one device to the other seamlessly from your mobile device to your PlayStation to your PC. That'll be the next sort of omnichannel game. Yeah, I love that. That's going to be our takeaway. Mona, as I close out, I give everybody a chance to do a shameless plug about anything they like. What would you like to plug today? Mona (28:22.607) Yeah. Mona (28:31.269) I just would like to encourage everyone to jump on g2a.com and just sink in it and just see what's out there and how exciting it is. And if you haven't played any game yet, there are some people like that, you can do it with us. It's very easy. It's very fast process and it's very safe and secure. And it's also very exciting. So hopefully it will be. your first experience, but definitely not the last one with us. So I would say go to g2a.com, open the gate to adventure with us in digital. Brent Peterson (29:11.37) That's perfect. you. Mona Kinal, the CMO, the Chief Marketing Officer for g2a.com. Thank you so much for being here today. Mona (29:21.359) Thank you very much.