Q&A with Niamh Carberry, Head of Marketing
Introduction
In this second edition of Leading the Charge, we’re turning the spotlight on Niamh Carberry, White Label Casinos’ Head of Marketing. From crafting a playful yet professional brand voice to shaking up the iGaming industry with innovative campaigns, Niamh gives us a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to lead marketing in such a competitive space. Curious about the secrets to standing out while staying true to your brand? Keep reading.
Question Time
1. White Label Casinos has a quirky, playful brand tone—how do you ensure that resonates with a B2B audience?
The trick is, we know our brand tone won’t resonate with everyone—and that’s perfectly fine. In a competitive space like ours, standing out means knowing who we are and attracting the right clients, not just anyone. While some might prefer a more corporate tone, we’ve found that our approach resonates deeply with those looking for a partner who feels as approachable as they are professional.
At White Label Casinos, the fundamentals are a given: licenses, expert teams, and an industry-leading, flexible and modular product. But what often tips the scales for clients is the intangible connection we bring to the table. All you need to do is visit our stand at an event, and you’ll see clients who feel more like part of our team—laughing, engaging, and sharing in our energy.
We’re serious about what matters: delivering exceptional products and tailored solutions. But serious doesn’t have to mean boring. We operate in the gambling industry—an inherently entertaining space—so why shouldn’t our marketing reflect that? Our playful tone doesn’t just differentiate us; it signals to our clients that we understand the spirit of the industry and bring that energy to everything we do.
Naturally, that opens up our marketing opportunities to show potential clients what it’s really like working with White Label Casinos. We had a chance to chat to a client at a recent event, SBC Lisbon, and get his take. The vibe is relaxed, and we didn’t even have to pay him for his kind words.
2. How do you approach building a brand that stands out in such a competitive industry?
From day one, we knew we didn’t want to emulate the ‘corporate-first’ approach that many of the industry’s big players excel at. While we admire them, we recognised that our strength lies in doing things differently. Our boutique size and ethos of personalisation gave us the freedom to infuse creativity, playfulness, and bold thinking into our marketing.
We set out to not just compete, but to redefine how a white-label casino provider could engage its audience, blending a healthy balance of fun, memorable brand-building with a focus on future growth.
Short-term wins are important—don’t get us wrong. But building a sustainable future for lead generation means committing to the long game. At White Label Casinos, we’ve invested heavily in long-term brand marketing because we know it pays dividends. By creating content that entertains, informs, and builds emotional connections, we’re not just capturing attention today; we’re cultivating relationships that could lead to partnerships years down the line.
Balancing short-term sales activation with long-term brand building is key. We’ve leaned more into brand building during our first two years, focusing on creativity and establishing recognition. Heading into our third year, we’re shifting gears slightly, amplifying sales activation while staying true to our playful and engaging style.
There was a really interesting study carried out by Binet & Fields who conducted and analysed over 1,000 case studies which concluded that businesses that balance their marketing, i.e. investing in producing content that’s not only attention grabbing, but emotional, engaging and even entertaining, perform significantly better.
Whether you’ve followed us for a while or you’re a newcomer (welcome), you’ll have seen that memes, playful videos of the people behind the business, TikTok style videos and a lean towards shouting about our ‘’hot takes’’ on industry bullsh*t, feature heavily in our marketing. We love a stunt at events, taking part in viral challenges and loads more. Not to mention the games at our exhibition stands, usually the brainchild of our CEO.
To make a short story exceptionally long, we believe standing out in a competitive industry means creating not just casinos, but conversations. Our focus is on building a brand that resonates emotionally while delivering tangible results. By balancing creativity with strategy, and long-termism with action, we’re not just catching attention—we’re working towards setting new standards.
3. Geoff the Duck has become a quirky icon for White Label Casinos—what are the benefits of having a brand mascot, and how has Geoff helped you connect with your audience?
Ah, Geoff. Everyone’s favourite mascot. Well, maybe everyone is a stretch. But we do get major love for our cheeky little duck.
Honestly, incorporating a mascot like Geoff into our brand was something we wanted to do from the moment the White Label Casinos brand was being conceptualised.
Without getting into the backstory (that’s for another day), Geoff has played a key role in our brand recall and differentiation. Sure, he’s a two-dimensional duck (for now- more on that in 2025). So, what does a duck have to do with operating successful white label casinos? You might argue, not much. But by having a mascot like Geoff, you open yourself up to a whole new world of creative marketing opportunities.
A little stat for you. Research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, stay with me here, proves time and time again that a character is the single most distinctive brand asset you can have. Brand mascots are predominantly found in B2C marketing. Off the top of your head, you can probably name at least 10. Go on, have a think. While B2B brands tend to skip over mascots and focus on rational messaging rather than emotional storytelling, which mascots excel at.
Questions around perception of professionalism are bound to arise for companies adopting mascots. Many avoiding mascots due to concerns they might seem too informal or detract from their credibility. Whereas studies show that B2B buyers are just as emotionally driven as B2C consumers. They value trust, connection, and confidence in their choices, just as much as B2C consumers. Mascots can humanise a brand and foster emotional bonds, but this potential is frequently underestimated.
There are tons of examples of how we’ve utilised him so far, and genuinely, we’re only getting started. You’ll typically find him on our branded giveaways at events, as well as being dotted around the stand. We’ve turned him into safari animals to promote our South African prize giveaway for SBC Lisbon. Have a peek here.
Geoff and ducks in general featured heavily throughout our inaugural awards night this summer, The Duckies (go figure). Our CEO, Phil, even donned a duck-themed tie for the night. A WLC Stan if we ever saw one. Geoff keeps us in check with bleeping out some NSFW content, to which there can bea lot of at WLC.
Our actual trophies were ducks. Here I am looking proud as punch with my own award:
Our duck reference even made its way into our company values– ‘’Hard work, yes. But we don’t take life quacking seriously.’’ So, you can imagine just how committed we are to making Geoff a part of our weird and wonderful world at White Label Casinos.
” We set out to not just compete, but to redefine how a white-label casino provider could engage its audience, blending a healthy balance of fun, memorable brand-building with a focus on future growth.”
Niamh Carberry, Head of Marketing
4. What role does humour play in your B2B marketing strategy, and why do you think it works?
Humour plays a major role in our B2B marketing strategy. Be it through our social posts, video content, playful employer brand style videos and even our client testimonials. Everything we do is infused with a playful and humorous energy. Humour can cut through the noise. Take a scroll on LinkedIn and you’ll notice how the same copy is repeated time after time. In press release announcements, you have the ‘’we’re strengthened our c-level team’ or one of my favourites ‘we’ve bolstered our executive team’. Marketers’ hands can be tied, and they’re restricted by tight tone of voice guidelines where the message is the message.
I count myself and my team lucky that we have the creative space to make announcements that can be infused with a playful tone, as well as humour.
Humour works because it’s memorable. In a saturated industry like ours, humour is one of the most effective tools for doing that. It’s not about being ‘’funny’’ for the sake of it—it’s about striking a balance between playfulness and professionalism, which we’ve found resonates deeply with our target audience.
But the real secret is authenticity. The humour we infuse into our marketing isn’t forced; it’s an extension of our team’s personality and the culture we’ve built at White Label Casinos. It helps us attract like-minded clients who share our values and appreciate the balance of quality, professionalism, and a little bit of mischief.
Ultimately, humour works for us because it reflects who we are. We’re serious about delivering top-tier products and services, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. That’s a balance we’re proud of—and one that keeps people coming back for more.
5. What’s your secret weapon when it comes to staying inspired and creative in your role?
It’s pretty typical for marketers to never ‘’switch off’’ fully because you can get inspiration from anywhere at any time, and honestly, it’s true. Getting out from behind the desk and even taking a short walk around your area can spark some of the best ideas. It can also spark some shite ideas too, but I’ve made sure to cultivate an environment within my team so that there is space to share ideas openly, often starting with a ‘’guys, this idea might be shit, but I was thinking…’’, or a classic ‘’I’m just thinking out loud here’’ and it snowballs from there, where we compound our ideas to land on the best option. Creativity is rarely a solo act—it’s about building on each other’s thoughts to refine and elevate the concept.
Some people are ‘’ideas’’ people and others are masters at executing. Luckily, in my team we have a mix of both strengths in all of us, so we can see a concept through from start to finish.
When I lived in Copenhagen for two years, I found the city itself was a constant source of inspiration. Walking around, observing the design, and absorbing the atmosphere sparked some of my best ideas. The same goes for cities like London, Barcelona, or even Dublin where I’m from—there’s inspiration everywhere, from quirky café signs to thought-provoking billboards and out-of-home ads. The trick is keeping your eyes open and staying curious.
Aside from that, I’m a proper nerd when it comes to tv ads (TVC). Honestly, don’t bother watching recorded shows with me because most people naturally want to skip all the ads or at the very least go make a cup of tea during the break. You’ll catch me watching them intently. After years of using predominantly streaming services, now I actively watch satellite television in order to stay in the loop with TVC and using it as a source of inspiration for our marketing.
Of course, there’s an element of taking inspiration from brands we admire, so we closely follow a couple of brands from both within the iGaming space and beyond. But mainly, we stay in our own lane because I believe we’ve carved out a unique space for ourselves vs our competitors. We’re not shy about throwing out wild ideas and refining them from there. This flexes the creative side of your brain- it’s a muscle you need to train, just like any other.
When I was in more junior positions in the past, I know first-hand how you can get so focused on the execution and forget about looking at what you’ve created and asking yourself ‘’how can I take this to the next level?’’ or ‘’how can we take this and make it that bit different’. Luckily, I’ve had some amazing mentors over the years to challenge me in the best way so that this is always front of mind now, and something I try to instil in my own team.
6. What’s your favourite part of attending industry events like SBC or ICE as a marketer?
There’s honestly too many to choose from, however there are some key elements to attending the big shows like ICE and SBC that I love. One of the most obvious being the satisfaction of seeing months of work come to fruition. With bigger shows, you are dedicating months of work to pulling off an amazing stand and everything that goes into it.
I always find it funny how when the teams get together and have group meals the night before shows, you’ll never catch anyone in marketing there. Unless it’s a quick ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ at the end of the night. While it’s a proper graft and lots of manual labour, the pre-show preparation does bring that level of adrenaline that powers you on for the 3 days ahead. We’re often in the conference centre until midnight setting up things like merch, catering, making sure the stand looks perfect for everyone’s arrival the next morning.
While a lot of marketing can seem glamourous, attending networking drinks and parties, travelling to shows and working on engaging campaigns, we also really get stuck in. You’ll find us in hard hats, high vis and construction boots- as glam as it gets. But I love that element too.
We have a bit of craic with our stand builders which can be fuelled by tired delirium. But ultimately, we have the same goal. To produce a whopper stand that turns heads and attracts the right people.
Aside from that, the longer you’re in the industry, which is close to 6 years for me, the more of a network you build. I love meeting people face to face at the shows and catching up on what’s gone on over the past few months. So many of us work remotely, so having that time is so valuable. We try our best to get an hour off the stand to explore the conference as see what other stands are up to. We’ve actually made some amazing connections this way which have led to valuable collaborative partnerships for things like CSR plans for the year ahead. We’ve ended up collaborating with likeminded companies who put CSR at the heart of what they do as a result of meeting at events and networking and having the right conversations.
“But the real secret is authenticity. The humour we infuse into our marketing isn’t forced; it’s an extension of our team’s personality and the culture we’ve built at White Label Casinos.“
Niamh Carberry, Head of Marketing
Quickfire Round:
A massive thank you to Niamh for taking the time to share her insights, experience, and hot tips on White Label Casinos’ marketing strategies.
Stay tuned to learn more from White Label Casinos’ leaders.
