Exclusive: Smarkets bolsters US team with new head of marketing
Thomas Vermeulen swaps London for Washington DC as he joins former Nike head Sheldon Hanai to lead US charge
Smarkets has bolstered its growing US team with the appointment of Thomas Vermeulen as its US head of marketing, EGR can exclusively reveal.
He has swapped London for Washington DC and will be responsible for leading the SBK sportsbook marketing strategy.
Vermeulen joined Smarkets in May 2019 as head of affiliates and international markets and will now swap to take a prominent role for the group’s SBK sports betting brand.
Prior to Smarkets, the marketing specialist spent three years with Betway where he worked across a series of roles including senior country executive for Belgium.
Vermeulen’s shift to the US comes as Smarkets looks to continue to make inroads into the country’s growing sports betting market.
In June, the firm named former Nike exec Sheldon Hanai as its US general manager who now heads up the office in the US’ capital city.
Smarkets is set to conduct a hiring spree across business development, operations and marketing to staff its new Washington DC office space.
EGR understands Vermeulen will be responsible for building out a marketing team beneath him, but the size of that team has not yet been determined.
Speaking to EGR, Vermeulen revealed his thinking behind the US strategy for SBK and his hopes for the future. He said: “I’m super excited to replicate SBK’s UK success across the pond. We’re going to avoid using a deluge of bonuses and big sponsorships and instead focus on a local approach and our industry-leading odds.
“We’ve been speaking to lots of users and treating their feedback as gold, and I can’t wait for the coming months as we deliver a fair, clean and exciting sportsbook that sets us apart from the rest,” he added.
Elsewhere, Smarkets CEO Jason Trost spoke to EGR about the importance of developing the perfect product as the key to gaining market share in the crowded US market