Adding Entertainment to Entertainment

When a bookmaker went looking for its brand voice

Tennisi.bet didn’t start out as a bookmaker — it began as a tennis betting exchange. But by the 2020s, the company had expanded across several countries and hit a structural wall: its marketing was fragmented. Each country had its own teams, budgets, and communication style — but there was no unified brand platform. In Russia, the challenge was especially sharp: less than 1% market share, a budget 100 times smaller than the category leaders, and zero brand coherence. The founder, Ruslan Suleymanov, put it plainly: “If you bring me three thousand daily users by New Year, I’ll be happy.”

A conversation about the future, not another chaotic campaign

New CMO Vladimir Dyomin proposed something that changed the game: not endless creativity for creativity’s sake, but a clear brand platform. FANATIC joined the project mid-pandemic. We kicked off with in-depth interviews, field observations, competitive mapping, and several sessions with top management.

The key was finding where Tennisi could carve out space in a market dominated by giants investing heavily in new users. The answer wasn’t at the entry point — it was further along the player journey, with people already looking for alternatives. And this is where Tennisi could offer another feature and an emotional hook.

When an idea turns into a system

We leaned into the company’s internal culture, honesty, boldness, optimism, and co-developed positioning hypotheses with the team. The first, “betting as an intellectual hobby,” was too narrow. The real energy came from the second: “finding entertainment in every event.”

That led to the “Tennisification” effect — a signature framing that transformed dull sports moments into fun, witty, high-energy stories. It grew into a full system: a new tone of voice, meme-driven social content, brand identity, HR comms, even product UI. The slogan “Bets with the Tennisifying Effect” gave the brand a clear and ownable space.

When the brand started smiling at the market

This framing moved beyond advertising into every layer of the business. Tennisi “humorized” its football sponsorships, rethought its approach to ambassadors, and launched a distinctive loyalty program, “The Lively Cashback” with real money and pun-driven characters, and “The Endless Bonus,” which never expires. As Ruslan Suleymanov put it: “We decided to add entertainment to entertainment.”

From niche player to market presence

Over three years, the platform reshaped Tennisi’s market position. In Russia, unaided brand awareness grew from 0.5% to 2%, aided awareness from 11% to 21%. Online audience increased by 12%, deposit volume by 34%, and monthly active players by 17%. For the first time, the Russian office outperformed international markets on key metrics.

Strategic takeaway

The Tennisi case shows how a niche player can build strategic strength with meaning, not just with big budget. “Tennisification” became a cultural code.

In a category drowned in the same tired promises of reliability and odds, Tennisi found its own voice, a language of humor, emotion, and endless fun. This project proves that even in a “totally wild market,” it’s possible to build a brand system that makes the business stronger and makes people smile along the way.