A structured approach to embedding into the SEU marketing organisation, building critical relationships across the Flutter network, and accelerating the ad tech roadmap for Spain, France & Portugal.
This role sits at an unusual intersection: acting as technical expert to SEA colleagues who haven’t needed ad tech at this sophistication level, while simultaneously being the internal advocate pushing for faster adoption within SEU — all against the backdrop of a live migration with Spain going live in July.
Shared services sit with Italian colleagues. Influence without direct control requires trust-building and clear business case articulation from day one.
Spain is months away. Consent, suppression and web event tracking must land on day one — no grace period on compliance infrastructure.
Being a new hire in a new role means fewer legacy assumptions. Fresh perspective on what “best-in-class” looks like across ES/FR/PT is genuinely valuable.
Experience with regulated advertising environments — GDPR, consent frameworks, suppression logic — transfers directly even if the gambling context is new.
Week 1 priority: Get access to everything — GA4, GTM, CMP, platform media accounts, BI dashboards. You cannot diagnose what you cannot see. Request access in the first 48 hours and track what arrives vs what doesn’t — the gaps are informative.
Map every live tool — CMP, GTM containers, attribution setup, media platform pixels, app SDKs. Document what’s in Spain that needs to migrate vs what’s already centrally managed.
Trace the journey from user action → event → media platform. Where are the gaps? Where are events misfiring or missing? This is the diagnostic baseline.
Get the full spec for day-one deliverables. Understand what “consent”, “suppression” and “web event tracking” actually means in their technical context — don’t assume.
Review current channel mix across ES/FR/PT. Understand which platforms are driving acquisition vs brand. This informs which integrations are highest priority post-migration.
Map the full data flow from exclusion event to ad platform suppression. What’s the lag? Which channels are covered? What breaks if the pipeline fails?
Week one conversation with legal/compliance. ES restrictions under RDL 3/2020 are the most severe — this shapes what channels and targeting approaches are available at all.
Every active tool, contract, integration — documented and risk-scored.
Specific list of what’s missing for July go-live vs SEA’s Day 1 commitments.
SEA Italy intro call done. Weekly cadence agreed. Legal/compliance briefed.
Key mindset shift in month 2: Transition from learner to contributor. Bring structured proposals to SEA — not just requirements, but clear business cases. “We need Meta CAPI” lands better as “here’s the estimated signal loss without it, and here’s the setup effort required.”
Score every outstanding ad tech requirement against impact on acquisition/measurement and implementation complexity. This becomes the basis for prioritisation conversations with SEA.
Some tools can’t go in until others are live (attribution requires stable event tracking). Map the critical path so SEA can sequence work efficiently.
Covering all outstanding requirements with ownership assigned, timelines, and success criteria. Shared with senior stakeholders for sign-off.
Items that can be delivered fast and create visible value — even small wins build credibility with both SEA colleagues and the SEU marketing team.
| Workstream | My role | Risk if delayed |
|---|---|---|
| Consent (CMP) Lawful tracking foundation |
Review SEA’s CMP spec for ES requirements; flag any AEPD-specific gaps; provide UAT sign-off | Critical — no consent = no tracking = blind spend |
| Suppression Self-excluded player lists |
Validate suppression logic covers all channels; test against known test accounts; confirm frequency | Critical — regulatory breach + brand risk |
| Web Event Tracking Registration, FTD, key actions |
QA event schema against current GTM setup; ensure parity with pre-migration tracking | Critical — performance measurement goes dark |
| Media Platform Connections Meta, Google, etc. |
Confirm conversion events are flowing correctly post-migration; check attribution windows | High — optimisation signals degrade |
Full user journey testing on the Flutter SEA platform for Spanish traffic. Every key event — registration, deposit, login — verified firing correctly before go-live.
CMP presenting correctly for ES users. Consent signals passing to all media platforms. GA4 / analytics firing conditionally. Verify both opt-in and opt-out journeys.
Self-excluded player list updating on the correct cadence. Test suppression across each active media platform. Document the process for ongoing maintenance.
Establish clean pre-migration benchmarks for key metrics. Define the “day one” dashboard that will show whether tracking is working correctly after cutover.
| Capability | Action in Days 61–90 | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Server-side / Meta CAPI | Make the case to SEA; provide ES/FR/PT signal loss estimates; get on the roadmap | Critical |
| App Event Tracking | Audit current SDK setup; identify gaps vs web; propose implementation spec to SEA | Critical |
| Attribution Platform | Evaluate options (existing Flutter tooling? AppsFlyer? Branch?); build requirements doc | High |
| Audience Segments | Define CRM segments needed for exclusions and lookalikes; spec to data team | High |
| Snap, TikTok, X | Regulatory clearance check per market; if green, spec integration requirements | Medium |
Standing call with SEA ad tech team. Progress on roadmap items, blockers surfaced, upcoming SEU priorities flagged early.
Share progress against the 12-month roadmap with SEU marketing leadership. Celebrate wins, escalate blockers.
Regular QA of event firing rates, consent opt-in rates, suppression coverage. Anomalies caught before they become reporting problems.
By the end of day 90, the team should have a live Spain migration with compliant ad tech infrastructure, a clear 12-month roadmap agreed with SEA, and a working model for how SEU advocates for its needs within the Flutter shared services framework.
These three are non-negotiable for July launch. My role is to validate SEA’s implementation against SEU’s specific requirements and sign off before go-live — not to build, but to ensure they’re right.
GDPR-compliant CMP covering ES, FR, PT. Must integrate with media platforms. Verify IAB TCF v2.2 compliance and correct signal propagation.
Self-excluded and existing customer lists across all active channels. Validate real-time or near-real-time update cadence and cross-platform coverage.
Registration, FTD, login and key funnel events tracking correctly on the Flutter SEA platform for ES traffic. Parity with pre-migration baseline.
| Tool / Capability | Why it matters | Urgency |
|---|---|---|
| Server-Side Tracking / Meta CAPI | Browser-side pixel is increasingly unreliable (ITP, ad blockers, cookie deprecation). Without server-side events, Meta optimisation degrades significantly — particularly impactful for acquisition campaigns. | Immediate |
| App Event Tracking (SDK) | If mobile is a meaningful acquisition channel, unmeasured app events mean blind spend. Need parity with web tracking and correct attribution to media platforms. | Immediate |
| Attribution Platform | Without a single source of truth for attribution, each platform claims credit and budget decisions are based on inflated numbers. Critical across three markets. | High |
| Audience Management / CRM Integration | Lookalike audiences, CRM exclusions, and lifecycle-based targeting all require clean CRM data flowing to media platforms. Foundational for efficient prospecting and retention. | High |
| Google Enhanced Conversions | First-party data enhancement for Google campaigns. Straightforward to implement once web tracking is stable — meaningful uplift in conversion matching rates. | High |
Likely highest priority if not already live. Pixel + CAPI combination essential.
Growing relevance for younger demographic. Gambling advertising restrictions vary — verify per market before investing integration effort.
Market-specific — understand current usage and audience overlap before prioritising.
Gambling Advertising (RDL 3/2020): Spain introduced one of Europe’s strictest gambling ad regimes. Advertising is restricted to specific windows (1am–5am on TV), prohibited on social media platforms to under-25s, and requires mandatory responsible gambling messaging. Any digital paid activity must comply — understanding exactly which channels and formats are permitted is a day-one conversation with legal.
Data Privacy (AEPD): Spain’s data protection authority is one of the more active in the EU. Cookie consent must be explicit, granular, and easily withdrawable. The CMP implementation needs to meet AEPD’s specific guidance — this isn’t just generic GDPR. Any use of sensitive data requires additional care.
Ad Tech Implication: Targeting based on age/interest is heavily constrained. Suppression of under-25s from certain creative may be required. Server-side tracking particularly valuable here as browser restrictions are compounded by consent refusals.
Gambling Advertising (ANJ): France permits online gambling advertising but requires ANJ authorisation for each operator. Ads must carry responsible gambling warnings. The ANJ has issued guidance on digital advertising that’s more permissive than Spain’s — social media advertising is generally allowed subject to targeting restrictions (18+ enforcement required).
Data Privacy (CNIL): CNIL is one of the most active data protection authorities in Europe — they’ve issued major fines on cookie consent and analytics tools. GA4 / analytics setups have been a CNIL focus — worth checking current compliance posture on analytics tools specifically.
Ad Tech Implication: More channels potentially available vs Spain but consent must be watertight. CNIL’s activity on analytics means measurement stack needs close attention — server-side analytics particularly valuable here.
Gambling Advertising (SRIJ): Portugal liberalised online gambling in 2015. Advertising regulations exist but are comparatively less restrictive than Spain. Licensed operators can advertise across channels with standard responsible gambling requirements.
Data Privacy (CNPD): Portugal’s data protection authority follows standard GDPR implementation. Less enforcement activity than CNIL or AEPD — but GDPR compliance is still fully required and the landscape can shift.
Ad Tech Implication: Potentially the most permissive of the three markets for channel access. Good testbed for capabilities before rolling out to more restricted markets. Standard GDPR-compliant CMP should cover requirements.
Honest caveat: Gambling regulatory specifics are deep and fast-moving. The framing above reflects general understanding — the real nuance must come from PokerStars’ in-house legal and compliance teams. My role is to ask the right questions, not pretend to be the expert on gambling law.
Approach to SEA relationship: Come prepared, not demanding. The Italy team hasn’t needed to run ad tech at this sophistication level — my role is to be a resource to them, not just a requester. Being a genuine collaborator rather than a ticket-raiser will be the difference.
FTD volume? Player value (NGR)? Retention? Understanding the real commercial objective shapes which ad tech capabilities matter most.
Some organisations want fast iteration and accept imperfect first versions. Others need more certainty before launch. Calibrating to that early prevents friction later.
Every organisation has channels or journeys it can’t see clearly. Finding those quickly lets me prioritise the highest-impact fixes.
Understanding what success looks like for them — not just for SEU — is how I make the relationship genuinely collaborative rather than transactional.
The goal at 90 days isn’t to have solved everything — it’s to have built the foundations and relationships that make solving everything else possible. A compliant Spain launch, a credible roadmap, and trusted relationships with SEA would represent a strong start in an inherently complex, cross-functional role.