inside this issue - raving · pdf fileinside this issue: message from the president ... what...

2014 Quarterly Issue #4

Inside this Issue:Message from the President ............. 2

Promotion Analysis Gaming and Non-Gaming ........................ 21-23

Leadership & Innovation ........ 3-20, 27

How Would You Like 50% More Revenue at Your Casino? — Adam Smithline ................................................. 3

Free Play: The Gaming Industry’s Jagged Little Pill – Part I — Nicole Barker ........................................................... 6

Is Your Casino Entertainment Stale? — Kell Houston .. 8

Lagging Profi ts? — Sean Vestal ........................................10

Six Secrets of Savvy Shopping for Casinos — John Stewart .....................................................................................13

Why Did You Leave and How Can I Get You Back? — Deb Hilgeman, Ph.D. ............................................................15

You and a Vendor Sitting in a Tree ... — Rob Gallo ......18

Leveraging the Power of Mobile Advertising — Mark Astone .....................................................................................19

Electronics on the Casino Floor – Part II — Winnie Grand ........................................................................................27

A Gaming Executive‘s Guide to Reading ....................................... 25

Save the Date ................................... 26

Nicole Barker, Raving Partner,

Database & Loyalty Marketing

ravingconsulting.com

Raving Consulting | 475 Hill Street, Suite G | Reno, NV 89501 | Tel: 775-329-7864 | Fax: 775-329-4947 | ravingconsulting.com

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Dear Ravers,

There is a part of Raving’s business of which many of you may not be aware. Raving is an “access marketing com-pany” for a select group of organizations and individuals that serve, or would like to serve, the gaming industry with their product or service. We get a few dozen calls a month from companies that want to know how they can use Raving, our brand and our network, to recommend what they do (READ: generate “sales contacts”).

Of the companies we talk to for this “access marketing,” we probably seriously consider 10% of them and do partnerships with 1 or 2% of them. The reasons we reject partnerships, even sometimes with those who have “checks in hand,” would probably make for a great future column, but the reasons typically revolve around “fi t” and “expectations.”

For a company to become a Raving Partner, fi rst and foremost, it has to have a compelling product or service that we at Raving honestly feel brings great value to the gaming industry. It also has to be fi nancially viable and give us a clear sense that it will be “around for the long-term.” It has to be willing to work with Raving to help us get them industry traction, by them writing for our various publications, participating in our signature networking events, speaking at our learning events when appropriate (and only if the topic lines up with their expertise and if they are great, motivating speakers!), and taking informational discussions with our clients, even if there is no short-term pos-sibility of “a sale.”

But more importantly, the “people” of these potential Raving Partner companies must be nice people. They must be Raving people. They must be a joy to do business with. They must share our values. They must care.

So, when you see anything written by a Raving Partner, when you meet one of them at a Raving party, or hear them speak at a Raving conference, know that these are not just “anybodies” who paid Raving a buck to blow smoke about them. These are great, smart people, whom we are honored to be associated with.

So, thank you, John Stewart of Encompass Develop, Design & Construct. Thank you, Adam Smithline of Opticity. Thank you, Tony Renz and Rudy McMillan of Innovative Slot Products. Thank you, Rob Gallo of Peak Gaming Group. Thank you, Mark Astone of Catalyst Marketing Company. Thank you, Autumn Gregg of SCA Gaming. Thank you, Kell Houston of Houston Productions. Thank you, longtime Raving Partners Steve Browne, Nicole Barker, Deb Hilgeman, Marin Denning, Sean Vestal and David Kranes.

Thank you all for being the wind beneath our Raving wings. And I am very comfortable in suggesting that they could be the wind beneath yours.

Sincerely,

Dennis ConradPresident and Chief StrategistRaving Consulting [email protected]

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

Cover model: Nicole Barker, Raving Partner, Database & Loyalty Marketing, has caused more “ah-ha” moments for marketers and PD specialists than any other. Some call her a lifesaver; an ROI magician. All we know is that our clients love her – she can break down complicated spreadsheets into useable, actionable data, and make the learning fun and interesting. Case in point, read Part I of her two-part article on page 6 – on that bugger of a topic, FREE PLAY. Photo © The Photo Group 2014.


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LEADERSHIP & INNOVATION

How Would You Like 50% More Revenue at Your Casino?And why your “gut feel” isn’t cutting itBy Adam Smithline

Yes, you read the headline correctly – you could be making 50% more revenue. I’m not kidding around here, this is completely serious.

According to an industry study of over 2,000 global executives across a variety of industries, companies that are utilizing data to drive decisions based on analytics had nearly 50% more revenue growth than competi-

tors using “gut feel” to make decisions.

When I read these numbers, I nearly fell off my chair. Fifty percent? That’s a huge gain.

If you are one of the many casino executives who is stuck making decisions without the proper data in hand, this should serve as a wake-up call. You may be losing out on more revenue than you realize. Much more.

This Huge Problem Is No Secret

Unfortunately, this blind decision-making scenario is all too common in the industry today. I’ll never forget the time that one of my employees pulled me aside and told

me she couldn’t meet the goals I’d set for her marketing department. Then she blamed me and said it was my fault! The worst part was that she was right.

When I asked what the problem was, she simply replied, “I can’t manage what I can’t measure.” You see, I’d failed to develop the reporting capabilities that the marketing team needed in order to be successful. As an executive, it was my responsibility to make sure that my teams had the tools they needed to succeed.

In an environment like a casino, “gut feel” decision-making is completely unnecessary. Few other industries enjoy the level of detailed customer data that we have. Fewer still can utilize measurable direct marketing techniques the way that casinos can. This is a powerful combination, yet we often take it for granted.

As a casino, you have the ability to capture detailed customer behavior data, and to match that data directly against your expenditures. This puts you in the best pos-sible position to employ data analytics – way ahead of most other industries.

Transform Your Data, Transform Your Business

So, what does it take to go from “gut feel” decisions to fact-based decision-making? The challenge is to get the

Copyright 2014 Opticity, Inc. All rights reserved

Fact-Based Decision Making Drives Competitive Advantage

14.0%

9.4%

12.1%

9.3%

50%More

Revenue5-year CAGR, 2004-2008

Return on Investor Capital

5-year Average, 2004-2008

Value Integrators

All Others

Source: IBM Institute for Business Value, The Global CFO Study 2010


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right information to the right decision makers at the right time. But why is it so diffi cult?

While you may be swimming in data, casino manage-ment systems typically don’t provide actionable data. The problem, quite simply, is that the data you have is not the data you need. In order to be useful, the data must go through a process of manipulation, called data transfor-mation, to make it ready for reporting and meaningful to end users.

Some common steps in the data transformation process include:

• Combine – Combining data from multiple systems to yield a complete accounting of player activity

• Clean – Replacing codes with meaningful words, and removing bad data

• Filter – Making it possible to include or exclude groups of data

• Summarize – Summing transactions into meaningful metrics, like ADT and Visits per Month

• Organize – Aligning activity to your calendar or key

events, for example

Undoubtedly, you are familiar with data transformation, but chances are that you never had a good name for it. The problem, for many casinos, isn’t a lack of understand-ing about what’s needed. The problem they face instead

is fi guring out how to get it done.

The Old Way Is No Way at All

Many casinos still lack the right tools to conduct data transformation. They rely on a combination of SQL or Access queries, Excel and PowerPoint to produce some level of reporting. The process is highly manual and dif-fi cult to standardize, but must be repeated regularly, often leading to errors and inconsistency in reports.

This “old way” is so cumbersome and time-consuming that reports frequently aren’t available when you need them. Worse, you are only scratching the surface of what you could be learning from your data if it was properly transformed.

As one Casino Marketing Director described it to me last week, “With limited staff , we are locked into the basics, and we need more to make the competitive decisions that we all know we need to make.”

It’s Time to Get Serious, Folks

To empower decision makers, we need to put the right information in their hands when they need it. The innova-tions that make this possible are the data warehouse and self-service reporting software.

You don’t need to know much about data warehousing in order to take advantage of it. It is simply a process of automat-ing the data transformation and storing the transformed data


Data Transformation Creates “Marketing-Ready Data”

End UsersData Sources

Source data must be transformed in a variety of ways before it can be used by decision makers.

Combine Organize

Clean

Filter

Summarize


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5

You’re either maximizingplayer lifetime value.

Or you aren’t.

www.opticity.com

in a database designed specifi cally for reporting. The key here is that the data transformation that used to take days or weeks now happens while you sleep, and end users can build their own reports, with accurate meaningful data, in a snap.

If you know that you need to take this step, but you haven’t done it yet, there is some really good news in all of this. Yes, your problem is signifi cant, but there are a variety of solutions designed for every budget, and it is no longer necessary to build a custom data warehouse in-house.

Pre-built casino data marts are starting to appear on the market, and hold great promise. While every casino is unique, the data transformation process is nearly identical across properties, making a pre-built solution feasible. Some solutions are also available on a hosted basis for a monthly subscription, eliminating the need for a massive up-front investment or ongoing IT support.

Aside from a few of us data geeks, no one really likes having to deal with complex data issues. But when you consider that you could be missing out on as much as 50% more revenue, the importance of fact-based decision-making seems obvious. The challenge of data transformation and self-service reporting is a big one, but it’s one that you can’t aff ord to ignore.


Manual Transformation Or Automated Transformation?

SQL/Access, Excel & Powerpoint Data Warehouse & Reporting App

Casinos now have the option of hosted, subscription-based data warehouse systems.

http://opticity.com/


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Let the fi nger-pointing begin! Who is to blame for runaway Free Play reinvestment? Is it the insatiable appetite of the customer? Is it the evolution of the gaming product? Is it the overexuberant marketer or the overzealous competitor?

The blame falls like rain. If we can own each contributing party or factor, then we can quickly move on to solving the problem of over-reinvestment.

We’re going to dive into four areas (two in Part I, and we’ll fi nish up with Part II in the January issue), and you’ll have a much better understanding of how you can take away Free Play from unprofi table and layered situations. The players you want to stay, will. The players who were play-ing you, will not.

1. Our players are entitled and will defect if we adversely touch Free Play.

It’s our worst nightmare. A player plans to game and deals himself a hand of coupons. He plucks the winning off er of the casino that won the bidding war for the next trip.

This isn’t loyalty; this is bribery.

That’s not how customer relationship management

works.

If it did, we’d take our spouse to Burger King for his next birthday dinner. We’d buy our coff ee at the gas station. We’d purchase our jeans and underwear from the same brand. If it was the cheapest option, and branding or convenience meant nothing, would you wear Fruit of the Loom jeans?

If loyalty could be bought and sold because of one coupon, then let the other guy win. I don’t want to play that game. I choose to be in the gaming business. I choose to specialize in hospitality. I choose to reinvest in my business by giving back to the player in order to enhance her experience. If I wanted to be a master dis-counter and serve the coupon crowd, I’d open a Kohl’s.

The true anxiety regarding the entitled player is whether or not he or she will return when the fl ow of Free Play shrinks or disappears. Mike Meczka, President of Meczka Marketing/Research/Consulting, Inc., attests to the mul-titude of reasons that a player returns after the valve of Free Play has been shut off . Location, convenience, ease of egress, parking, and other buy factors play a role in a player’s loyalty. A property can feel confi dent in curbing Free Play as long as it has other attributes of attraction. Rest assured, these attributes are not another swimming pool, spa, or brew pub. À la Mike Meczka, “It’s the gam-bling, stupid.”


Free Play: The Gaming Industry’s Jagged Little Pill – Part ILet’s stop pointing fi ngers and start managing free play reinvestmentBy Nicole Barker


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2. Our Slot Operations Department has put too many bonusing games out on the fl oor. Theoretical is dropping because players are sitting for longer without wagering. Free Play compounds the problem by killing hold percentage.

Thanks to multiple interactions with Rich Lehman of DiCentric Solutions, LLC, I am beginning to understand the dilemma from the slot side. From what I can gather, Free Play was introduced to artifi cially extend time at device in order to counteract the speed at which players were on trend to lose money on higher hold machines. As the Hold Percent minimum bet requirements increased, time on device decreased. Free Play was introduced in hopes of softening that blow.

Concerns arose as players increasingly played with the house’s money, instead of their own. Although time at device increased thanks to Free Play, wagering time on device decreased. The pseudo Coin-In generated while Free Play was in use translated to greater gaps between Actual and Theoretical. This gap adversely aff ects the Actual Hold. We think that we are making X, when we are actually making Y. Instead of Free Play driving time on device, it saps Actual Hold through a fl ood of non-revenue generating Coin-In.

We then trumped our own bet and added more bonus rounds to the game. Players loved the added entertain-ment that the bonus rounds brought. However, fl oor rev-enues suff ered for two reasons. One, bonus rounds stop wagering. As the bonus rounds get longer and longer, the time sitting between wagers increases. Two, multi-line games take time after each wager to calculate the win. Multiple lines may win, but the player sits and waits for the machine to calculate the win, even if it only amounts to eighty cents. The seconds tick by between bets and wagers per hour decrease. If the Player’s time at device is constant, something has to give.

So, as the Marketer begins to lose confi dence in Theoreti-cal, she points to the Slot Operator and blames the slot machines, the slot mix on the fl oor, or the wizardly spells cast over hold behind the scenes. If only it were that easy. If the calculation of Theoretical goes awry, our reinvest-ment follows suit. Free Play undoubtedly aff ects the calculation of Theoretical. It can either bloat it with non-wager generated Coin-In. Or, it could lower Patron Theo-retical because of the additional free time spent during bonus rounds. A downward trend in ADT means smaller Free Play coupons. Smaller Free Play coupons to the same player ignite distrust. Whether Free Play coupons are increasing or decreasing per player, we have a problem.

As a marketer, Free Play works really well. Response is unparalleled with couponing eff orts in other industries. It is widely accepted. It is fought for, or complained for, or whined for incessantly. I am not pulling the plug on Free Play, no matter what the CFO or the Slot Director says.

However, I am going to make friends and play nice. I am going to work with Slots in order to understand the gap between Actual and Theoretical. I am going to fi ght for the accuracy of Theoretical to ensure that I have a measure that I can use to assess player value. I am going to cozy up to IT to see if we can achieve an Average Daily Worth that gives a truer valuation of the player’s wallet, irrespective of lucky or unlucky sessions of play. I will get to know the whole of the business and force all internal decision-makers to understand the importance of each other’s metrics. The reports to the Slot Director focus on each machine. The reports to the Marketer focus on the customer. The reports to the CFO refl ect profi tability. All three must coincide in order to move past the fi nger-pointing.

Look for Part II in the January Solutions Magazine. Attend Raving’s 17th Indian Gaming National Marketing Confer-ence, January 26-28, 2015, to learn about Free Play in person with Nicole Barker!

www.ravingconsulting.com/indian-gaming


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Is Your Casino Entertainment Stale?It’s not how much you spend; it’s how you spend what you haveBy Kell Houston

The growth of Indian Gaming has plateaued, according to some recent industry reports.

There are 245 Tribal Governments operating 445 gaming ventures in 28 states.

Revenues have fl attened out to $26-28 Billion a year.

Commercial casinos, however, have increased 23% since 2009, with revenues of about $37.8 Billion per year.

So, what does this mean for your property?

There are several aspects that are necessary for a casino to remain successful in today’s competitive marketplace. Of course, it helps to have the required amenities, like good restaurants, an attractive environment, and accommoda-tions on-site. Additional amenities like a spa, golf course and entertainment venue are helpful as well.

There are two very important elements that really make a big diff erence.

1. Customer service, of course, tops the list. Your in-house team needs to really excel at making your customer feel important and catered to. From the parking lot shuttle or valet service to the fl oor people, it all makes a huge diff erence. In today’s competitive world, you cannot aff ord to disappoint in this element.

2. The second most important element is your entertainment program, or in better words, your “wow” factor. Without this, you really won’t stand out in your marketplace. Las Vegas set the gold standard for this years ago, and Indian Gaming has successfully followed that path.

Let’s look at entertainment today. Here are some of the challenges that we face:

• Your competition: other casinos, seasonal fairs and festivals, community events – graduation, holidays, sporting events, home entertainment, and more.

• What does your customer want? What really gets them out of their home?

• What is the next generation of entertainment?

• Do you have a real plan and a budget to build a successful program?

• What does a successful program look like? What does it cost?

• What kind of risks are you able to take, and does your research support the risk?

• How are you managing the younger generation’s interests and needs versus your older demographic who is beginning to age out?

This is just a start, and it’s a conversation going on across the country in casino properties everywhere.

Typically, when things get a little out of hand, businesses tend to pull back and do a departmental check to get feedback and fi nd solutions. One element that gets a lot of criticism and misunderstanding is entertainment.

When it comes to entertainment, it’s not how much you spend; it’s how you spend what you have.

Simply put, throwing a ton of money at the wall to see what sticks is the wrong approach. The right approach is to analyze your data, analyze your customer, look outside the box, fi nd out what the big players are doing and copy them within the scope of your own regional reality.

There are two levels – lounge or bar entertainment and concert entertainment.

• In your lounge, bottle service in a small regional market is not supportable and will probably off end your regular customers. A shiny, glitzy show band that you bring in to replace the local favorite just may fail. A pounding rave/party environment can be surprisingly successful, but not at the level that Las Vegas Clubs operate. Temper your creative ideas with what works in your region. Give them a little taste. Knowing what your customer wants is pretty important to retaining their loyalty and business. Building a new concept and a more contemporary brand takes planning and patience. It takes an


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active, interactive and creative marketing team that has some leeway to try new ideas. You cannot be afraid to fail.

• In your concert hall or event center, not everything has to be a concert. There are so many successful events/promotions going on today that the regular old concert is almost outdated. People want to be entertained, they want something unique and special. Something they can’t get at your competition. In order to fi nd that kind of unique entertainment, you have to do some research. In order to be a trendsetter in your market, you need to be fi rst, not second. You need to set the bar high. You need to try diff erent events.

Packaged shows with multiple artists always create more bang for your buck. The acoustic “evening with” packages get you the star power, but without the expenses of a full live band. TV is creating a lot of stars and exciting events. Many of these can work well in your casino venue. You just have to search them out. The big festivals like Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival, Stagecoach, Lollapalooza, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Woodstock, Rocklahoma, etc., have created exciting, must-see events. It’s like a circus meets a carnival meets a rave meets a concert. People come from miles around to attend these kinds of events. Casinos need to fi nd a way to tap into that kind of entertainment and bring those kinds of events onto their property and into their venues. Of course, in a more moderate tone, but nonetheless, fi nd a way to tap into that market.

Today’s guests want a live, in-person experience. They want social interaction. They can sit at home and watch movies, play video games, hang out on Facebook post-ing photos and engaging in conversations and gossip. However, they can’t physically meet a celebrity. Providing an event that allows people to be in the same room or actually meet a famous person is a huge plus. This will always be the case. So, fi nd those TV stars, fi nd the next hot trend, and bring something interactive, like Game Shows with celebrity hosts. Be creative and fi nd some-thing diff erent.


On and off. On and off. On and off.

“Would someone PUHLL-EASE turn off that service light?!?”

“Ah, they probably just hit the button by accident. It can wait.”

Fact: 40% of the time that the service button is hit, it was an accident.

Fact: The other 60% of the time, your guests do need help.

• PROBLEM SOLVED: The solution is so simple, and so inexpensive, you might be suspicious.

• It is a simple button cover that adheres directly to the button panel – no special gizmos, tweaking or training needed to place on your expensive slot machine.

• It took a couple slot “dudes” – yeah, the guys that have put miles on their shoes answering those phony lights, to come up with the SLOT SERVICE GUARD.

• The guest must lift the guard to request service. No hitting it on accident with their drink or instead of the wager or cash-out button.

• Where these guards have been installed, there has been a 40% reduction of service requests/change lights. That is thousands of times less per week that the attendants have to run to games; and thousands of minutes that can be spent servicing guests for what they really need.

• The cost? Less than a couple comped cocktails.

What are you waiting for? Try a couple of dozen; test an entire section – guaranteed, you will see the results. Call Tony Renz today at 317-652-4380 or email [email protected].

Please contact your regional representative

from Patriot Gaming

LIFT FOR

SERVICE

http://www.slotserviceguard.com/


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Lagging Profits?Are casino marketers focused enough on the customer experience?By Sean Vestal

Laughter erupted from the high limit pit. Our General Manager stood behind the blackjack table at the vibrant center of it all.

His tuxedo impeccably pressed, he smiled and joked with the VIPs at his table.

“I would have been one hell of a dealer if I could count,” he

teased. Then he adjusted his bow tie, and to the delight of his high rollers, began to deal another shoe.

The fi rst GM I broke in with, dealt cards to our players every New Year’s Eve. Our players loved the experience of rubbing elbows with the “big guy.” It was diff erent for them, something special, and something unique.

When I recently stumbled across an article titled, “Why Customer Experience Is the Only Thing That Matters,” by Harley Manning, it got me thinking about my fi rst GM, our industry, and if we, the Casino Marketers, focus enough on our customer experience.

In the article, they quote a study where they calculated the performance of a portfolio of publicly traded com-panies that were “Customer Experience Leaders” and compared them to “Customer Experience Laggards.”

The study reviewed the results of these companies over a fi ve year period when the S&P 500 was essentially fl at, and found the “Customer Experience Leaders” produced a cumulative positive return of 22%, compared to the “Customer Experience Laggards” who returned a -46%.

In other words, the article indicates that if you want the next sale, if you want good word of mouth, and if you want to keep your customers, it’s unlikely that anything else you do matters more than delivering a superior customer experience.

So, this brings me full circle back to my original thought … Are Casino Marketers focused enough on the cus-tomer experience?

Yes, our reinvestment percentages in our direct marketing segments need to be sound and drive additional play. Yes, our creative advertisements need to properly refl ect our

brand. Yes, we need to design relevant online content in order to drive customers to our website.

However, how much time do we truly focus on customer engagement and customer experience? In other words, when was the last time you looked at your casino’s “Net Promoter Score,” or sat in on a focus group with your best customers, or worked a Friday night on your casino fl oor?

I get it, I have been in your shoes, your life is busy with countless meetings, emails, and salespeople selling you things that you don’t need. I have been just as guilty at times in my career of locking the door to power through a “To Do” list that was 100 items long.

However, I truly believe that in order to be successful leaders and marketers, we need to fi nd a way to get out from behind our desks and get on to our casino fl oors on a consistent and regular basis.

We have the power to improve our customer experience at our properties, and the more I read, the more I visit with other casino operators in our industry, the more I am convinced that customer experience is critical to the success of every Casino Marketer.

Here are four things to consider when evaluating cus-tomer experience at your property.

1. Three out of four people on your casino fl oor … today … and every day, will walk out of your property with less money than they came in with.

Can you imagine a business more dependent on cus-tomer experience than ours? Our product, by its very nature, is going to disappoint over the long term. Eventu-ally, everyone loses to us.

The disappointment of losing will always be a constant in our customer experience, it is our business model! Mean-ing that all the other customer experiences we provide become more important to satisfy our players.

For example, consider the iconic casino customer experi-ence of being provided regular refreshment by a beauti-ful, smiling cocktail waitress.

Is this experience the absolute best that it can be? Could it be improved? If so … how?


11


Here is an idea … most casinos have technology that maps the casino fl oor and tells us where our VIPs are. Why not fi nd a way to make sure that our VIPs get regular refreshment while they are playing? Could you imagine a cocktail waitress getting an alert to approach a VIP in order to get them their favorite drink?

You could literally run reports on what percentage of your VIPs were off ered their favorite drink within the fi rst fi ve minutes that they carded in, or how many drinks have been served to a player, so your host will get an alert to help slow the player down before security performs the cut-off and sets the relationship back six months.

Receiving cocktail service in a casino is an iconic customer experience. Personalized drink service with less wait time is something that most all VIPs would enjoy. As Casino Market-ers, I believe that we need to think about all of the experi-ences our players encounter with us, like cocktail service, and get creative about making those experiences better.

2. Simplify everything.

Convenience matters to players. Long lines, blackout dates, down machines, and wait times drive our custom-ers nuts. Take an honest look at your service touch points, the hoops that you make your players jump through, and fi nd a way to eliminate as many hoops as possible. Ease and convenience should not be underestimated and come up time and time again as one of the most impor-tant factors of how customers rate their experience.

3. Set customer experience goals and talk to your players regularly.

The “Net Promoter Score” is important. It is a question in a survey that asks how likely you are to recommend a prod-uct to family and friends. Start by setting goals around your “Net Promoter Score.” Have regular focus groups and surveys that go out to your players; you should know what three things your customers complain about most and you should work towards improvements on those items. I also recommend scripting training for the most common complaints, so that the staff have unifi ed answers.

4. Get down and have fun.

I started this article by talking about my fi rst GM, and about how he could create a wonderful customer experi-ence by dealing cards on New Year’s.

I knew a security offi cer who handed out store-bought “Werther’s Original Caramel” candies to players on the casino fl oor every day. He would look each player in the eye, shake their hand, and then slip them a caramel.

He would smile and tell each player an elaborate story about how he and his dog stayed up all night slaving over a brick oven in order to make the caramels. He would tell them about how his caramel recipe had 17 Tibetan spices in it, and how he trained his dog to fl ip the caramels with a spatula at just the right moment.

I must have heard him spin this elaborate tale thousands of times in the decade that we worked together. I can still hear the timbre in his voice and the slow tempo of his Southern drawl as I write this article.

Every customer he told that story to … every day … laughed. Regular customers came in every day … and asked for a candy … and for him to tell them the story again.

When we take time out of our day to have fun with our guests, when we create memories and experiences for them, we tell them that they are important. We tell them that they matter.


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In a business that specializes in creating regular fi nancial losses for our players, is there anything more important than participating in creating unique, emotional customer experiences?

Do we allocate enough time, enough money, enough strategy, or enough staff in order to create these emo-tional customer experiences?

Will your casino be one of those that profi ts in the age of the customer by mastering the business discipline of the customer experience? Ultimately, that is up to you.

If you don’t see what you’re looking for, just email Amy Hergenrother, [email protected]

– she’ll be happy to help.

Get More at Raving OnlineWe’ve got an enormous library online, on just about every topic that marketers and operators face in their

day-to-day business. Even we forget the depth of information our team has gathered since 1998!

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Six Secrets of Savvy Shopping for Casinos“You want what?” From horse ambulances to high-end furnishings, how you can save your in-

house buyer and your casino money and headaches

By John StewartLots of us are savvy shop-pers in our personal lives. Finding sharp ties, fabulous shoes, high-tech electron-ics, and vintage wines is no problem. We pride ourselves on cutting through the clutter to secure the perfect item – without paying a premium price.

But in the gaming and hospitality business, savvy

shopping is a high-stakes professional skill that aff ects everything from customer experience to your bottom line. Have you ever walked into a newly renovated casino resort hotel room and thought, “Wow, they’ve thought of everything!” The artwork seems to highlight the duvet, which complements the texture of the towels … some-how everything works richly together to make the room feel “Ah … I’m so glad I’ve arrived” comfortable. As a General Manager considering a remodel of your own casino, you might think, “How do we fi t this into our budget?”

The bar off of the casino fl oor speaks to you in the same way: I beckon you to have a glass of wine HERE. Can you imagine going back to your in-house buyer and telling them to fi nd a countertop made from blue glass SKYY Vodka bottles, or leather club chairs that you can’t help but stroke? They might fi nd it – but they might not get the best price. I’ll let you in on a trade secret. Savvy gaming companies turn to experienced buyers, which are called “Procurement Teams,” to help them shop smarter, especially when it comes to new, renovated or expanded properties.

“I never thought of that … just where do we get the stones for hot stone massages?”

Most casinos have buyers on-staff for day-to-day pur-chasing needs, but many of those employees simply haven’t had the opportunity to make the decisions and deals required to fi nish and furnish a top-tier gaming and entertainment facility. And as we all know from our personal shopping, experience counts.

We were hired by Miami Valley Gaming in Cincinnati to buy horse ambulances for them. Makes sense. A racino,

horses … Can you imagine your in-house buyer start-ing off with that Google search? Sure, they could do it, but consider the time and the knowledge they’d need in order to buy this high-ticket item.

Procurement Teams can be hired solely for their buying services, or they can be part of the package when hiring a Contractor or Owner’s Representative for a project. You get the most value by engaging the Procurement Team during the planning and design phase, when they can off er advice on everything from bricks to banquettes to bedspreads.

Procurement professionals are invaluable in helping develop the specifi cations for the full array of construc-tion items and furnishings. They can provide the details that will help you get what you want – even when you may not already know yourself. Do you want a towel that caresses the skin, or one that can get bleached 1,000 times before falling apart? Do you want to solely buy “Made in the USA” products?

Once the specifi cations are complete, a Procurement Team gets to work seeking out suppliers for quotes or bids. They have relationships with suppliers that often get you a better price. They know how to haggle and negoti-ate like a car salesman’s nightmare customer. They know the margins and the supply-and-demand ratio for items ranging from light bulbs to lawn mowers.

At Encompass, we’ve been asked to purchase the most common items that our entertainment and hospitality clients need: we’ve bought and delivered acres of carpet-ing and draperies, miles of audio and video cable, tons of stone and brick, forests of furniture frames, and drums of shampoo and hand lotion.

We’ve also developed expertise in uncommon and one-of-a-kind items:

• Hand-blown glass chandeliers

• Horse ambulances

• Sound masking systems

• Stones for hot stone massages

• Towering fl agpoles

• Stadium seating

• Stone for a bar top



14


• And the components to build the world’s largest 4k outdoor video screen

With all of this shopping experience, our team has learned a few secrets that I hope will make you a smarter shopper and consider consulting with a Procurement Team for your next renovation, expansion or construction project.

Don’t tell anyone, but here are six secrets of savvy shopping:

1. Buy more than you need – In the haste to save money and meet budget, too often companies fail to order extra quantities of hard-to-match items that are sure to be damaged, stolen or lost. It’s important to order “attic stock” – an extra 3-5% – of items like carpet, draperies, furniture fabric, wall coverings, fl atware, and glassware. You’ll save money in the long run by having what you need to restock or replace.

2. Know what your warranty covers (and doesn’t) – When you need to buy enough video screens to outfi t a 200-room hotel or a casino complex, it’s smart to look for discounts that can save big bucks. But don’t make the too-common mistake of purchasing the same television models that you might buy for your home den. Warranties for residential televisions, the kind that you can order from the big-box companies, don’t cover usage in commercial settings. Spend about 30% more for the commercial versions, which have the circuit boards and venting systems to take non-stop action and warranties that will get you a replacement if they fail.

3. The naked truth is that comfort counts – Don’t skimp on quality when it comes to items that directly touch your customers – bath towels, robes, and bed sheets. Opt for higher thread counts and a little more plush when specifying these intimate items.

4. Think global and local – The manufacturing of many fi ner furnishings has moved overseas. You won’t fi nd wool carpeting made at an American mill, and in many cases, you will pay a premium for “Made in the USA” chairs, sofas, and bed frames. However, you can have the best of both worlds by ordering your furniture frames abroad, and then getting them upholstered with fabrics from down the road.

5. Touch the merchandise – An experienced Procurement Team won’t just send you a spec list to review before seeking bids. They will deliver samples that you can hold in your hand or try on for size – carpet and fabric swatches, furniture frames, wall coverings, lighting, woodwork, china, fl atware, you name it.

6. Trust but verify – Suppliers may off er an impressive list of clients to convince you that their products always satisfy their customers, but just as a human resources professional vets prospective hires, a good Procurement Team checks with a company’s customers to see whether the china resists chipping and if the pillows are as downy and durable as claimed.

The difference is in the details.

Creating Destinations That Inspire. encompass-ddc.com

http://www.encompass-ddc.com/


15


Why Did You Leave and How Can I Get You Back?If you don’t know WHY you’re losing customers or carded play, then you won’t know HOW to fi x the problemBy Deb Hilgeman, Ph.D.

I moved recently. Having been a loyal DIRECT TV customer for about fi ve years, I called them to tell them that I was moving. I asked for the free move that I had seen on DIRECT TV commercials. The customer service rep said that $284 would be added to my bill for moving my service because I didn’t qualify for the free move that had been

advertised. I argued that I had never been late on a pay-ment, had referred friends to DIRECT TV, so why didn’t I qualify for the free move? The rep said that her screen didn’t show why I didn’t qualify, I just didn’t. Take it or leave it.

I’m now a loyal DISH TV customer. They hooked me up for free, and I even got three months of premium channels for free.

Every week I get mailers to “please come back” to DIRECT TV. They’re off ering me special rates and freebies. Too little, too late.

DIRECT TV spends a fortune by advertising on TV. If an existing customer refers a new customer to DIRECT TV, they each get $100 off their bills. That’s another $200 acquisi-tion cost for each new customer. Why aren’t they spending more of that marketing money on retention? Why aren’t a lot of companies paying more attention to keeping the good customers that they have? And fi nally, what are YOU doing to fi nd out why your customers left you for a competitor, and what can you do to get them back?

In the August issue of COLLOQUY (www.colloquy.com), the editor wrote, “For lapsed or lost customers, a market-er’s best bet would be to understand the primary causes of customer defection, which are price, service or product. Then they would need to design specifi c ‘win-back’ pro-grams that speak to these issues and challenges.”

That quote was in an article that spotlighted how three major companies – JetBlue Airways, First Third Bank, and Hertz Car Rentals – have developed successful reacquisi-tion programs.

JetBlue uses a three-pronged reacquisition approach. They use their data to identify customers who showed certain travel behaviors two years ago, but slowed down in the past year, and targets them with a “We Miss You” off er. They also pull data on customers who haven’t lapsed in travel behavior, but have forgotten or stopped using their TrueBlue accounts. In those cases, the airline sends a “We Owe You Points” off er rewarding them retro-actively for their travel. The most sophisticated strategy used by JetBlue is to work with third parties, such as their co-brand partners, to target customers who are still trav-

eling quite a bit – but not on JetBlue – with rich incentives to return.

At First Third Bank, a fi nan-cial services company with more than 1,300 locations, data and analytics identify customers who may have the potential to lapse based on a slowdown in use. First Third focuses on catching and re-engaging at-risk customers before they lapse by monitoring certain behaviors and activity. They redesigned their rewards website and used that as an opportunity to reach out to their customers, talk to them about program benefi ts, and support retention and win-back eff orts. Another

key tactic at First Third is to conduct bi-annual surveys of

active card users to understand customers’

Where did you go?


16


likes and dislikes. Survey data is used by First Third Bank to help them identify and “get in front of” reasons why a customer may potentially lapse.

Hertz is diligent about incorporating tools to identify and engage with members who have or are about to lapse in their memberships. One of the tools that they use is their tiered loyalty program. The Hertz Gold Plus rewards program strives to re-engage lapsed members by making it easier to achieve elite status – customers can be promoted on a monthly basis rather than an annual-ized basis – while also removing expiration and black-out dates. Hertz also relies on conducting research to determine why lapsed members have stopped engaging with the company, and the responses help it to fi ne-tune Hertz Gold Plus Rewards to be better able to fulfi ll the needs of lapsed customers.

One thing that all three spotlighted companies have in common for reacquisition strategies is to make use of customer data. In the casino industry, we usually scour our databases for inactive members and send them a

mail piece with an off er. The lapsed customer may come back in to redeem the off er, but we still have no idea what caused them to lapse in the fi rst place.

How can we fi nd out why our customers left us and determine what we can do to get them back? Two things stand out: regularly monitoring our customers’ likes and dislikes, and polling lapsed customers to determine what we may have done that caused them to leave us.

If your company isn’t doing quarterly satisfaction surveys, then you don’t have a reliable strategy in place to moni-tor the pulse of your customer base. Most management decisions are just that – ideas that management came up with. Your customers may hate the change you made in your buff et so much that they start visiting a competi-tor instead of you. If you’re doing quarterly satisfaction surveys that rank every area of your operation, then you’ll always be “in front” of areas that are causing customers to defect. It could be as simple as a wait time that is unac-ceptably long at your valet.


17


Mark Astone — Raving

Partner, Branding, Advertising and

Media Services, is the Owner and CEO

of Catalyst Marketing Company. He

has spent many years studying and

working within the casino industry

and understands what it takes to drive

gamers to increase a casino’s bottom

line.

Nicole Barker — In partnership

with Raving Consulting Company,

she works with casinos across the

country to harvest potential from

patron databases in order to fi ne-

tune the segmentation, messaging,

and programming of multimedia

and multi-channel campaigns.

Dennis Conrad — President

and Chief Strategist of Raving,

Dennis has nearly 40 years of casino

experience, including keno writer,

bartender, dealer, fl oorperson,

gaming instructor, special events

manager, casino marketing director,

gaming institute director, and

corporate vice president of employee

training and development.

Rob Gallo — Rob Gallo, Raving

Partner, Online Casino Gaming, is

considered to be one of the founding

members of the online gaming

industry. Rob off ers signifi cant expertise

and experience in successfully

implementing varying marketing

methodologies across the globe. He

has the ability to eff ectively strategize

new markets and identify viable

opportunities within the online gaming

sector.

Winnie Grand — Winnie has

studied the casino industry since the

early 60s. With a Masters Degree in

Psychology, she has been interested

in the psychological aspects of

gaming, along with the growth and

development of the industry. She

and her husband, a retired physician,

travel to casino destinations for much

of the year. She has written for Strictly

Slots magazine and is an active

participant in the gambling scene.

Deb Hilgeman, Ph.D. — An

experienced casino marketing

executive & consultant, Deb was

founding GM of Mississippi Gaming

News until Hurricane Katrina

devastated the state’s casino industry

in 2005. Deb developed and taught

the fi rst casino marketing course at

Tulane University. She has an M.S.

degree in International Relations and

has currently completed her Ph.D.

Kell Houston — Raving has

worked with Kell since 2001, and

throughout the years, we have not

only valued his friendship, but his

integrity. That combined with his

gaming savvy approach to utilizing

entertainment as a tool to drive

folks to the casino fl oor, makes

him a perfect fi t for Raving clients.

Kell is the Owner/President of

Houston Productions, with offi ces

in Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Seattle &

Vancouver, BC. Houston Productions

is a proven industry leader in

casino entertainment buying and

consulting. Houston has worked

in all aspects of the entertainment

industry over the past 30 years,

focusing for the last 15 years on

Indian Gaming.

Adam Smithline — is CEO of

Opticity, a hosted casino marketing

system that enables operators to

harness the power trapped in player

tracking systems. Opticity makes it

easy to understand player value and

drive eff ective campaigns, increasing

gaming revenue while reducing

ineffi cient player reinvestment.

John Stewart — the CEO of

Encompass Develop, Design and

Construct, LLC, is an award-winning

registered architect, licensed

contractor, and licensed authority

in the gaming industry across the

country. John’s experience includes

project development in industries

including gaming and hospitality,

restaurant and food service,

retail, healthcare, religious, and

manufacturing.

Sean Vestal — Since 1999, Sean

Vestal, Raving Partner, Marketing

and Player Development, has held

several executive level marketing

positions with a number of Native

American casino operators. He

brings the advantage of versatility

and leadership across multiple

disciplines inside a casino marketing

department. During his tenure in

the gaming industry, he has had

successful engagements as both

the Director of Player Development

at Lucky Eagle Casino, and as the

Marketing Director at Suquamish

Clearwater Casino Resort.

Contributors

A second way to win back lapsed customers is to ask them why they left and what you can do to get them back. The easiest way to do this is to set up a short survey that can be sent via email (recommended) or to mail a copy. In the survey, you tell the customer how important they are and how sorry you are that they have not visited (or have visited and didn’t use their card). In casinos, a “lapsed” customer may simply be one who is still visiting, but doesn’t see enough benefi ts in your program to use their card when they play. This is information that you need to know.

If you don’t know WHY you’re losing customers or carded play, then you won’t know HOW to fi x the problem. With a two-pronged approach of quarterly satisfaction surveys to identify strengths and weaknesses early on, and a survey of lapsed customers to fi nd out why they’re not visiting or not using their card, you’re positioning your property for greater success.


18


You and a Vendor Sitting in a Tree ...K-I-S-S-I-N-G, fi rst comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a software solution in a baby carriageBy Rob Gallo

Of course, this is just a cute childhood jingle, but you’d be surprised how often it hap-pens between casino opera-tors and online vendors. What could go wrong? Realistically, a lot!

Selecting an online casino software vendor is like fi nding a future spouse. First is the courting and fl irting, then

some romance and dating. This means that they will strut their stuff with glossy marketing materials, but of course, they are only going to show you the highlights of their goods or services. You really need to look under the hood before you commit to any online vendor. Just because they might be the biggest, oldest, cheapest, etc., this does not mean that they are the best fi t.

So, how do you determine if they are the right fi t? To con-tinue with the relationship analogy, you should start with a few basic but critical steps in your “discovery phase” before setting a wedding date. (1) A deeper understand-ing of your potential partner, (2) A compatibility test, and (3) Read the fi ne print. Let’s expound:

1. A thorough background check. I’m not talking about fi ngerprinting and obtaining medical records of a potential spouse, but in business, it makes perfect sense to deeply explore a possible vendor’s background. This goes beyond reading testimonials from their website, and actually contacting existing and past customers to get their honest feedback.

Remember to dig for information beyond the actual product, and get a feel for how they interact with their customers. Are they responsive? Do they listen to and act on comments and concerns that you have as an operator? Are they fair and competitive with their billing practices?, etc.

Don’t be afraid to ask the vendor for the contact information of existing clients who are using their services. If they are reluctant to give you this information, I would be a bit leery. Even if they do supply you with references, you should continue to search for other companies that may have used their services. I fi nd LinkedIn is a good resource for this. I’ve also used Twitter with a “hashtag” and the company name to see if anything good or bad is trending about the company.

2. Make sure that your expectations are in sync. If you’re looking for long, romantic walks on a moonlit beach, and your vendor is more of a “dance and party ‘til dawn” type, then you will not be in alignment. For example, if you’re just getting started in the online gaming space, and you want to license a product that will get you up and running fast, but you want to ultimately develop your own software in-house later on down the road, make sure that you have the rights to all the data and processes in place so that you can migrate your players over to your new product once the time comes. And get it in writing.

3. Get a prenup. Sure, it may sound crass in a romantic relationship to make sure that you have an exit strategy in case things don’t work out, but once again in business, this should be standard procedure. No one enters a relationship with the thought that things might go awry, but it MUST be discussed, AND put in writing. It goes far beyond “who gets to keep the dog?” and “who takes the station wagon?”

The purpose of negotiating the contract is to understand not only what the specifi c deliverables are from each party, but things like, who owns the player data? Is it yours exclusively, or do they have rights to your customer data as well? What happens to the player data in the event of a separation/termination of the contract? Who is responsible for payment processing? What level of access will they have/need to your current database? What are their obligations with regard to marketing assistance, if any? What are the milestones and benchmarks for comparing their level of service to you? These are just a few of the things that you should consider when negotiating a contract.

The most important takeaway is, don’t become a divorce statistic. There are a number of diff erent online gaming vendors to choose from, so be selective. Remember, it sometimes takes the outside perspective of a qualifi ed “matchmaker” to help you determine if a potential spouse is the right one, and to assist in negotiating a fair and equitable contract that serves your specifi c needs. Think of it like bringing a lawyer with you on your fi rst date …

Well, maybe not. Either way, happy wedding bliss!


19


Leveraging the Power of Mobile AdvertisingHow your casino can benefi t from this technologyBy Mark Astone

Forty-plus years ago, a notorious but well-known philosopher, Pete Townsend, wrote about “Goin’ Mobile” and the freedom to travel at will along the open road. He couldn’t

possibly have imagined the freedom that we would have today. First we have cel-lular telephones, then the Internet, now smartphones. And ahhhh, the freedom we marketers have today to send our message to a fi nely tuned target audi-ence, whenever and wherever we like, thanks to digital advertising. And unless you are living under a rock, you know it’s all about “Goin’ Mobile!”

Despite their smaller size, mobile banners are now dominating digital advertising campaigns, primarily due to the volume of traffi c that they can send to your website. So, what are mobile banners? Mobile banners are online ads placed on mobile apps, as well as websites that you visit on a phone or tablet (see examples to the right). Click-through-rates (CTR) for mobile banners are often 500-700% higher than standard online banners, making mobile very attractive to advertisers and a very viable option for driving traffi c and eyeballs to a website. Mobile not only leads the way for sending people to websites, but it also has the unique ability to deliver the right person to your site at the right time.

With GPS technology as a built-in feature on cell phones and tablets, the targeting capabilities of mobile far exceed that of standard online banners, which are designed for desktop computers. Yes, both standard and mobile banners can target an audience based on demographic information and behavioral habits, and that is key for advertisers. How-ever, when GPS capabilities are layered on top of audience targeting, advertisers salivate. So, not only can you reach a

35-64 year old casino gamer, but you can also send them a mobile ad when they are within 10 miles of the casino (or 25 miles, or whatever parameters you decide). Or, how about serving them a great off er via mobile ad when they are within 10 miles of your competitor? Nice.

Hello, geo-fencing! “Geo-fencing” means using a software program to establish geographical boundaries of your choice to pinpoint the exact location of mobile users you wish to reach, with the help of our good friend, GPS. Then a targeted message is sent to all mobile phone users, inviting them to take advantage of an immediate off er. That’s right, immediate off er. You are speaking to these folks on their mobile device, and most of them are mobile (not at home). Keep them moving to your front door with a strong call-to-action or an attractive off er: $20 free play for new card sign-up today, or 25 free entries for tonight’s car giveaway … you get the idea. The great thing about serv-ing mobile banners with geo-fencing is that you do not need any personal infor-mation, like a phone number or email address. Sal ivating yet?

Here’s another example of how you can combine the radius target ability of mobile advertising with a local message and increase the performance of the mobile ad (and reduce the amount of waste): Your casino features a Friday night seafood buff et and you set up a specifi c campaign to target adults who are 25+ and within a 10-mile radius of the casino. The campaign runs Friday from 4-7pm and lets them know that the crab just

dropped and will be ready by the time they get there, with “$3 off tonight only.” Delicious!

Advertising an upcoming promotion can also focus on a specifi c target and entice mobile users to get to the casino today! As the big fi nale of a promotion gets closer, mobile banner messaging can shift to let people know that time is running out. Use geo-fencing starting one


20


week prior to the big day, and then change the message or off er every two days until the big day arrives, e.g., “10 free entries today,” “double entries today,” etc., making the off er more attractive as the big day approaches. Utilizing this tactic can help to increase traffi c for the casino and participation in the promotion.

The issue that needs to be considered regarding mobile banner advertising is small banner real estate. The major-ity of mobile banners are still quite small in size and don’t off er a lot of room for a detailed message. This means that you need to be extremely clever with the words you choose for your mobile message. This is the fun part! The idea is to draw someone in, so that they click on your banner and go to the website in order to get the full message (and if you are making “an off er,” the mobile banner will click through to a dedicated landing page, so it’s not available to just anyone who is trolling your website).

The good news is that as mobile advertising develops, so will the mobile real estate options. Recent enhance-ments to mobile banners include full-screen and native ads. The standard 300x250 desktop banner size is becoming more prevalent in mobile, which, on the smaller screen, appears to be a full-screen banner. Native ads are becoming very popular because they allow advertisers to have more messaging real estate, and the ads appear more like organic content (an article, for example) than a standard banner advertisement. Your message appears to blend in with the editorial content, which is a less intrusive and stronger way of reaching the target audience, while branding your product with mobile users. Sneaky, but eff ective.

Sold on mobile yet? Before the cement dries, I do want to touch on standard online banner advertising, which is still widely utilized and a signifi cant piece of the online marketing pie. For years, the majority of digital media dollars has been allocated to standard banner ads, which (at one time) were ideal for driving website traffi c. However, as audiences become used to seeing advertis-ing online, click-through rates for standard banners have declined signifi cantly. At the height of its popularity, a banner ad commanded (up to) a 1% CTR, but these days, it’s only 1/10 of 1% on average. It’s not that online banner advertising is ineff ective. It can provide a large amount of reach to a specifi c audience, which is an

essential element in any advertising campaign. But if your goal is to drive visitors to your website and through your doors, the small screen is the way to go.

“Goin’ Mobile” gives you the combined benefi ts of a higher click-through rate, targeting capabilities, geo-fencing, higher delivery of a local audience and new banner enhancements, and is attracting advertisers in droves. Over the next few years, mobile advertising is expected to steal a signifi cant amount of revenue share from other media. According to the research fi rm eMarketer, mobile advertising spending is expected to reach nearly $18 billion in 2014, an 83% growth from 2013. With the average American spending over 2 hours per day on a mobile device, and 1 in 7 people worldwide owning a smartphone, this audience is one that we cannot aff ord to ignore. Now go get ‘em!

Meet Raving Partner Mark and the Catalyst team at the Raving G2E booth #3409. They’ll also be doing a hands-on workshop at Raving’s 17th Indian Gaming National Market-ing Conference this January.

http://www.teamcatalyst.com



21

NATIONWIDECaesars Entertainment Properties – Tell Me!

A review of certain casino promotions and direct mail communications of various Caesars Entertainment prop-erties in North America, revealed some interesting “vari-able” levels of risk and reward. Some of these included:

• Caesars Windsor (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) – as part of its “Pick a Present” promotion, Caesars Windsor held a Swipe ‘n Win “Instant Win” for Total Rewards Members, where free slot play prizes or up to $1,000 in cash could be won instantly. In the promotional material, the chances of winning in “Instant Win” were listed: “Guaranteed Win” for Seven Stars® (highest tier) level; “1 in 2 Chance” for Diamond tier level; “1 in 3 Chance” for Platinum tier level; “1 in 4 Chance” for Gold tier level.

• Caesars Windsor (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) – held a 5th Year Anniversary VIP gift giveaway for its upper tier level VIPs, using the following gifts:

• Digital Alarm Clock Radio (highest value gift) for Seven Stars® members (200 total gifts available)

• (Smaller) Digital Alarm Clock Radio (2nd highest value gift) for Diamond members (3,100 gifts available)

• LCD Travel Alarm Clock for Platinum members (1,900 gifts available)

• Harrah’s/Harveys Lake Tahoe (Stateline, NV) – sent out a direct mail off er for “Your Risk. Your Reward.” where recipients could swipe at the promotional kiosk and choose a “risk level,” either (guaranteed) $30 Free Play – no risk; $60 Free Play – low risk; $90 Free Play – medium risk; $120 Free Play – high risk. If the low, medium, or high risk kiosk swipe choices were made, there was a chance (increasing by risk level selected) that the guest would win nothing.

• Various Las Vegas properties (Las Vegas, NV) – Bally’s, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Harrah’s, Paris, Planet Hollywood, The Quad, and Rio partnered on the “Las Vegas Slot Tournament Series” held at alternating properties throughout the year. Free play welcome gifts were based on the number of tournaments a guest attended through the year:

• 1-2 Tournaments, receive $50 each in Casino Play

• 3 Tournaments, receive $100 in Casino Play

• 4 Tournaments, receive $200 in Casino Play

• 5 or more Tournaments, receive $300 in Casino Play

“You can reward your casino players for lots of things. Just for showing up at your casino (not so good, but better than nothing). Showing up multiple times (a little better). Showing up and spending money (better yet). Showing up mul-tiple times and spending money (best).

“All of these examples involve Caesars Enter-tainment property attempts to incentivize their better customers to visit and spend money. The tactics include:

• Increasing incentives to participate in multiple events (tournaments) in a series.

• Increasingly valuable gift levels for

PROMOTION ANALYSIS GAMING AND NONGAMING


22

increasingly valuable players in ascending player tier levels, to make a visit and pick up their goodies.

• An ‘instant win’ aspect of a ‘chance to win’ off er, with odds of winning SOMETHING improving for players at higher tier levels.

• A ‘take a risk’ component to a free play off er, where more could be won (or everything lost) by players choosing more risk in the redemption opportunity.

“There are several principles that these Caesars Entertainment properties follow well in these cases. You’d think it would be simple, but you’d be surprised how often some of these principles are ignored or cast aside. They TARGET their best players. They DIFFERENTIATE among their best players with better off ers by worth. They REWARD for FREQUENCY. They use RISK as an incentive for RISK TAKERS. And they layer in an IMMEDIACY of winning, where players will some-times not win in a promotion.

“Caesars has been doing this stuff a long time and is known for its information gathering prow-ess and the strategies it builds around that infor-mation, like in the examples listed here. There’s a lot to be gained by following their lead and many outstanding examples.” – D.C.

NEVADAPalms Casino Resort (Las Vegas) – Check

In(novation)

The Palms is rolling out a 24-hour check-out policy at its hotel, for all guests, at no extra cost. A guest checking in at 9 PM on one day will be able to check out at 9 PM the next day, for example, and be charged for only one night’s lodging. This policy will apply for all check-ins between 3 PM and 11 PM, and early check-ins will be accommo-dated if rooms are available. Guests will provide a mobile phone number at check-in and get a text reminder one hour before their check-out time. They will also be able to make requests via text for guest services, like extra towels or toiletries. The new policy will require a shift for housekeeping staff , with many now needing to work late day and swing shifts. The Palms has instituted training for team members to understand, appreciate and execute this new check-in policy.

“Every now and then, I discover something that is truly innovative and guest-focused. This example from the Palms is one of those times. All of those hotel companies that have blindly settled on noon (or now 11 AM) as the standard check-in/check-out time, have been thinking of housekeeping schedules and ‘how we are sup-posed to do things,’ rather than about the guest. I can only watch and applaud.

“But I also know that it won’t be easy. A few hotels have dabbled with 24-hour or late check-out policies, but obviously no one has shaken up the industry with it. I hope the Palms suc-ceeds, and sets a new standard, because it makes so much sense. Car rental agencies work on a 24-hour check-in/check-out basis, why can’t hotels?

“I can’t even imagine all the new issues such a policy creates. Relatively low-paid guest room attendants will now have to work night shifts as well. Guests and employees will need to be edu-cated and trained on the new policy. Impacts will cascade through the organization. But the real upside is that the guest is the center of the new policy, and it has the real potential for the Palms to achieve a competitive advantage in a crowded Las Vegas marketplace.

“I did notice the Palms started this new policy on a somewhat limited basis (standard check-in begins at 3 PM and check-out is available until 11 PM). I’m hoping that in a couple of years, when the bugs are ironed out, a guest will be able to check in at any time and be able to stay for 24 hours in all circumstances, not only at the Palms, but for several casino-hotel early adopt-ers who are fanatical about thinking from the guest perspective.” – D.C.



23

Red Rock Casino Resort Spa/Green Valley

Ranch Resort Spa Casino (Las Vegas) – Holiday

Shop!

Red Rock and Green Valley Ranch (two Station Casinos’ properties) partnered on a Holiday Shop promotion last year. Boarding Pass members at these two properties, during the December 6-15 timeframe, earned “Holiday Points” that could be redeemed for Holiday gifts from a catalogue of several dozen gift items. The point values of the gifts ranged from 2,500 points (sugar cookies, peanut brittle, etc.) to 3,000,000 points (golf package, Louis Vuitton bag, etc.). Guests had to earn points in individual 24-hour days to receive the gifts for that day and could redeem for up to three gifts per day of the promotion. And when gifts were redeemed with the earned points, the points stayed in the player’s account and could be used for other standard complimentaries in the future.

“I have seen MGM and Caesars Entertainment do Las Vegas-based mega-shopping promotions for several years now, designed to drive visitation to Las Vegas properties at a typically very soft pre-Holiday time period. It is not often that you see a Holiday shopping promotion on a large scale at a locals casino, but this Red Rock/Green Valley Ranch joint promotion is an exception.

“The goal here was to combine a strong off er, an assortment of nice ‘Christmas gifts,’ and a lim-ited ‘earn and redeem’ timeframe to get players into the casino, when they were typically dis-tracted by the Holidays. The gifts were nice (I saw the mailed catalogue). The timeframe was only ten days, creating a real sense of urgency. And the off er was very strong: ‘earn points, do your Christmas shopping, and still keep your points!’

“Of course, the real issue here is if the player reinvestment percentage was appropriate for the incremental gaming revenue to be gained. Only Station Casinos knows that answer, but with a limited promotion time window (thus not creating an ‘entitlement’), a strong hook (‘do your Christmas shopping!’), and a promo-tion format where players had to ‘play to get,’ I’m guessing it all made sense for Red Rock and Green Valley Ranch. Station Casinos’ revenues in Las Vegas were up 8% in that year-end quarter, and I’m guessing ‘Holiday Shop’ was a Holiday helper.” – D.C.



24



mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



25

Raving Recommended Reading ReviewBy Dennis Conrad

Book: The Math of Player Development, compiled and edited by Steve Browne; published by Raving Consulting Company Press

Raving has a number of books and periodicals that it sells to the gaming industry, including my own book, Conrad on Casino Marketing. But the most consistent-selling, “in highest demand” book that we have in our book ware-house (it’s actually a “shelf”) is The Math of Player Development.

I tasked Steve Browne with writing this Math of PD publication in 2005, and boy did he deliver! And since Steve is not a math geek, The Math of Player Development is an easily understood read for most of us mere casino mortals.

I mean, just look at the topics:

• The Math of Making Money

• The Math of Player Worth

• The Math of Player Reinvestment

• The Math of Player Profi tability

• The Math of Advantage Play

• The Math of Measurement

• The Math of Player Utilization and Response

(I didn’t ask Steve to have each chapter read “The Math of …,” but it just works, lends it a “little gravitas”).

The Math of Player Development is an essential part of Raving’s Host Training programs. It is used in college courses on the casino industry (thank you, Dr. Evelyn Green of Southern Mississippi!). And it is purchased regularly by astute casino execu-tives who just want to become more conversant on the topic of Player Development, arguably the hottest, most important area of the casino business today.

OK, I am REALLY biased here. But you need to get and READ this 30-page gem, The Math of Player Development.

And it might save you on house calls.

Dennis’ Rating:

A GAMING EXECUTIVE‘S GUIDE TO READING

6 out of 4 Thumbs Up!


26

Raving Conference & Events Schedule

Raving at G2E 2014Booth #3409, Sands Expo & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV, September 30 - October 2, 2014http://www.ravingconsulting.com

Visit Raving on the tradeshow fl oor!

Raving‘s Cutting Edge Table Games ConferenceParis Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, November 17-19, 2014Produced by Raving Consulting Company for BNP Mediawww.tablegamesconf.com

International trade show and conference specifi cally focused on table games, featuring Casino Journal‘s Best New Table Games of 2014 Competition.

Raving’s 17th Indian Gaming National Marketing ConferenceHarrah’s Resort Southern California, Valley Center, CA, January 26-28, 2015www.ravingconsulting.com/indian-gaming

The only marketing conference dedicated to tribal gaming.

Raving at NIGABooth #1821, San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA, March 30 - April 2, 2015http://www.indiangaming.org/events/tradeshow/index.shtml

We’re headed to San Diego and look forward to visiting with you on the trade show fl oor. Make sure to attend our always-popular workshops.

Southern Gaming SummitMississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center, Biloxi, MS, May 5-7, 2015http://www.sgsummit.com/

Raving will be in the house! Contact Amy Hergenrother at [email protected], or call 775-329-7864 to set up your meeting today.

Raving’s Host Development ConferenceRio Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, July 13-14, 2015Produced by Raving Consulting Company for BNP Mediahttp://www.hostdevelopmentconf.com/

If you are a senior host and player development specialist, General Manager, Player Development Senior Executive, or Marketing Director, you want to attend this program that will focus on developing and segmenting qualifi ed sales leads from your database, and much more!

Casino Marketing 2015Rio Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, July 14-16, 2015http://www.casinomarketingconf.com

Visit Raving on the tradeshow fl oor!

SAVE THE DATE


27

Electronics on the Casino Floor – Part IIWhat “works” from the manufacturer might be a hassle for the playerby Winnie Grand, Raving’s High-Roller Contributor


The subject of electronics is complicated! I can see why casinos experience problems with the implementation of these systems.

I recently visited a casino that had just put in a new program for their slot club. This new program required all customers to exchange their old slot cards for new ones. The new cards had some advantages over the old ones, such as they allowed cashback to be downloaded. This was an advantage to the casino, since the slot club didn’t have to use staff to issue the cashback. Of course, the player had to play the cashback through the machine, which was also advantageous to the casino.

This was a system unlike any that I had seen in the past. I sat down to play my favorite video poker machine and was surprised to see that there was no information on the small screen above the machine. I then realized that there were some symbols on the bottom of the screen, and this was the menu.

This menu stays displayed on the bottom. This was annoying since it took up room on the screen. There was no display of your points as they accumulated. You could have these points displayed on the screen while you played, but then your game was reduced to a small area of the display.

I checked other machines in the casino and noticed that the slot machines I saw did have the normal display at the top of the machine. I can’t imagine why the video poker machines don’t make use of the screens that are there. Having this displayed on the main screen was very awkward.

Slot card readers seem to be plagued with problems – at least these problems are an issue for the player. This is not just a problem with the newer systems. I have seen many problems around the gambling scene.

Some of the programs have poor screens that are very diffi cult to read. These are usually very tiny screens. This would be bad enough, but in addition, the graphics are not crisp, which makes it diffi cult to read.

Many of these systems also scroll through the informa-tion. This requires the player to be quick, or the informa-tion is lost and they must wait for it to scroll past again.

This scrolling is not the only complication. There is often a very convoluted method to conduct business on the slot card reader. An example is the method required to collect earned cashback. The best systems show you the total amount that you have and allow you to just put in the amount that you want to collect. The worst ones require you to choose a set amount – usually ranging from ten dollars to one hundred dollars. If you have several hundred dollars available, you might have to perform this download procedure several times before you are able to get all of the cashback that you have earned. One of the most annoying methods doesn’t even give you the total that is available – just choices to download. You know that you have all of the cashback you have earned when there are no choices displayed.

In many casinos, I have noticed that there is often a lag before your points are updated after you complete your play. Sometimes you have to take your card out and wait a while before you get the correct amount of points. Some systems will update if you take your card out and then reinsert it.

Often, these card readers seem to experience operational problems. Usually, this means that no information on your account at that casino is available. It has happened to me several times that points would not register, so I couldn’t be sure if I was getting the proper credit. I have always been assured that the points were accumulating, but I would have felt better to see this for myself! It is frustrat-ing for the player when their information is not available.

Although I have found that my points do eventually show up, there are many reports among the players I know who have a diff erent experience. There are many complaints of lost points that are never credited to the player. Most frequent players have learned to monitor their play in order to assure that they get what they are earning. Their experience of getting help at the slot club when they fi nd discrepancies has been less than satisfying.

Hopefully, improvements will continue to be made that will enhance the customers’ gaming experience. It is encouraging that advances in the electronic fi eld are usu-ally fairly rapid. Until then – we must cope with systems that are less than perfect!

©2014 Raving Consulting

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