MARKETING:Old ideas maybe we should revisit
by Dennis Conrad
June 1, 2010
It was a
little discomforting a while back when I realized that I surely have become a
“senior statesman” in the gaming industry. I don’t feel that old (which helps
me understand why advertisers use “young” senior models in their ads). I guess
that’s what comes with spending 35 years in a single industry. … And, please,
spare me any “Happy Anniversary” wishes.
Anyway, after the shock wore off, it got me to reminiscing about
my early days in the gaming industry and the early days of my casino marketing
career. I guess that is what “geezers” (I have tried not to be a “dinosaur”)
do. Reminisce.
The trip down memory lane stirred some warm thoughts about the old
days in the gaming biz. It brought some smiles as I remembered some of the old
marketing ways of the casinos of yesterday. Nowadays it’s stuff like CRM and
data base management and ROI and new social media and player development and
branding. We weren’t that smart back then.
Or were we? The more I reminisced about old school marketing the
more I kept saying, “Hey, that was a good idea! I wonder if it would still have
any value or application today?”
And you might expect this from an old guy, but I really think that
some of the old can be new again. Heck, look at the mullet
haircut.
So here are some of the old school marketing notions that I feel
may still have value in the age of Twitter and Facebook:
• The Casino Owner Walking Around Handing Out Rolls of Quarters to
Active Slot Players. … Yes, this was the first “player reward” program. It was
targeted, it was personal and it truly felt like a warm, unexpected,
complimentary gesture (unlike today’s entitlements). Somehow I think there
would be a lot of wisdom today in a GM or a slot director or a tribal
chairperson or a casino owner doing the same.
• The $1 Million Display … The old Binion’s Horseshoe in Downtown
Las Vegas used to have 1,000 $1,000 bills in a horseshoe-shaped display behind
sturdy clear plastic. Visitors could get a free picture of themselves in front
of the display, needing to return four hours later to pick up their photo (one
of the first “retention” devices). I haven’t seen this marketing tool until
last year with the Seminole Tribe’s traveling $5 million “See $5 Million, Win
$1 Million” promotion. Pretty powerful, don’t you think?
• Drink Clickers … At some of the casinos of yesteryear there were
“clickers” at the gaming tables by which dealers could indicate that a player
wanted a drink. Was the clicker sound a little obnoxious? Yes. Did it drive the
cocktail servers crazy? Absolutely.
But did it make players feel like they got immediate attention to their
request in a unique way? Oh, yes. Sounds like some customer-focused wisdom to
me.
• The Carousel Attendant … When the old
coin-spitting dollar slot machines were in vogue most casinos had carousel
attendants, slot employees who worked in the circular (or rectangular) space
framed by the configuration of these (typically liberal) dollar slots. These
attendants made change, cashed in racks of coins, called for technical
assistance — but most importantly they acted as cheerleaders and built numerous
relationships with players. In the era of bill validators, credit meters,
automated tracking and other wonders of technology perhaps it’s time to think
about those old slot arrangements that had people.
• The Loss Leader Buffet. … It used to be hard to find a casino
that didn’t have an embarrassingly cheap “pigfest” (in a good way) buffet.
There are still casino buffets around, and many are high quality, but they now
typically are designed to make a profit for the F&B department. Don’t get
me wrong here, I’m not against casino restaurants making money. It just seems
that we have turned one of the casino’s value-laden hooks, the thing that most
hit a potential gambler’s hot button, the benefit most associated with the
casino itself — the BUFFET! — and turned it into just another amenity.
Marketers, can you do something about this?
• The Casino Floor Decked Out in a Cool Theme … Maybe it’s just
me, but I recall most casino floors really being themed around all major
holidays — Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, St. Patrick’s
Day, Valentine’s Day, you name it. In fact, the theme was the promotion. (OK,
maybe there were a few giveaways as well.) It just seems that now the cool
themes and the different atmospheres they created are gone — replaced by, you
guessed it, only the giveaways themselves. Sounds backwards to
me.
• All Other Things That Are Now “Retro” … Old slot machines where
you pull a handle, the game of “Chuck A Luck,” hand-held, low-limit blackjack
games, afternoon lounge shows, keno runners, sexy cocktail servers and
bartenders, and so much more. I’m not saying there aren’t good reasons why some
of these vanished. It’s just that there might be some value, somewhere, in
bringing some of them back.
Marketers, take note of these pre-senility
thoughts from the “old guy”.
Dennis Conrad
Dennis Conrad is the president and chief strategist of Raving Consulting Company, a full service marketing company specializing in assisting gaming organizations. He can be reached at (775) 329-7864. Visit Raving’s Web site at www.ravingconsulting.com.
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