Jean, while there are some great casino employees out there, I do believe
that unfortunately there are some idiots in casino promotion departments, but
hey, it is only my opinion (apparently not yours). But okay, besides ranting
about some bad promotions, let me give some suggestions.
1. Send out promotional mailers well before events (to arrive at least 1
month prior to any event).
2. Send out promotional mailers to the people who should receive them.
[Harrahs/Rio is an example of someplace that has a marketing problem - my
hosts tell me I can get into numerous promotions, but I am not receiving most
in the mail. I can't go if I don't know about them. For someone running up
2000-5000 points at Harrahs/Rio on a trip (at least 800 per day) I should be
getting a lot of invitiations. But in Dec. I received 1 and for Jan. 2 from
Harrahs, but they have about 4-5 per month. From Rio I got none in the mail
in Dec., but did go to two events due to a host, have received none for Jan.)
3. Give out jackets for royals - the Coast promotion this month and others
are great.
4. Give out scratch cards worth $25-500 for royals - Coast had a great
promotion like this a few months ago. Far better than Palms worthless
scratchies.
5. Double royal payouts for 2nd royal within 24 hrs - hard to get but a nice
promtion.
6. Give scratch cards that have actual value - Main Street Station's $2 and
up cards for quarter quads is a great example.
7. Have a drawing where playing more gets you more entries. Palms has had
some of these in the past. For every 50 points you get 1 entry for example.
Or alternatively, have a drawing where everyone gets an equal chance, and
advertise it that way - everyone who comes gets 1 entry and that is it. In
all cases, make sure your drawings are scrupulously honest.
8. Have slot tournaments where everyone gets a prize. Even the worst in the
tournament gets $50 or $100. Venetian has had a few of these.
Alternatively, make sure everyone gets at least a nice gift (and I don't mean
a picture frame - I mean something nice - like the great pull-luggage I got
from a Bally's tournament worth at least $100).
9. Send out a promotion to your players that guarantees that you will get at
least a certain amount of $ on the scratch card. Resorts in Atlantic City
does this. Small players get scratch cards valued $5-100. Medium players
get $25-1000. Higher level gets $100-5000. You are GUARANTEED a minimum, so
you know it is worth your while to go to the casino to get the scratch card.
10. Give out nice gifts if people come on a certain day. Gift varies with
amount of play. I'm not talking about cheapo clocks or coffee mugs which the
Coast or Palms likes to give out, I'm talking about something with a value of
at least $100 which makes the player love the casino. Cash is best.
Bally's/Paris and Stardust have sent me offers for 2 nights plus $300 in
cash! I've got one coming up from Bally's for $500 CASH. Now that is an
offer I can't refuse. Atlantic City casinos love to give out gifts. Taj
Mahal gives out really nice stuff, even to low-end players, things like
windbreakers, toasters, mixers, etc. Higher end players get postcards to
bring for certain dates for items like color TVs, VCRs, etc.
11. Which reminds me - never give out t-shirts or keychains!!!!
Instead give things which are more practical. While jackets are good,
everyone gives them out. So how about towels (nice thick useable ones, not
just cheap beachtowels), bathrobes (got one from Harrah's once), holiday
dishware, glasses (set of 4), scissor set, manicure set, logo shirts - with
pockets, pots and pans, etc.
12. Shopping Sprees are great - if done right! Harrahs/Rio gives out $100
certificates to places like Dillards and Primm Outlet malls, and provides you
the transportation to get there. These are great. Ballys and Caesar's have
sent me $300-500 shopping sprees, but some of these weren't so good. $300 at
an expensive jewelry store gets you a watch and that is about it (if that
much!). A recent $300 spree at Forum Shops went horribly wrong when they
insisted you had to use the entire $300 at 1 shop only, and many of the shops
were expensive. They should have given out 6 $50 certificates instead. (I
bought a bunch of DVDs and books at Virgin Records which I didn't really
need.) Stardust gave out Sharper Image Gift Certificates - an excellent
idea.
Grazzi and other shopping sprees sent us into a room with a limited
amount of goods available. Some of the stuff was marked up to begin with, so
that by the time you spent your "free money" on the items, you didn't get
much, and selection was poor. A better idea is to give out gift certificates
for places where most people will find something useful - like Macys (Harrahs
did this), Sears, Dillards, even Radio Shack! Or for a food store (hopefully
one that can be found nationwide).
13. See above - give out Gift Certificates
14. If you are a casino without cashback, like the Palms, where your points
all go to comps, giving out prizes which are more 2 for 1 buffets or free
buffets or even $ towards a top restaurant, really doesn't do much. Instead
give out cash! Or free play!
Similarly Harrahs/Rio has poor cashback - give out more cash as incentive
prizes.
15. If you are a casino with a goodly cashback program, then you
should try to bring people in with specials such as free food (the coupons in
the Coast mailing are good because they can be used at any restaurant), or
have a nice slot or video poker or blackjack tournament (with everyone
getting a gift or prize, mind you).
16. In all cases, try to avoid lines!!!!! I was with a friend in the New
Years party line at the Rio - 40 minutes to pick up tickets. Those were 40
minutes where we could have been gambling! They should have given out the
party tickets when you checked in.
I've been in lines to drop entries into drawings - solution is to have that
barrel (or barrels!!) available for several days before the drawing. And how
about those lines to pick up envelopes, scratch cards, or gifts? Solution -
put more people on duty to hand out the stuff. If someone has their slot
club card and a postcard, you don't really need to take the time to check an
ID too.
···
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And Jean, here is a positive statement for casino executives - your floor
people are generally great - really friendly and helpful. When a promotion
goes wrong, I'm sure they hate hearing all the complaints about worthless
scratch cards, lines, and so on. My suggestion to casino promotion
executives - get out there and hand out those scratch cards (or gifts or
whatever) yourselves, and listen to the people you are trying to impress -
are they more impressed with your casino after the promotion or not? Give
out a great jacket or a great scratch card and I guarantee that the person on
the receiving end will be smiling. Give out a key chain/ring or a worthless
scratch card and I guarantee the receiver will be grimacing.
If any casino execs/personnel are reading this list, and they think of us
players as scum, they should be in another line of work. We are the people
who are "paying" for your job for one thing. While a few people on this list
are strictly "advantage players" who follow strategy charts perfectly and
rarely make errors, I guarantee you that most people on this list are far
more "average joe" types who like VP, look for good games, but also make some
errors and occasionally play "reel" slots or other games, and who in the long
run lose money to the casinos. And there are others on this list who play a
lot of "reel" slots and use good VP as a way of lowering their total losses.
There are also a few people on this list who don't play much VP, but just
like to read about comps and casinos. While generally the average person on
this list knows more about casino games than the average person you'll find
in a casino, this just means that our more knowledgeable vantagepoint
probably gives us a better insight on how casinos could better handle
promotions.
I hope that this meets Jean's criterion for a more tactful post. Personally,
I don't think very many casino execs read these lists...if I'm wrong, perhaps
they will rethink some promotions that get players upset instead of happy.
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