Research Library

Killing the Gaming Experience

Posted on July 16, 2014

Regional U.S. gaming markets continue to see month-over-month declines in gaming revenues. Analysts tend to blame the weather, the economy, market saturation, increased competition in neighboring states, and of course, Obama for this decline.

What has yet to be cited is that the gaming entertainment experience has fundamentally changed over the past few years, and many casinos no longer deliver the experiences that players have been used to historically.

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So, Have You Been to Poipet?

Posted on April 25, 2014

When examining the major casino markets of Asia, Macau and Singapore most often come to mind. Most gaming executives are familiar with these markets, and their prodigious gaming revenue performance continues to attract the interest of the media and financial analysts.

The extraordinary performance of these markets has caused casino developers to look more closely at other regional Asia markets such as South Korea, Vietnam and Japan as they look for that next great opportunity.

What are often overlooked are other regional Asian markets that are already established yet are somewhat removed from major Asian cities. These gaming markets generate prodigious amounts of gaming revenue and serve as convenience-based gaming destinations to regional populations.

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Marketing Strategies That Get Results

Posted on August 16, 2013

The effects of the recession continue to linger. While some gaming operators have begun to enjoy a modest amount of gaming revenue growth, for most that growth has been tepid. To grow market share many operators have resorted to the same tactics that have been used for years in the gaming industry: drawing drum promotions, hot seat promotions, point multipliers and increases in the amounts of free play that players receive as part of their monthly mailers. While many casinos have employed new technologies such as kiosks and electronic drawing drums to better manage these promotions, they essentially use the same tactics that previous generations of casino marketers have done to get bodies in the door.

What the recession has taught casino operators is that tactical offers that are created without sound strategies are rarely effective. They may increase traffic, shift play from one time
period to another but they rarely have an impact on profitability. The following are some of the best marketing strategies of 2013 that astute gaming operators have implemented..

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Seven Keys to Casino Success

Posted on February 16, 2013

The success of Singapore’s recently established casino industry, along with the unprecedented growth in gaming revenues in Macau, has attracted the interest of governments throughout Asia. Several are considering instituting new policies that will permit the expansion of casino gaming in their countries in the form of so-called integrated resorts, as a means to boost
economic and tourism growth and generate tax revenues.

The examples of Macau and Singapore, together with those of other Asian countries that did not manage to enjoy quite as much success with their casino initiatives, have helped identify seven factors that are critical to the success of any new gaming venue in the region.

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Legislative Dynamite: State failures the exception to the rule

Posted on November 16, 2012

As state budget crises continue to sweep across the nation due to the effects of the Great Recession, more and more states are making foolhardy decisions in an attempt to plug part of a budget deficit that may benefit them in the short term but will ultimately hurt them in the long run. Many investors in the gaming world have historically been gun-shy of investing in many international destinations due to legislative risk, viewing the United States as a stable jurisdiction in which the future is predictable. However, events of recent years have shown this premise of legislative stability in the United States as false.

New Jersey, feeling the pressure to expand gaming outside of Atlantic City to help reduce its deficit, has an opportunity to do it the right way that will benefit all stakeholders. Hopefully, they follow sage advice and set the example to how to responsibly expand gaming while simultaneously benefiting companies that have invested billions in their state.

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Russian Roulette: Is Vladivostok Russia the Next Important Gaming Destination in Asia?

Posted on September 16, 2012

Vladivostok, Russia, a city much closer to Beijing than Macau and bordering northern China; a city in which President Vladimir Putin has spent over $18 billion over the past four years improving and building; the incredibly strategic southernmost port city in Russia, has opened its doors to the world to develop the integrated entertainment destined to be a world-class casino-resort destination serving northeastern Asia, and in particular, northern China.

All you have to do to understand its potential is look on a map. However, there is no buzz in the industry, and operators are quickly missing the next new gaming destination in Asia.

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Asia: Seven Steps to Success

Posted on July 27, 2012

Call it the Macau/Singapore effect.

The initial success of integrated casino resorts in Singapore, coupled with the unprecedented growth in gaming revenues in Macau, has attracted the interest of government policy-makers in
countries throughout Asia. Several are now considering instituting new policies that will permit the expansion of casino gaming in their countries in the form of what is now being referred to as integrated casino resorts, and with it, both economic and tourism growth.

The success of Asian resorts has helped identify those factors that are critical to the success of any new gaming venue. Here are seven factors that are critical to creating a successful gaming policy that grows tourism, enhances tax revenues and acts as an engine for economic growth.

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How to Catch and Keep the Big Fish

Posted on June 16, 2012

Executives in the casino industry have long used euphemisms to describe various types of customers. One term often coined to describe a premium player is a whale. The term originated in Las Vegas and was used to describe gamblers who wagered very large amounts on each hand. As casinos proliferated throughout the United States the term began to be used more broadly to describe each casino’s best customers. All casinos have a few players that make an outsized contribution to the property’s gaming revenue. They may not be whales in the traditional sense, but they are still pretty big fish and every casino operator wishes they could find a few more. To this end, they build luxurious hotel suites, offer fine dining along with other amenities and employ hosts to service their most valued customers.

To better understand how some of the largest casino operators identify and capture big fish, a rather expensive research project was conducted. Two markets comprised of ten casinos were selected. These markets contained some of the nation’s most recognized casino brands. At each property a researcher joined the casino’s rewards program, requested two players’ club cards
and asked the rewards program representative for directions to the high limit slot area. The researcher then was required to find two $5 slot machines (reels) with medium to low volatility, and play them simultaneously at $10 a spin for two hours or until the researcher generated $10,000 in coin handle.

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Rethinking the Three-Tiered Rewards Program

Posted on May 16, 2012

The tiered rewards program has emerged as a valuable tool to acknowledge loyalty among the casino’s most valuable players and allows the casino operator to bestow certain privileges on them. Tiered rewards programs are based on the Pareto Principle, also known as the law of the vital few, which states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Applied to business, it means that 80% of business volume comes from20%of customers. In reality, an examination of most casino databases shows that upwards of 85% of business comes from 15% of customers and it is for this reason that tiered rewards programs are created: to provide higher levels of service and amenities for the casino’s most important customers and to publicly acknowledge their loyalty.

When embarking upon a tiered rewards program, most casino operators initially employ a three-tier model consisting of a base tier, a middle tier and a top tier. There is no qualification
required for the base tier while the latter two premium tiers require substantial amounts of gaming activity in order to achieve premium tier status. The base tier normally contains
the bottom 90% of the total database. The middle tier contains the 90%-98% segment and the top tier contains the top 2% of the database.

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The Golden Age of Free Play

Posted on February 27, 2012

A considerable amount of debate has occurred over the costs of free slot play, how to account for it, measuring its impact on profitability, calculating its effect on slot hold and other metrics. What has not been explored are the hidden benefits of free slot play.

Indeed, free slot play can have a profound and positive impact on customer satisfaction, the casino’s profit an loss statement and even the privilege taxes the casino pays on gaming revenue. The industry may in fact be in the midst of a golden age of free play—an age that may soon vanish. Until that time, customers, casino leadership and even the gaming organization’s chief financial officer can enjoy free play’s hidden benefits.

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