Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | August 2009 40 the original $1 million display) is smiling. MAKING A STATEMENT Barona Resort & Casino (Lakeside, Calif.) Banks give account statements. Brokerage firms give account statements. So do hospitals. But casinos? Well, if you are the ultra-innovative Barona you do. Barona’s was sent out to each Club Barona member in its year-end “Rewarding Moments” newsletter. The statement listed the yearlong value of each player’s cash offers, hotel offers, food offers and complimentaries received; plus it mentioned the $3,055,323 (who keeps count of this stuff?) in cash and prize giveaways for the year that each member had a shot to win. Why have a players club card? This makes a statement. BABY BOOMERS FESTIVAL Silver Legacy Resort Casino (Reno, Nev.) We’re not seniors anymore, we’re Baby Boomers! And we have disposable income, and we will spend it at casinos. Especially if, as Silver Legacy did, you host a Baby Boomers Festival. … Say what? Sure, all you need is a Baby Boomer Wine Walk, a “speed- dating” event, an astrological matchmaking party, a flirting competition and a couple of speakers talking about finance, sexuality and health. What else could a Boomer want? Well, maybe gambling in your casino with your Boomer Buddies. PROMOTIONS YEARBOOK Casinos Austria International If your company had casinos all over the world and on numerous cruise ships I’m betting they all did promotions, creating a virtual tapestry of local marketing for diverse markets. And if you were Hermann Pamminger, Casinos Austria International’s corporate head of marketing, you’d see the wisdom of sharing the best of the best in a “Promotions Yearbook”. Made up of essential details from promotions conducted at 37 casinos in 13 countries and on10 cruise ships, the“PromotionsYearbook” speaks to the principle that promotional wisdom should be shared, celebrated and “floated” through the company. YOU’VE GOT POINTS Gold Dust West (Reno, Nev.) Sometimes the best is just so simple. For Gold Dust West in Reno this recognition- worthy effort came in the form of a personal note card, personally written and signed by a living, breathing Gold Dust West front- line employee named Pamela. The reason for this note? To let me know that I had $15 in cash compiled on my Gold Rewards Card just waiting for me to pick up and put in my hot little hands (and perhaps GoldDust’s hot machines). Personal, strategic, and it takes only a card and stamp, without reaching any deeper into a casino’s marketing war chest. “WE’RE SORRY” Southwest Airlines Keeping with the “Best (and Worst)” tradition of honoring efforts from outside the gaming industry (whose ideas should be immediately stolen for casino application) I bring you the apology letter from Southwest Airlines. Written to passengers on a flight to Tulsa, Okla., who had to suffer the “bizarre behavior” of an unruly fellow traveler, the note from the assistant manager of Proactive Service Communications (tell me you have a positionlikethat!)containedoneSouthwest LUV (flight) voucher, an acknowledgement of the “hassle” and “inconvenience,” a wish for “better flight memories” and an expression of appreciation for their Southwest patronage. … Hey, Southwest gets it, and you should too. “FREAKS” O’Sheas Casino (Las Vegas Strip) If your casino is small and quirky and you’re nestled between the big guys on the LasVegas Strip you just might have to get a little freaky. And that’s exactly what O’Sheas did by becoming the home of the carny show “Freaks” from the demented mind of X-rated hypnotist and showman Anthony Cools. In one act of “Freaks” a guy loses an eye and later lifts weights with the weights attached to his eye sockets. A woman drinks a glass of wine and then eats the glass. There is a huge drag queen manipulating a grotesque dummy. Not your cup of tea? Maybe not, but its award-winning originality might just draw a Feature