Inside Asian Gaming

JUly 2015 inside asian gaming 33 CASINO MARKETING Ms Varnes: I was at a hotel conference recently and two things really stood out to me. The first was that although we talk about Millennials as a separate generation, so many of us, no matter what our age, are acting like Millennials. We are using the same devices. We are using the same technology. It isn’t just about our age, but how we act, and some of us act younger than we are. That rang true to me… so it is not just the age demo we are going after, it is the technology that people are using however old they are. The second thing is when we go to our hotel rooms, we use two or three devices. We pull out our laptop, iPhones and iPads. We want to make sure all three are streaming quickly and that we have the right bandwidth and all that. That is what everyone wants… you do not need to be a Millennial to appreciate quick and easy access to electronic devices. MARKETING TO BOTH CORE PLAYERS & MILLENNIALS: Mr Lucas: I think it is a big challenge, but you have the diversity on the gaming floor to accommodate both. You certainly do not want to drive that older customer out, but you do want the floor to be conducive to building that Millennial market. It’s just like you have different areas of your floors with different denoms and themes, I think you do the same thing with demographics. You have to create some areas that are going to be appealing to each of these segments. Mr Miller: From a marketing standpoint, I think we need to get away from what used to be standard direct mail campaigns. You have your monthly campaign, your new member campaign… we have to think differently about how we communicate with people. There is a segment of our database that still wants that piece of mail; they still want to have it in their hands with their coupons and their offers. But the thing about the Millennials and the younger folks: they want nothing to do with a piece of paper. Don’t send them anything in the mail, just text it to or e-mail it to them, so they have it on their PDAs. It’s even a different approach to websites. Those of you that are offering websites… if it is not optimized for handheld devices, you are outdated. Laptops are going away. Everything in the not too distant future is going to be done on an iPhone or iPad. So you have to make sure when these younger folks are looking at your product and considering coming to visit your property, that you are presenting something that is attractive to them. It is a big paradigm shift for a lot of properties. Mr Barber: There is a new psychology at play here as well; essentially, when it comes to age, 50 is the new 30. So having products and services that attract a younger customer lets the older customer also feel good about being there. However, establishing such a social environment is not easy, whether it is on or off the casino floor. The one analog I can offer is in the nightlife business. At times and you can get 4,000 people in a nightclub rocking at 4:00 am; and it is a very different scene from a customer just sitting at a slot machine at the same time. Finding a way for these amenities, products and services to co-exist and be totally integrated into a property can be a challenge. But I do think the notion of having different customer segments all together does help the entire property and creates a good vibe and energy to the overall experience at any facility. Reprinted with permission from Casino Journal . “On a positive note, our newer employees at that lower-level worry about whether we are green or not, how much we give to charity and where we donate time. So it is not all bad, there are some very positive things about dealing with the Millennial generation.” Jim Hoskins COO, Golden Nugget Casinos