Casino Marketing Masterclass to present four key modules at Gaming Africa

Totally Gaming Academy Course Director, Arjan Korstjens
Delegates attending Gaming Africa, Clarion Gaming’s new two-day conference and learning symposium (24th and 25th October, Johannesburg), will be able to benefit from the insight and expertise of two free-to-attend training modules, Casino Marketing and Online Sports Betting, which are being presented by the internationally acclaimed Totally Gaming Academy. Course Director Arjan Korstjens provides an insight as to what delegates can expect.
How have you tailored the Casino Marketing Masterclass content to fit the needs of delegates attending Gaming Africa?
This Masterclass will be the short version of the three-day Academy training that we provide, and which I have adapted in order to work for what will be a larger audience. I will be focusing on four of the 12 modules from the Academy Training and bringing them to life for the audience. All four modules will be illustrated by examples and case studies drawn from casinos around the world.
How important is it for marketers to target their messaging?
It’s of fundamental importance, because the market is so different. I will be examining the three main customer profiles, which we classify as Fun Players, Time on Device Players and Gamblers. These profiles have been used, tested and validated throughout the world. All three groups have their specific personal drivers, needs, expectations and satisfiers. For each of these groups, you have to have a different approach and a different offer in everything. From floor layout, product offering, promotional offering, marketing activities and events. During the Target Group module, all participants (who work in/for a casino) will recognise their guests and be able to picture people in all three profiles. This is one of the basics for good marketing.
For the uninitiated, the casino environment can be quite confusing – how do we overcome this?
I’ve described the casino floor as representing a sensory, jungle – a very loud, bright, brilliant, comprehensive and complex jungle. We are absolutely NOT helping our guests to explore the casino, where to find what, how to play, what to play, the price of play, the complexity of play. Almost no casino in the world – and I have seen over 250 worldwide in the last couple of years – is providing a solution. I’m not suggesting that guests need to know every aspect, but it’s important just to get someone started and educated. In that way, the guest can make a better choice, have more fun, enjoy the casino experience more, go home satisfied and hopefully return!
Casinos invest heavily in promotions and competitions to increase footfall – is this a good use of marketing spend?
We do invest in promotions, but the question is do we know what the effect has to be to earn back our investment? In the outside world, marketers know exactly what the extra sales have to be to make up for the promotion. Take, for example, a car promotion – how many extra spins in the slot machines do we have to have to earn back the costs of the cars? How many extra people at the Roulette table? Ask any casino marketer and 90% will not exactly know. This module will show you a model that should be used when planning a promotion. Just to make you aware what the effect has to be to stand a chance of earning back your money. A kind of sanity check based upon a simple Excel model.
How can casinos make promotions work?
Quite simply, they need to be more targeted. Give away a car! Win a trip to Vegas! Go on this cruise! Win a Rolex! All over the world, casinos use the same prizes. But why? The Fun Player is attracted by different kinds of prizes than the Time on Device player. Why? Because they are different types of people with different interests and different motivations. Applying the three Target Groups, we will explore what promotions work. When you know your marketing goals, you can choose which promotions to use.
Clarion’s decision to launch Gaming Africa follows requests from major industry players for a quality business-to-business event dedicated to meet the specific gaming needs of the continent. Both training modules are being provided by Clarion Gaming on an entirely complimentary basis – a saving of R15,000.
To download the Agenda and register, which is free for gaming professionals, visit: www.gamingafrica.za.com.