Almo takes marketing reins
at amazing Thunder Valley

     December 22, 2003:      Would you like to have the marketing job for a casino that clears $5.7 million a week? The man who has it these days is Bob Almo, a savvy veteran from Reno hired by Thunder Valley Casino in Roseville, CA, last month. He formerly headed the marketing for Boomtown in Reno. Almo is a strong believer in direct mail, in direct response advertising and in personal contact when the customer is in the store. He was one of the few casino marketers in Nevada who spent as much time on the floor as he did in his office. Now he's running the marketing for a casino that appears to be one of the most successful in the United States. Mark Anderson, writing in the Sacramento Business Journal last month, said Thunder Valley exceeded its forecast of 50 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30, by 50 percent, racking up $75.8 million. The Auburn Indian Community and Thunder Valley manager Station Casinos split the take roughly 3-1, said Anderson.

Consider e-mails in text format
to stand out from the crowd

     December 12, 2003:      Want to make your e-mail marketing messages stand out from the crowd? Paul Miller of Catalog Age suggests you consider using text rather than html. Miller quotes Jeff Moriarity of DM2 Moriarity, as admitting that 85 to 90 percent of business to business e-mail marketing pitches are in html. But, says Moriarity, "We're seeing text coming back into play." If true, that should make text messages stand out. Your faithful reporter agrees with Moriarity. I'm seeing more and more text e-mail from casinos. The best ones keep the paragraphs short (for easy reading) and get the casino's name, offer or benefits in the subject line (to make it stand out from all the spam). Like in print, you have only seconds to catch the prospect's eye, which is why subject lines should deliver a benefit or a promise. "You should ask yourself," says Moriarity, "what causes you to open or delete e-mails when you receive them." That's a key point to remember. (Also check Tip of the Week for Dec. 1 and Dec. 22.)

If you can't measure the ad,
you're taking a big gamble

     December 1, 2003:      All casino ad directors should demand accountability. If you don't know cost-per-sale and cost-per-lead, you're just spending the money and praying. Direct mail and print are easy to track for effectiveness because (usually) they both contain limited time offers that ask customers and prospects to respond directly to the casino. No so with television. Even the major networks don't know for sure what kind of audiences they're reaching. Nielsen Media Research, which uses reports from 5,100 homes in America to measure TV audiences, reports that viewing is down. The Wall Street Journal says that men ages 18 to 34, the prime demographic group for the big four networks (NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox) are watching between 8% and 12% less prime-time TV than they did last year. The networks are furious, but helpless. They can't measure on their own so they hire Nielsen (which stands by its figures). Here's the lesson for casinos: the smaller the ad budget, the more you should stick with a medium you can measure. Some day the GM will ask what your ads are producing. If you don't know, big trouble.

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Daily deluge of hated spam
may hurt casino marketing

     November 24, 2003:      First thing I do when I go online in the morning is check my mail. Invariably, I'll find 20-30 pieces of spam. I spend a minute or two deleting them, being careful to save my normal business mail and notes from friends. I've come to the point where I'll delete anything from someone I don't recognize. I've probably lost some legitimate messages that way. But it's them against us. The sad part is that the daily onslaught of spam could be killing casino e-mail. The New York Times, reporting on a Pew Internet and American Life Project survey, said that 70 percent of e-mail users say that spam has made being online "annoying or unpleasant." A third say that spam is "hindering legitimate communication." Says the Times, "There was a time when e-mail was hailed...as the medium that would change the way people communicate...now it is a pestilence."

Tokyo's amazing outdoor board
could spark a casino imitation

     November 13, 2003:      Have you seen pictures of the huge Adidas outdoor board in Tokyo? It's the first "live action" board I've ever seen, and it could spur the more daring casinos to imitate the concept with a "live action" slot. The Adidas board is perched atop a 10-story building in Tokyo's Shibuya district, the Wall Street Journal reports. Two soccer players dangle from 26-foot ropes over a painted soccer field and kick a ball that hangs between them. They actually play 10-minute games five times each afternoon, bringing "crowds of pedestrians to a near standstill," says the Journal. Moves such as over-the-head kicks are "relatively easy when suspended from a rope," adds the newspaper. Yeah, maybe--but you wouldn't catch me trying it.

Massachusetts "Do Not Mail" bill
could become a threat to casinos

     November 1, 2003:      Casino marketers beware. The state of Massachusetts is considering a bill that takes the "Do Not Call" list to a much higher level. It's a "Do Not Mail" law, and if it spreads to other states (or gets Federal backing) every mailer will face big problems. Hallie Mummert, editor in chief of Target Marketing & Inside Direct Mail, writes "The bill's aim...is to cut down all unsolicited mailing to Massachusetts consumers by outlawing all acquisition-oriented direct mail campaigns." The bill, says Mummert, includes even new donor fundraising campaigns in its definition of "junk, mail." As you might suspect, direct mail campaigns from politicians are not included. in the ban. Earlier, reports Mummert, the New York legislature took up a similar bill. The latest potential infringement on the rights of mailers is backed by the Center for a New American Dream, which she describes as "A nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C.., dedicated to helping American fight commercialization and protect the environment." Let us pray.

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Dave Barry jumps on telemarketers,
floods their phones with calls

     October 24, 2003:      Not many public prints carried this item, but it was all over the direct marketing publications. Seems that humorist Dave Barry and the American Teleservices Association are not exactly the best of friends. Barry's nationally syndicated newspaper column of Aug. 31, was headed "Ask Not What Telemarketers Can Do to You," and although it was wonderful fun it was nonetheless a serious shot at the ATA. Barry urged his readers to call the ATA (he helpfully included their phone number) and "Tell them what you think." This was after writing that the public hates telemarketing, "Even more than it hates France and, low-flo toilets." The ATA says it was swamped with calls, and protested vigorously. Tad Clarke, editor of DM News, reports that Barry responded on his Web site by saying, "Gosh, that must have been awful. Imagine! Receiving unwanted phone calls! Without warning! How could anyone DO such a thing?" Clarke says he tracked down Barry's home number and phoned him. 'He really, really hates telemarketers," Clarke wrote. P.S. Casino telemarketers take note.

Rocky Mt. Gaming Summit, Oct 28-30:
Marketing panel features four GMs

     October 13, 2003:      The Las Vegas G2E show wasn't the last of the year. That spot goes to the Rocky Mountain Gaming Summit, Oct. 28-30, at the Denver Hyatt Regency. It's co-sponsored by Ascend Media and the Colorado Gaming Association. On Oct. 29 I 'll be moderating a remarkable panel named Relationship Marketing. What's so remarkable? Just this: the panel includes four general managers who came up from (gasp!) the marketing side of the business. They are Susan Murphy, Pres. & GM of the Ramada Express in Laughlin; Larry Close, GM of The Mill Casino in North Bend, Oregon; Sean Sullivan GM of the Mountain High Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado, and John Bohannon, GM of the Colorado Central Station, also in Black Hawk. A fifth member of the panel also is a marketer. He's Vince Manfredi of Acres Gaming. Lot of high-priced talent on one panel, wouldn't you say? I'm going to ask them who's running the store. We've lengthened the time to 1 1/2 hours. Get those questions ready.

The G2E show included holograms,
Casino Careers and the U of Feathers

     October 1, 2003:      The G2E conference and show in Las Vegas last month was a monster, sapping the strength from anyone who tried to walk all the booths. But since your faithful reporter has done it every year, I took a shot at it. Got lost right away but luckily bumped into some old pals who knew where they were. Highlights for me (outside of the flood of new slots) were these: Optical Products Development and Advanced 3D Imaging Systems showed off a hologram-like technology that projected images and action suspended in this air a foot or two from a mock slot machine. So real I tried to grab it. Hey, IGT. Better take a look at this one. It's amazing. Another remarkable display was Beth Deighan's Casino Careers. From a modest start a few years ago, her database now tops 3,000 names. Beth is one hell of an executive. If you're job hunting, check out Casino Careers. Also met Robin Turner, who created the Chicken Challenge that proved so popular at the AC Tropicana and other casinos. He calls his business the "University of Feathers." More next week.

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Want to attract a younger crowd?
The Internet beats TV and print

     September 24, 2003:      Casinos search continually for the "younger crowd." But what IS the "younger crowd" and how do you reach them? For the first time there's an answer to both those questions. A research study commissioned by Yahoo, Inc., and Carat Interactive shows that the Internet has forged ahead of television as the media of choice for teenagers and adults up to age 34. In reporting the story, DM News says there are 47 million people in the US between the ages of 13 and 34. They spend 16.7% of their time on the Net every week, and just 13.6 hours a week watching TV. Only six hours a week are spent "reading for personal pleasure," says DM News. The answers seem to be to speak their language on your Web site, and forget print advertising. Sarah Fay, president of Carat Interactive, sums it up this way: "I don't know where the money needs to come from. I just know that if you build a program from the ground up, the Internet is a major building block, almost the first."

Is casino advertising relevant
as American values change?

     September 13, 2003:      As if casinos didn't have enough marketing problems, a new Yankelovich Monitor consumer survey reports that "advertising" is one of the top five things that need (gasp) government regulation. Ray Schultz, editor of Direct magazine, writing in Primedia's Chief Marketer online newsletter, says the survey results may account for the fact that 30 million have already put their names on the FTC's do-not-call list. Of course, the survey wasn't aimed specifically at casino advertising, but it ought to make us stop and think. Is our advertising relevant in a world in which Americans are returning to what Schultz calls "core values?" And if not, what should we do about it? J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich, says a shift in "priorities" since 9/11 has led to "increasing socialization of marketing resistance." Did you wonder about the other four things that need government regulation? They're water pollution, toxic wastes, air pollution, and nuclear safety. Nice.

Starts to write a casino book,
realizes he's already done it

     September 1, 2003:       In February, 1994, I decided to write a book on casino marketing. I had half a chapter completed when I realized I had already written a book. So I stopped writing and quickly gathered ten years of columns from International Gaming & Wagering Business magazine. I picked my favorite 85, and voila! Instant book! The people at IGWB said sure, they'd publish it, but that I could do it myself much faster and far cheaper. So I got some advice from an author friend of mine and plunged in. I figured I had plenty of time to get it in print before the World Gaming Congress in September. Wrong. I had to learn the book printing business first. We barely made it The books got to Las Vegas the day before the show. This month Casino Marketing completed its third printing.More than 5,000 copies have been sold--about half directly from my wife Robin's company, American Eagle Arts & Letters, through Amazon.com, Barnesandnonble.com, The Gambler's Bookstore and the Gambler's General Store. We thank you.

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Lottery ads are working fine,
so New York dumps them

     August 23, 2003:       Would any casino drop a successful series of ads and switch to an untested and unproven campaign? The logical answer is "No." But in the case of the New York Lottery, the answer to the question is "Yes." New York's current campaign started 21 months ago, says the Wall Street Journal, and featured farmers, factory workers, truck drivers and bakers discussing what they would do if they won the jackpot.Lotto sales jumped 14% to $5.4 billion, says the Journal. Yet New York decided to change because the Lotto ads were "well worn." One of the new ads features a jackpot-winning dog riding in a stretch limo. Why did they change from real people to dogs? Here's an educated guess. The Lotto people simply got tired of their ads. It happens all the time in the casino business. The top execs keep seeing the current ads and get bored. They think everyone in TV land is bored, too--so they demand a change. Too bad. Advertising dictated by personal opinion rarely succeeds. Only the marketplace holds the the answer--which makes New York's case strange indeed.

In an amazing 2002 performance,
Indian casinos won $14.1 billion

     August 13, 2003:       The interesting newsletter www.casinowire.com recently asked "How are Indian casinos doing?" The answer came from the Analysis Group of Boston., MA. According to the researchers, Indian casinos won $14.1 billion in 2002, which puts them far ahead of Nevada casinos, which won $9.4 billion. Other highlights: In 2002, there were 221 different tribes operating 348 gaming casinos in 30 states, an increase in all categories over 2001. And, the Indian casinos cumulatively paid $15.5 billion in wages, provided 450,000 jobs, and paid $4.8 billion in taxes. And with the new Indian casinos that have opened this year (particularly Thunder Valley outside Sacramento) look for the take to go even higher when 2003 is in the books. It's just an amazing performance that few, if any, Nevada or New Jersey casino executives could have predicted a dozen years ago. P.S. My best advice--visit CasinoWire, then subscribe. It's free.

CRM no longer top dog:
Data integration next

     August 1, 2003:       CRM (Customer Relationship Management) may not be dead, but it has a sickly pallor, says Hallie Mummert, Editor in Chief of the excellent Target Marketing magazine. Okay, so she didn't say exactly that, but she left no doubt in a recent editorial that CRM is rapidly being replaced by CDI (Customer Data Integration). That's the best news I've heard for casino direct marketers in months. CRM software was overpriced and its results spotty and hard to define. Says Mummert, "Integration has officially replaced CRM as the buzz word in the direct marketing world...everyone recognizes data integration as a continual process that fuels the future of business." CDI is defined as "The process of marrying data from disparate databases to maximize marketing programs." Sprint, according to Target Marketing, has used CDI to gain a more complete view of its customer. Stay tuned.

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      Casinos know that sex sells,
but there's a downside

     July 21, 2003:       Does sex sell? There's never been much argument about that in the casino business. Gorgeous woman have been a staple of gaming advertising since the bikini was invented. When WAS the bikini invented? But I digress. Even though sex was widespread in casino ads, there was always an undercurrent of doubt about the way women customers reacted. And now, with women gambling almost as often as men, the reaction to two beer commercials may be instructive. Early this year Miller Lite featured two beautiful women in about six square inches of bikini (each) in a commercial called "Catfight." The girls wrestled in the mud in one very revealing spot. At the same time, Coors Light featured twin sisters in red bikinis in its "Rock On" campaign. Results to date: Miller Lite slipped 2.5% in drugstore and supermarket sales, says the Wall Street Journal. Coors Light's market share remained flat at 8.5% of the US beer market. Does sex sell? One beer marketer said consumers can't always remember the difference between commercials.

      Phoning the wrong customer
could cost you $11,000

     July 12, 2003:       You're a casino host (in 2005) making your daily telephone calls to a list of rated players. Suddenly, one of them says, "I've asked you guys not to call me. Now I'm reporting you to the Federal Trade Commission." If the player does what he says, it could cost you $11,000. Herewith, some key points of the FTC's new "Do not call" list, which President Bush signed into law late last month. The law takes effect on Oct. 1. If you have "an existing business relationship" with the customer, you're clear for 18 months, through March, 2005. After that, unwanted calls can bring a fine of $11,000 each...federal officials, says the Wall Street Journal, expect the list to top 60 million...14 million will be transferred to the federal list from 27 states that have "Do not call" telemarketing laws...the law also covers faxes...survey organizations and nonprofits can still call with impunity...consumers can report violations to the FTC by simply writing down the offending company's name and telephone number and filing it with the FTC, says the WSJ...mark your 2005 calendar now, and make sure your customers want your calls.

    Can you sell a casino
by running it down?

     July 1, 2003:       Can you imagine a casino TV commercial that opens with the general manager admitting his slots have been set too high for years, that his shows have been dogs and his food lousy? While in the background you hear vicious testimonials from his customers: "Worst meal I ever had...the service is terrible...you couldn't hit their slots with a baseball bat...it's the last casino I'd ever go to." Could a GM actually build business by convincing you he's been cheating you for years? Not likely, but some ad agency sold just such an approach to the Hardee's fast-food chain. The Wall Street Journal describes the performance of Hardee's CEO, who narrates the spots, as "shaky." Executives are quoted as saying they're making the "admissions" to kick off the chain's new "Thickburgers." When I owned an ad agency in the 70's, I was the new business guy. We'd sit around in free-wheeling meetings and shout out things we could never say, or that the client would never buy. But in this case, Hardee's bought it.

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      The new NCOA system
will debut on July 1

     June 26, 2003:       Your NCOA (National Change of Address) will improve on July 1, when the Post Office releases NCOALink to vendors. It will supplant the old NCOA and FASTforward products currently used by mailers. The postal service says address data will be kept in a more convenient and secure format. Current change of address products, says DM News, require a high level of security to protect the data. NCOALink initially will be available only to the current 18 NCOA licensees and FASTforward licensees, but a USPS spokesman said that it may be opened to a broader audience in the future. Currently, NCOA contains change of address information filed with the postal service within the last 43 months. FASTforward contains the most recent 13 months of data.

      If you're not on the Web
who in the heck are you?

     June 12, 2003:       World Is Changing Department: "There was a time," says noted direct marketer Ray Jutkins, "when I said not everyone needed a Web site...today every business, if you are serious business, needs a Web site. There is no longer a debate. If you don't have a listing on the World Wide Web, who are you?" In his weekly e-mail newsletter, Jutkins goes on to say the following: Web pages need to be fed by marketing and sales...don't let your tech folks or any outside design group, dictate what your site looks like...the impact of the WWW can be as effective as a face-to-face sales call...in the beginning you could get away with throwing up copies of your latest brochures and a few pictures. That approach is now dead...if your site is what it was before, it is out of place in this world...Pretty smart guy, Ray. and an old friend.

      Attention Casino Ad Directors:
The Silly Season Has Begun

     June 1, 2003:       Casinos beware. It's the silly season in advertising again--and it's catching. As usual, it starts with big clients and agencies urging their people to get more "creative." And what we get are monuments to irrelevancy. Too many casinos see the absurd ads that invariably come to life, and think that's the way to go. Forget it. In the latest move, Procter & Gamble plans to "Free its agencies to create edgier ads," says the Wall Street Journal. James Stengel, the new marketing boss at P&G, says the company's old approach is "passe." It figures; the old ads used comparative advertising and actually tried to sell products. You can bet the new ads will be funny, but not nearly as successful. The Journal story tells of a UK agency that used "racy humor" to sell soap. The P&G people liked it. The beginning of the end.

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      Text messaging for casinos?
One day you'll bet the phone

     May 23, 2003:       It's good enough for "American Idol." But is it good enough for the casino business? We're talking text messaging here. According to a study by Upoc and Frank N. Magid Associates, about 140 million people in the US own mobile phones, and 27 million of those receive text messaging. Viewers of the popular television show "American Idol" voted by text messaging and it seemed to work pretty smoothly, proving that interacting with television shows is a cinch. But how would it work for casinos? Start with an opt-in house list of cell phone numbers, maybe. Send 'em special offers in text and audio as a test, and track the response. When video comes along, throw that in, too. The possibilities are enormous but where does it end? If you're thinking the customers will some day bet the phone, we're on the same wavelength.

Advertisers should learn
which ads sell, and why

     May 11, 2003:       I had to laugh. The Magazine Publishers of America (MPA) has launched a sweepstakes that, in the words of the Wall Street Journal, "urges media buyers to remember that sometimes, print ads work better" than television ads. Hell, the MPA should educate its clients on what kind of print ads sell and what kind just lie on the page and look stupid. So many ad agencies are caught up in "branding" that you can thumb through an entire magazine and never find an ad that sells anything. "Branding" provides plenty of portfolio material for art directors and copywriters, but you can't take an image to the bank. Most companies would gladly trade awareness for hard sales--particularly in these economic times. Best way for casinos to prove magazine ads "work" is to shift to direct response ads. But don't hold your breath.

How do you really know
when your ads "work?"

     May 1, 2003:       You often hear ad executives on both the agency and casino client side proclaim, "The campaign was a success," or "The ad worked." But how do they know it was a success? How do they know it worked? The short answer is, they don't--not unless they're using direct response techniques that force prospects to reply directly to the casino. Only when the prospects respond directly can the true efficiency of a campaign or of an ad be determined. Case in point is Amazon.com, which discovered that free shipping and price discounts had far more impact on sales than TV advertising. The company promptly stopped TV and used the dollars once reserved for it to subsidize free shipping. Sales went up immediately.

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Those lucky casino marketers:
Customers seek a relationship

     April 21, 2003:       Robert McKim, CEO of SourceLink Software Solutions Group, Los Angeles (rmckim@sourcelinkssg.com), makes some good points about customer value in a recent column in DM NEWS. "Customers," says McKim, "are growing more sophisticated, demanding and selective regarding marketing pitches. They are determining when and where they wish to interact with companies. While some consumers want a relationship with a company they buy from, the vast majority do not." McKim also estimated up to 50% of databases lack enough data to create customer value. Of course, Bob is talking about garden variety businesses--not about the casino business--and I agree with him. The business mail I get at home makes me roll my eyes. If there's one thing casinos DO know, it's the value of their customers. And if there's one industry in which the customers really DO want a relationship with a company, it's our business. Bottom line: compared to the outside world, casino marketers have it easy.

Telemarketing, faxing and e-mailing
are under pressure from the feds

     April 12, 2003:       Attention casinos. The carefree days of phoning, e-mailing and faxing your customers are about to end. If you get their approval, fine. If not, you could be nailed by the feds. Here's a quick report on all three, gleaned from Direct Newsline, the e-mail arm of Direct magazine. Telemarketing: President Bush signed legislation in mid-March creating a national "Do Not Call" list. The bill allows the FTC to collect fees from telemarketers to fund the registry. Faxes: The days of large volume faxers may be numbered. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court's ruling that a law restricting junk faxes was constitutional. The court said "There is a substantial government interest in protecting the public from the cost of shifting and interference caused by unwanted fax advertisements," which consume the recipient's ink, toner and paper. Spam: A similar argument can now be made about spam because companies have to spend money on e-mail filtering systems and heftier bandwidth to handle the volume of unsolicited e-mail.

Casino reaction to the Iraq war
quite different from Sept. 11

     April 1, 2003:       Casinos reacted to the start of the war against Iraq much differently than they did to the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. After the cowardly attack on the trade towers, some casinos pulled all forms of advertising. Others pulled only print and electronic media but stayed with direct mail. Few of the ad blackouts lasted more than a week or 10 days. This time, many casinos anticipated the Iraq war in their advance planning, took educated guesses at the start date, and stayed with the scaled back schedule they had in place. In the general business world, patriotic ad themes were well received during the days following Sept. 11. But, says the the Wall Street Journal, they eventually generated resentment, which is news to your faithful reporter. On the eve of the war the Journal talked to numerous New York ad executives who agreed that patriotic ads could be perceived as opportunistic. One ad executive said, "Patriotic messages could have a negative effect on a brand." I'm sure the 7th Cavalry would be distressed to hear that.

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Casino logos on your forehead
May be too nutty to resist

     March 23, 2003:       I suppose it had to happen. You can now hire people to walk around with your company's name or logo stuck to their foreheads. A London ad agency came up with the idea. (Why do these eccentricities always seem to originate in the UK?) It reminds me of the inept heavyweight boxer who tried to sell ad space on the soles of his shoes. So far no casinos have adopted the tactic. But it's bound to happen because you're sure to get some newspaper and TV space out of it. It's just too nutty to resist. But seriously, folks, as the comedy club stand-ups say, it's pathetic to realize that clients will actually spend money on a thing like this and justify it at the altar of "brand awareness." Too bad. The advertising business sinks a step lower.

John writes the Wall St. Journal:
Doesn't think they'll print it

     March 11, 2003:      It's embarrassing. Mylene Mangalidian's thoughtless description of the Direct Marketing Association as "conventional junk-mailers" indicts all mailers, including the Journal. Her story in the Feb. 25 Personal Journal headlined "Cut the Spam, Direct Marketers Say," displays a piercing lack of perspective. How does Ms. Mangalidian suppose the Journal gets subscriptions? It sends mail. And it's certainly not junk mail. The Journal's powerful "Two young men" letter was written when Nixon was president and after almost 30 years still pulls the same steady stream of subscriptions. It's a classic example of selling in print. The DMA is not perfect. But to describe it as a group of "junk mailers" is a tactless cliche unworthy of a newspaper that so boldly supports the business community. Get "junk mail" out of your stylebook. Or else expand the description to include other media. There's plenty of "Junk TV" out there.

"American Idol" text messaging
may become a boon to casinos

     March 1, 2003:      The "American Idol" TV show on Fox has been a ratings hit, but casino marketers are more interested in the voting method than in the singers. You can phone in your vote or send a wireless text message. No wonder AT&T Wireless service is a sponsor. If you have a text message option in your AT&T calling plan, sending a vote for your favorite "Idol" contestant costs you nothing. For others, it's only a dime. Casinos looking for a way to interact with their customers are watching carefully. DM News reports that 30-40 million Americans have two-way text messaging phones (there are about 135 million cell phones in the US). Text messaging is BIG in Europe, where they sent an estimated 860 million messages daily last year to our 3.3 million a day.

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Don't sit down in casinos,
and watch for flying dice

     February 20, 2003:      Have you heard about the new threat to casino players? It comes from blood clots. In a recent Las Vegas section in the Denver Post, Dr. Karl Neumann, New York, says that sitting at the tables or slots is a "risk factor" for blood clots in the legs. Dr. Neumann, described as a "recognized expert in travel medicine," advises players never to be glued to a seat. "Spend 10 minutes an hour walking around," he says. Can you imagine a slot player leaving a hot machine, or a BJ player abandoning the table just as he starts to get even? Other advice from Dr. Neumann includes "Be a gracious loser" and "Beware of flying dice." Slot machines with handles are a threat, too. There's a risk of elbow and shoulder pain, says the doctor. How in the hell did we ever get by before modern medicine?

Reno's tough-talking Mayor
challenges the city to change

     February 10, 2003:      In 1950, as a young sports editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, my first out-of-town assignment took me to Reno for the state high school basketball championship. Las Vegas in those days consisted of a clump of modest downtown casinos, plus a few larger ones scattered along the highway to Los Angeles. But Reno was a CITY. With office buildings, parks, even a river. The casinos were legends--Harrah's, The Mapes, Harold's Club. I was in awe. Still love the town, which is why a recent story by Tom Gorman in the Los Angeles Times about "Declining Reno" shocked me. But I regained faith when I read Mayor Bob Cashell's quote: "If we sit on our duff, Indian gaming will kill us. We've got to make downtown more inviting." The mayor has been around Reno a long time, and he's right. Get busy, Reno. You can do it.

Annual Super Bowl ad quiz:
A lot to pay for laughs

     February 1, 2003:      Time for our annual Super Bowl ad quiz, an exercise in futility devoted to those companies that have so much TV advertising money they don't know what to do with it. After all, Super Bowl spots cost as much as $2.2 million for 30 seconds. That's a lot to pay for laughs. Okay, here we go. I describe the commercial, you name the sponsor. (1) A semi-truck without a driver destroys everything in its path. (2) Willie Nelson refuses a shaving cream commercial, but changes his mind after he finds he owes the IRS $30 million. (3) A man sells all his assets to pay for a space trip. (4) A former pro linebacker knocks down guys who loaf on the job. (5) A smart baboon gets catapulted into a lake. They're all memorable, but it's the promises an ad makes that should be memorable--not the advertising. Give up? The sponsors, in order, are Monster, H&R Block, Sony, Reebok and Sierra Mist. Such a waste.

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Spending more on Television?
If so, you're fairly typical

     January 23, 2003:      Is your casino ad budget larger this year? Have you beefed up your television schedule? If you answered "Yes" to those questions, you're fairly typical. Overall ad spending, says the Wall Street Journal, is expected to increase 5% to $249 billion in 2003. If true, the total would easily surpass the 2000 figure of $247.5 billion, the highest on record. Television spending, says the Journal, began to rise during the fall, 2002, prime time period and demand has remained strong. A big rise in ad spending is forecast for 2004 because of the Olympic Games and the US presidential election. Industry experts say other media outlets, including magazines, are still flat.

Feds push do-not-call list;
Will casinos be affected?

     January 12, 2003:      Last year I warned casinos they could be affected by the growing backlash against telemarketing. Now it's not a backlash; it's a revolution. The Federal Trade Commission in late December announced plans for a nationwide "do not call" list and telemarketers are scrambling. Under the FTC plan, says the Wall Street Journal, consumers who register with the government can't be phoned for five years. Some 27 states now have "do not call" lists that have attracted more than 12 million families. In Minnesota, more than 331,000 signed up in the first 48 hours. In Pennsylvania, 1.6 million responded in the first few weeks. It would pay for casinos to double check their lists for permission to call. The Feds are talking about fines up to $11,000 per call.

Privacy problems continue,
but not for most casinos

     January 1, 2003:      New year, old problem--invasion of privacy. Casinos don't seem to have much of a problem at present because their house lists are all opt-in. But in the consumer sector, where the large direct marketers are constantly prospecting, dire warnings from the privacy police have forced an interesting change in behavior. Forrester Research says 67% of consumers admit they have submitted phony information to protect their privacy. Donna Loyle, writing in Target Marketing magazine, says that when consumers believe their privacy is being compromised, they step up the pressure on legislators to do something about it. She suggests you review your privacy programs quarterly, ask for customer feedback and keep your employees in the loop.

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Five winning subject lines
Boosted e-mail response

     December 23, 2002:      You can't pick up a direct marketing publication or scan a DM newsletter without finding a lecture on creating successful e-mail campaigns. In a recent issue of Target Marketing & Inside Direct Mail, Steve Hardigree, CEO of Opt In Inc., Boca Raton, FL, gets right to the point. "The most important aspect of designing an opt-in e-mail is the subject line," says Hardigree. "An enticing subject line or one that includes a familiar source/topic has a better chance of being opened." He cites the following successful subject lines: 25% off (company name) spring collection; (company name) giving away Sony TV; 70 Percent off HP, Compaq, Sony + $20 Rebate; $50 Gift Certificate and 120 Free Minutes from AT&T; Up to 70% off (company name) Products.

Will rise of TV ad-zappers
Change casino ad spending?

     December 12, 2002:      Can we expect, one day soon, to see larger casinos shift some of their television spending into product-placement deals in movies and TV series? It's not only likely, it's a sure thing if a recent marketing survey by Forrester Research is correct. The survey, reported in the Wall Street Journal, measured marketers' fears of "ad-zapping" technology and personal video recorders. PVRs, says the Journal, are now in just 1.7 million homes, but Forrester predicts 30 million by 2007. Bottom line: some 76% of marketers surveyed said they would reduce TV ad outlays if Forrester's predictions come true, and increase spending on program sponsorship and product-placement. The old ways, they are a-changing.

Santa Claus to online gaming:
Have a few lumps of coal

     December 1, 2002:      It's not exactly a Merry Christmas for Internet gaming's estimated 1,800 offshore casinos, mainly in the Caribbean, and their mostly US players. The Wall Street Journal reported the following year-end misfortunes:PayPal, an eBay Inc. unit, suspended its gambling payment service that allowed gambling by credit card; Yahoo, Inc., stopped carrying ads for online casinos; Akamai Technologies, Inc., famous for high quality video and graphics, said it will no longer carry gambling ads on its content servers; CryptoLogic, Inc., a software supplier to online casinos, reported its net income from the third quarter had dropped 70%; Bear, Stearns & Co., cut its Internet casino growth projections in half for 2003; New York and New Jersey attorneys general report they have made "significant inroads"in curbing online gaming. The industry isn't going under but it feels the pressure.

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New book claims MIT students
Won millions from LV casinos

     November 21, 2002:      "Bringing Down the House," a new book by Ben Mezrich, claims a collection of whiz kids from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology beat Las Vegas casinos for millions in the 90s. Mezrich says it really happened; I say it's a crock. According to the author, a group of "brilliant math students" from MIT learned shuffle tracking, described as "A basic probability distribution exercise of the six-deck stack of 312 cards used at the casinos." Then they "took the technique to its highest level, working as teams to find the hottest tables." One student (Kevin) says he found pink champagne waiting in his suite at the Stardust, a tray of filet mignons in his room at the MGM Grand, and a pony keg of Sam Adams stashed in his bedroom at Caesars. Kevin estimates he won "about $1 million" in two years. Nice piece of fiction. Watch for the movie "based on a true story."

Lawsuit claims casinos obliged
To protect addicted gamblers

     November 12, 2002:      The casino business took another shot on Oct. 22, when the Wall Street Journal featured David N. Williams' lawsuit against Casino Aztar in Evansville, Indiana. Mr. Williams "burned through" his life savings while gambling on the riverboat, says the Journal. Williams claims Aztar had "a legal obligation to keep him from gambling." In these days of jackpot awards, a jury might buy that--even though no legal obligation exists. Casino Aztar, like most casinos, posts warnings about overspending and pushes a toll free number for counseling. After Williams had lost more than $170,000, they put his photo in a binder of banned patrons, says the Journal. Williams "slipped in" ten months later and lost even more. The suit is in federal court.

Wynn encounters rough going;
We're betting on him anyway

     November 1, 2002:      When Steve Wynn had to briefly delay his initial public offering for Wynn Resorts, Ltd., last month, the Wall Street Journal responded with a not-too-flattering article. But there were a couple of bright spots. A representative of Cantor Fitzgerald praised Wynn and Japanese financial partner Aruze Corp. when they announced they would "inject a total of $150 million of their own money" into the deal. Then it was revealed that Wynn's Le Reve casino would include Ferrari and Maserati dealerships on the property. That's the Steve Wynn I admire--always coming up with new marketing approaches. The Journal predicted tough going for Wynn, citing the "disappointing performance" of many of this year's IPOs. Well, maybe. But I'm betting on Wynn anyway.

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What's the next logical
step after E-mail?

     October 24, 2002:      A California company named Talkway Communications says it's videograms. Paul Barbagallo, associate editor of Target Marketing & Inside Direct Mail, says Talkway's software enables you to send video messages over E-mail and doesn't require special software for recipients to open and observe the videogram. When users record a message, says Barbagallo, it's streamed to Talkway's own content servers, speeding delivery. Processors with as little as 266MHz can be used, running virtually any Microsoft operating system. If it's as easy for recipients to open as Barbagallo says, look for casinos to get real interested. In the meantime, you can check out the details and the company at www.talkway.com.

Should casinos pay guests
if the service is bad?

     October 12, 2002:      Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., feels its Sheraton brand has an image problem. The solution? Here it is in one cogent Wall Street Journal headline: "Sheraton Plans to Pay Guests for Bad Service." The Journal reports that Sheraton continues to be known in north America for "Lousy customer service and shabby digs." So now, the newspaper says, a missing bath mat or a cockroach in the closet could be worth a free night. What a concept! If we did that in the casino business the guests would own the resorts in about two seconds. I'm not cynical. I just know the amount of thievery that casinos face, and I can imagine what would happen if you invited people to scam you. Maybe it will work for Sheraton, but I doubt it. It's a dumb idea.

Here's a terrific new idea:
Advertise your competitors

     October 1, 2002:      Here's a magnificent idea for casinos, courtesy of Quiksilver. What, you never heard of Quiksilver? They make surfboards, snowboards, skateboards, all kinds of boards and clothing to match. Quiksilver keeps marketing to a minimum because they want to stay "cool." They even produce television spots featuring their competitors, but with no mention of Quiksilver. As a consequence, Fox Sports Network runs them free! I can see it now--beautiful casino commercials with the usual suspects (smiling chefs, spinning slot reels, gorgeous waitresses and dreamy lovers toasting each other with champagne). You show your closest competitor's sign, but you never mention your own casino. Then Fox runs it free. Your bottom line goes to hell because your customers switch to your competition. But boy, did you ever save money on advertising. And were you ever "cool."

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Record $5.4 million fine
A win for privacy racket

     September 23, 2002:      Paul Barbagallo, associate editor of Target Marketing magazine and Inside Direct Mail, reports that the FCC recently hit Fax.com with a $5.4 million fine "For spewing unwanted advertisements into millions of fax machines in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act." According to Barbagallo, the FCC says the move is the first ever against a so-called "fax broadcaster" rather than an individual or company advertising via fax. The fine is based on 489 separate violations at $11,000 each, says Barbagallo. My opinion: I don't like unsolicited faxes but the fine is excessive. Interpreting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act this way will have a chilling effect on direct marketing in general, and that's not good for casinos. Little by little, we're losing our ability to prospect. Another win for the privacy racket.

Weird science solutions
to boost casino revenue

     September 12, 2002:      Weird Science, Part I: A California company wants to embed a chip in your car. You visit a drive-up fast food joint and sit there while scanners verify you have enough money in your account to cover the bill. Big deal. Why not take it to the next logical step and have the chip embedded in your arm? Then you can stroll up to a slot machine and just start playing. You got a big player who wants to do it? Comp chip embedment. Weird Science, Part II: The Bank of America is running Connie Chung promotional videos on its ATM machines. Furious customers are forced to use the ATM machines because the bank charges $1.50 to see a teller, according to the Wall Street Journal. "You can't turn it off," snapped one customer. "You can't walk away. You're trapped." Apparently the video ads contribute a nice chunk of cash to B of A. So what's wrong with casinos running commercials while patrons wait for a hand-pay? They can't walk away! They're trapped!

Casino TV for Sept. 11?
My opinion: stay off

     September 1, 2002:      Do you plan to run television commercials for your casino on Sept. 11? Tunku Varadarajan, writing in the Wall Street Journal, says Dell Computer was the first major advertiser to opt out of such a tactic. In late July, Dell announced it would pull its "Steven" ads from network TV news shows when that dreadful date comes around. Most TV advertising was suspended on Sept. 11 last year, and for the four days afterwards. But should it be again? Varadarajan says the ad industry and sponsors should rise to what he calls "the creative challenge" of the day and produce respectful ads for the occasion. Consumers would be appreciative of such ads, he says. Well, maybe. But tribute after tribute in ad form seems repetitious and bit phony to me. My opinion? Stay off TV on Sept. 11. It's just too emotional a date.

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Casinos: ready for new
Mexican privacy laws?

     August 23, 2002:      The privacy racket strikes again. If your casino is mailing into Mexico, prepare for problems. DM News reports that a "data protection bill" will be introduced to the Mexican Congress this fall. The proposed legislation is following a strict European philosophy that would "Kill the list business," says the Direct Marketing Association's Charles Prescott. Critics say it's typical legislation written by politicians and not by business people. Under the proposed law, individuals must give consent before a company could collect and store information on them; all companies in Mexico that maintain a database would be required to register it with the government, and disclosing database information could earn you five years in prison. Just what the Mexican economy needs.

Study confirms big gamers
Can afford it, and have fun

     August 12, 2002: The recent Harrah's study on the habits of gaming customers confirmed what I've always felt--that players who bet the heaviest not only can can afford it, but they have fun doing it. The study also showed they know something about handling money (57 percent have investments). They participate in their communities, too, and they come to casinos because they like the thrill of the chase. If you had asked me to put together a profile based on the thousands of high end players I've met in 42 years in the business, it would have come out much like the Harrah's study. And something else from personal experience--big player or small player, the vast majority know when to back off. I've met only a few over the years who got in too deep. Maybe I've led a sheltered life.

Colorado casinos are hot,
But drive is no picnic

     August 1, 2002: The same day the Dow Jones Industrials plunged 234.68 points to close at a dismal 7,784.58, the Colorado Division of Gaming announced its casinos had posted a record haul. In the fiscal year that ended on June 30, Colorado casinos made a record $707.8 million in adjusted gross proceeds. That was an 8.8 percent increase from the previous year. The state also announced that casinos paid a record $96.6 million in taxes on the proceeds. Okay, that's small compared to the major US gaming centers. But not bad when you consider where Colorado casinos are located. Black Hawk, home to the largest casinos, is deep in the Rockies. To reach it by car or bus you must navigate a two-lane highway that's icy in the winter and no picnic to drive in the summer. Parking is a problem, too. But still they come. Maybe, since Sept. 11, part of it is an urge to stay closer to home.

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Online advertisers love "image."
Let's hope casinos ignore it

     July 22, 2002: Let's hope casinos don't take the latest online advertising trend seriously. A headline on the lead story in iMarketing News is the tipoff. It reads, "Advertisers Back New Push for Brand Awareness." Of course companies such as Proctor & Gamble, Mars, Inc., and Kellog's back "branding." That's what they do; they're comfortable with it. But for most casinos, "branding" (aka "awareness" and "image") is a waste of money. It lets the ad agency's creatives run wild. They do commercials and print ads that "entertain" the viewers and readers. But do they actually sell anything? Nobody knows, because there's no way to track an "image" ad's effect on hard sales. Sure, "brand awareness" and "purchase intent" may go up, but two more phony categories have never existed. Touting "branding" in the iMarketing article, one expert says, "They're not asking for e-mail addresses or anything. They're using the Internet to make it kind of fun." David Ogilvy called "entertaining" ads a curse. So would any direct response guy. Give me accountable advertising; keep the "image" junk.

Do you still think sex sells?
New study says it's not true

     July 11, 2002: As long as I can remember, casinos have emphasized sex in all forms of advertising--from print ads and television to outdoor and collateral. When I directed the advertising at the old Del Webb's Sahara, I routinely hired the most beautiful models in Los Angeles to pose for our ads and collateral. Now comes word of a study appearing in the Journal of Applied Psychology that sex doesn't sell; in fact, it detracts from advertising messages. The Washington Post notes that "People watching shows packed with sexual innuendo, performers with revealing clothes or sexual scenes were much less likely to remember the ads both immediately after the show and a day later." The Post quotes an expert: "The simplest explanation is that people who watch a sexual program are thinking about sex, not ads." Aw, heck.

Careful with that e-mail Blast:
Most still have dial-up modems

     July 1, 2002: Casinos heavy on e-marketing would do well to check out High Performance Direct, a quarterly publication by The Hacker Group (www.hackergroup.com). A recent article by Bob Hacker lists six ways to screw up an e-mail campaign, including the following: Some 86% of computer users still have dial-up modems at 56K or slower, according to Boomerang.com. Therefore, a blast with full orchestra and dancing headlines may tie up your prospect's system for hours, or crash it. Some of the older versions of AOL do not support HTML at all, and all your targets see is a mess on their screens. Audio may sound good to you, but it can be annoying depending on the kind of sound card and speakers your prospect uses. And finally, work hard on the subject line; the reader doesn't care about your e-mail until you tell them why they should.

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Spammers flood the Net with e-mail:
What's a poor casino to do?

     June 23, 2002: From the Wall Street Journal: A Stamford, Connecticut, e-mail marketing research firm named IMT Strategies says nearly 80% of computer users delete unsolicited e-mail (or "spam") the second they see it. On the other side of that fence, a Dallas company named Humitech International says it's sending 10 million e-mails to people who have asked to receive information on health products. The Federal Trade Commission recently reported that two thirds of all "unsubscribe" links in spam e-mail failed. What's a casino to do? For goodness sake, make sure your customers know it's from you by placing your casino name and part of the offer in the subject line, and the casino name in the "from" field. That way, at least, you have a chance. Oh, yeah. Make sure the "unsubscribe" link works.

Harrah's pushes responsible gaming:
"Lot of times you shouldn't gamble"

     June 11, 2002: Does a "responsible" casino beat the other kind? Harrah's Entertainment Chairman and Chief executive Phil Satre is betting it does. In a series of television spots which the company says will be rolled out in more than 20 markets, Satre says, "The truth is, there are a lot of times you shouldn't gamble." Even the agency that created the spots felt the campaign "wasn't necessarily in the CEO's own interest," according to the Wall Street Journal. Reason for the campaign? It's to prove Harrah's can be a trusted member of a community. The Journal quotes Satre: "We want to be treated like any other business." As far as your reporter is concerned it's already a success. The Journal gave the story a 3-column headline and 15 inches of copy and pix on May 23.

Say goodbye to filthy slot hands;
New device steers coins into a cup

     June 1, 2002: Robert Coulter, Opelika, Alabama, loved to play the slots but hated it when his hands got filthy from scraping coins out of the tray. Mr. Coulter, a part-time inventor, promptly solved the problem with a product he named EZPay1. Marketer-distributor Janco International Ltd. (www.buyezpay1.com) says he originally named his invention EZPay, but added the numeral "1" to differentiate it from IGT's slot ticket system. A wise move. The product is a 3 3/4 inch long plastic chute that snaps onto the edge of the coin tray on stand-up slot machines and steers the coins into a collection cup. Chalk up another powerful blow for cleanliness. Janco's John Kemp says one of the first buyers was Caesars Tahoe. P.S. Kemp has also developed a slot machine coin converter card (www.casinojudge.com). A quick glance tells you, for example, that a payoff of 1,250 nickels has netted you $62.50.

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Customer Relationship Management is more than high-priced software

      May 22, 2002: Customer Relationship Management, which is usually referred to as simply "CRM" because it has become a marketing buzzword, is used in some form by every casino extant. In fact, as I wrote in my IGWB column a couple of years ago, we invented it. When you're in a business that relies on beating your own customers, you sure as hell better be nice to them. But CRM can be immensely complicated. And now its value is in question. The Wall Street Journal says, "The real news about CRM is its decidedly mixed reputation in the tech world. Some studies show that half of all CRM projects never work out despite the hundreds of millions companies sometimes spend on them...having good relations with customers isn't just a matter of new software." The Journal cites a recent Harvard Business Review article titled "Avoid the Four perils of CRM" to back up its assertions.

Hey Casinos! Check your Web sites;
The natives out there are restless

     May 11, 2002: You say you're basing more and more of your casino marketing on the Web? You say you're not only saving money but booking more and more business? Here's something to think about. Consumer WebWatch, a new nonprofit research group affiliated with Consumers Union, says the big majority of users don't trust the Web. "Only 29 percent of Internet users say they believe the information provided on Web sites that sell products or services," reports the Denver Post. WebWatch Director Beau Brendler is quoted as saying. "The numbers are alarmingly low." Brendler, says the Post, believes that the economic turndown has caused more online companies to blend advertising and editorial content, causing confusion. Good advice for casinos: check your site for incorrect or misleading information.

Metro Police to Laughlin, April 2, "We expect some confrontations"     

    May 1, 2002: Most casino PR people never interact with security. In big properties, they might not even know the names of all the officers who protect them. So maybe the killings of three bikers at Harrah's in Laughlin (in the early morning hours of April 27) were a wakeup call. Get to know these anonymous guys in uniform. When trouble comes they're your first line of defense. Security's ubiquitous surveillance cameras captured the entire shootout between the Hells Angels and the Mongols on the 27th, allowing the Las Vegas Metro Police to identify key suspects. Metro knew something might happen during the annual motorcycle gathering. On April 2, they briefed the Laughlin Tourism Committee, saying they "expected some confrontations." Sad for Harrah's, but probably a good thing it happened there, on the outskirts of the city. If the shooting had started in the center of town where the casinos are door-to-door and the street is thick with traffic, who knows what could have happened.

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E-mail marketing gets a bad rap; Spammers ruin it for everyone

      Apr. 22, 2002: Do casinos send too much e-mail? With the e-mail marketing "industry" expected to grow to nearly $5 billion by 2004, according to Forrester Research, casinos certainly are contributing their share. The problem,, says Target Marketing magazine Editor in Chief Alicia Orr, is that spammers are ruining it for the rest of it. Orr says she gets about 60 e-mails a day, of which a third are spam (she lists Viagra offers and live sex sites as the major offenders). Direct Marketing Association "guidelines" are a step in the right direction, she says, but they're ignored by the "bad seeds," many from outside the United States. Her advice (and I agree) is to play by the DMA rules and scrutinize your e-mails carefully. If they look like junk, fix them. E-mail marketing, she warns, is getting a bad name and could one day be "Right up there with telemarketing."

Mensas may be IQ champs, but they don't know what sells

      Apr. 11, 2002: Will casinos soon be hiring members of Mensa to give them marketing ideas? Absurd as it sounds, it's happening in the outside world. Winnebago, says the Wall Street Journal, hired 12 Mensa members to "brainstorm brand extensions." They included a teacher, a computer expert and a firemen. Their ideas? Winnebago port-a-potties, collapsible luggage, hiking shoes, roadmaps, baby strollers and cross country skis. A more prosaic list of extensions would be hard to imagine. Yet while the going rate for focus groups is $4,000 to $6,000 per session, companies using the "Mensa Process" pay from $50,000 to $100,000, says the Journal. I guess someone, somewhere, will buy anything at any price. Let me repeat: "Focus groups know what they like and know what they hate, but they don't know what sells." And that includes Mensas. Especially Mensas.

Outstanding LV marketer quits; He was the best in the business

      Apr. 1, 2002: One of the outstanding marketers in the history of Las Vegas has retired. His efforts brought nationwide publicity and countless millions in cash to the city. But he was never affiliated with a casino, was persecuted by his enemies and eventually forced out of Las Vegas. On the eve of his resignation one of his colleagues said, "I'm saddened to see him leave. Tark, I love you." By now you know I'm talking about Jerry Tarkanian, former UNLV basketball coach, who retired from his position as head coach at Fresno State in mid-March. Jerry made UNLV a fixture in the NCAA basketball championship, winning the national title in 1990 and appearing four times in the Final Four. He put UNLV on the map as a basketball power, and his teams drew packed houses everywhere they played. His troubles with the NCAA finally forced him out, but those of us who studied the case found the vast majority of his "offenses" to be trumped-up nonsense. His final college record was 778-202; in 31 seasons only once did his team fail to reach 20 victories. Goodbye, Jerry. You were the best. P.S. The "I love you" comment came from longtime rival coach Don Chaney of Temple at the end of Jerry's final game, March 14.

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