UNLV International Gaming Institute, Las Vegas UNLV International Gaming Institute

Course Catalog:
Gaming Sessions for Custom Programs

Casino Marketing

IGIGAM0919
Marketing Theory

Upon completion of this session, participants should gain sufficient knowledge to segment a casino database for marketing purposes. The session provides a review of the demographic and behavioral data elements typically captured in casino transaction systems, discussion of the challenges faced by marketers regarding both reliability and barriers to access of transactional data for marketing purposes. It also covers a brief overview of data warehousing technology, third party data appending services such as National Change of Address (NCOA), Targus Information and the US Census Bureau. In addition to an overview of the traditional Recency, Frequency, Monetary and Location (RFML) database marketing segmentation model, a discussion of player reinvestment strategies derived from segmentation models, and a brief review of various types of direct marketing collateral typically offered by casinos will be discussed.

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IGIGAM0920
Database Analysis: Case Studies

Monthly Newsletter
Participants will apply knowledge gained in Marketing Theory to a case study on monthly newsletter offers provided by a local market casino. Participants will work with the instructor to discuss and develop strategies that seek to accomplish a casino's goal. The case study will conclude with an indepth review of the actual session of action taken by the casino, including development of a pro-forma statement and analysis of results.

Short-Term Promotion
Building on knowledge gained in Marketing Theory, participants will analyze a case involving a casino's desire to increase play from their database during a forecasted low demand period. Participants will work with the instructor to discuss and develop strategies that seek to accomplish a casino's goal. The case study will conclude with an indepth review of the actual session of action taken by the casino, including development of a pro-forma statement and analysis of results.

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IGIGAM0921
CRM Software Solutions

Casinos are data rich environments, given the depth of transactional information collected in the various operating systems. However, transactional system architecture is typically not conducive for in-depth operations analysis. Data warehousing technology has enabled casinos to make better use of their transactional data for both performance analysis and marketing operations. Components of IGT's Mariposa CRM software suite will be reviewed, along with a discussion of how casinos employ this technology to better analyze and operate data warehousing, online analytical processing, campaign management systems, and data mining.

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IGIGAM0939
Loyalty Programs

Virtually every type of hospitality service has what they call a "loyalty program", but whether these programs really develop customer loyalty is in question. A majority of customers use loyalty programs to discount price rather than to create an emotional connection to the company. This session will cover some in-depth research on loyalty and casino loyalty programs. The implications for other hospitality loyalty programs will be discussed.

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IGIGAM0941
Cross Cultural Consumer Research

A major strategic issue is how much to customize versus standardize a marketing strategy in another culture. Crosscultural consumer research provides the core insight to avoid costly cultural blunders while searching for the most cost-effective approach. The Disney Company will be used as an illustration. Some cross cultural gambling research will also be discussed.

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IGIGAM0946
The Effect of Drawing-based Promotions on Slot Business Volume

Lottery-based promotion is very expensive and yet equally popular in casinos with frequently repeating clientele. No one, however, has ever empirically analyzed the effectiveness of these promotions. Since management cannot adequately capture the necessary data directly, such effects must be estimated via statistical modeling. This session includes results from multiple promotions and properties.

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IGIGAM0949
Direct Mail Offers

Cash mail and free play offers represent the majority of reinvestment in slot players. This session reviews the results of studies across several markets, which were conducted to estimate the incremental gaming effect produced by such offers. This session will also help participants to measure the effectiveness of their respective database analysis and database marketing efforts.

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IGIGAM0963
Dead Chip Programs

With the advent of actual loss discounts, dead chip programs should be attractive to gaming operators. This in-depth look into the mechanics of dead chip offers examines how dead chip programs work, how gaming tax rates affect their structure, how to compute the costs associated with such procedures, and how properties could save millions of dollars. The structure of failed programs, as well as that of successful ones, is also reviewed. Since all premium players in Asia are on dead chip (or rolling) programs, a look at cash chip programs and the structure of Macau's 40/40/20 rooms is also included.

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IGIGAM0965
Casino Database Analysis

This session examines the importance of data mining in casino database analysis. It includes an explanation of what data mining actually is and how it differs from other forms of database analysis, with reference to the specific challenges facing casino marketers. Two examples of data mining are also explored, the first a description of a data mining effort in the player database, and the second a look at an instance in the slot machine database.

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IGIGAM0967
Slot Marketing in a Repeater Market

This session reviews the actual slot marketing efforts of a successful, repeater-market casino operator. It begins with a look at the casino's marketing framework, followed by a point-by-point description of their marketing tactics, including customer acquisition, retention and reactivation efforts. This session will prove especially interesting for those who are curious about the marketing practices of successful Nevada casinos.

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IGIGAM0969
Introduction to Slot Clubs

This session begins by covering the evolution of slot clubs, enrollment data issues, and membership benefit vehicles. From there, we discuss and compare both theoretical-winbased awards and coin-in-based awards. Also discussed are benefit accumulation rates (including examples from existing clubs), overall investment in members, point redemption protocol, training issues, card use, and player tracking limitations. One-card systems and tiered slot clubs are also reviewed.

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IGIGAM0971
Match Play Coupon Offers

Understanding the mechanics of these popular offers can save casino marketers substantial sums of money. This session covers the computation of both single and multipledecision match play offer costs and break-even points, along with the effect of gaming taxes on costs and some important redemption recommendations. Also included is a review of empirical research that examines the ability of actual match play coupons to accomplish the stated performance goals. Finally, we look at the mechanics of voucher programs and promotional chips, citing a critique of an actual voucher program.

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IGIGAM0972
Introduction to Casino Promotion

This review of premium and general marketing tactics examines a multitude of means and strategies used to pursue slot and premium players, which kinds of promotions apply to particular target markets, and their effectiveness in reaching their goals. Topics include the analyses of the results of special events, vacation and shopping events, timing of promotions, and the use of game rules and betting limits. A review of an actual special event analysis is included, along with a discussion of issues related to pro-forma event analysis.

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IGIGAM0973
The Marketing Plan: A Property Perspective

Hotel casinos face many unique and challenging conditions with regard to the marketing plan process. This informative session offers a helpful start in understanding this difficult but critical endeavor. We examine the need for an effective marketing plan, the components of a successful plan, and why measurement science is so vital to a hotel casino's marketing strategy. This session follows a nine-step outline designed to cover the essential areas of a well-prepared and effective marketing plan.

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