The marketing strategy for issuing comps is flawed

Here is why.

Most promotional departments look back only 12 months to make decisions as to what promotions to mail out.

If you have a mailing list of people who high rolled it consistently at your properties over the last few years yet on the last few trips low rolled why in the world would you downgrade their comps?

You know their capabilities. For all they know they attended a wedding, got sick, who knows. Now you mail them out craptastic offers and you have just alienated a valuable player.

 

That's why. One trip with less play than usual doesn't really hurt much for the reasons you mentioned. "A few trips" constitutes a change in behavior, not an exception.

 

I think you answered the question.

If someone has SHOWN they have become a low roller, why would they give away rooms, food, etc?

 

So if someone quits smoking for 2 days they won't smoke anymore?

 

Ok what if the person does not take them up on their reduced offers? Should they revert back?

 

Then, using the same logic, casinos shouldn't increase the value of offers to someone who has played much bigger the past few trips. After all, they could have just got a big bonus or inheritance and wanted to splurge. After they spend their windfall, they'll be back down to the lower levels of play.

 

I am always happy to use a free room, and free rooms are not hard to come by. The rest is icing on the cake. Let them market as they wish, and we'll go where we wish. Those who feel entitled are probably among the most demanding and the most fickle.

 

i think they look back a lot further. the reason i say this is i still get offers which are not justified by my play in the past year or so. Especially Wynn & Palazzo have sent me offers after a couple years of little to no play.

 

it is because the casinos are tired of players no playing or low playing them on generous comp offers. Why should they continue to offer higher comps and yet see the same results?

It is up to the player to prove that he / she is once again a higher player than they have shown in the previous few trips. The casino is adapting to the player.

 

You answered your own question. The average casino won't downgrade offers for a long term player over one trip. But over a few trips, something's changed with the player, most likely that they've already moved on. And any player who knows the lay of the land knows to expect the downgrade. Should they waste mailers on that player or focus energy on someone else?

If the player was that special, they won't give up on them. The marketing engine is designed to start downgrading them but the casino will put a host on the account if they think the relationship is worth it.

 

seeing as some have stated on this forum that they have received offers from Wynn and others where they do not frequent or have not even visited I would imagine the casino companies look at much more than a years worth of past play

if you were on property gambling less, but eating at the upper end restaurants, going to the higher end clubs and spending more shopping or on shows I think they would see that and that would not necessarily generate a higher offer or the same offer as if you were gambling that money

if they can see you are coming to Vegas and just skipping their properties I think the offers would increase

if your trips to Vegas overall are declining and you are gambling less offers most likely go down

just making offers purely based in activity at single properties or single corporate entities ignores the massive reality that those properties are not only competing to keep you as a customer at the same level of play, but as a customer at all

it would be an interesting discussion about what happened with offers from say CET if someone that is normally a CET visitor went to Vegas, mostly skipped CET, but ate in one of their higher end restaurants or gave them one single day of decent play.......triggering the fact that they were in Vegas, they are still eating well, and gambling higher levels......but seemingly doing so elsewhere for the majority of their visit

 

the recovery is underway?

I have noticed this trend over the last year, I think it's a sign that the recovery is underway, (thatt and climbing room rates) a couple years back I had great offers from 4 different casinos each from different companies. The most impressive was an offer from the Venetian with 3 nights with food credit and a little freeplay (considering I've never played there, signed up for any players cards or have any clue how they got my address). This year two of the casinos I haven't played at for over a year send me nothing.

I believe the days of spreading your play to maximize offers may be numbered and it may be time to pick a casino or two and play there exclusively to get decent offers.

 

yet your experience says the exact opposite of that....your experience plays right into what I was saying above....your best offer was from a property that you have no idea how they even know about you

that says spread it around with a properly conceived strategy of how you spread it around

when the economy is good things flow when it is bad they slow down....that may well be a flawed strategy for marketing, but that is how it is....if the economy is picking up casinos will be looking to get a grip back on new and returning players

 

Are you saying that as the economy improves, so will the value of marketing offers?

I'd argue exactly the opposite.

 

yes I am saying that

when things were really rocking in 2005-early 2007 I think the offers were better

when you look at the prices on buffets, restaurants, clubs and everything else when the economy was better it is my opinion those prices were a better value for the money

if you make your "profits" on the last 10% of your customers then you want those last 10% to be spenders.....if the economy is good again and people are just going to Vegas for their first time or for their every 3-5 years to Vegas trip and the like those type of customers are what comes back with the economy......they are what pays the light bill

then that last 10% you want to make that profit off of you want them to be heavy hitters and players and gamblers and big spenders and you have to compete to attract them

when everyone is paying the light bills and paying the employee pay checks with casual visitors that is when they have the money and desire to go for broke to get those bigger spenders onto the property and get their business as that "10%" to make the profit off of

when times are slower and casual visitors are way off and their spending is off you need to make a little something off of everyone and while getting that quality gambler/customer in the door can be meaningful it can also hurt you if they end up and eat up the profits of 20 little players and casual visitors instead of dropping a large amount of cash

when times are good they are less likely to low play you and if they do low play you it hits you less hard than when times are bad and it is easier to make it up on a casual visitor or lower level player

 

I agree. I think the marketing offers will be a little stingier for awhile, but opening of the Downtown Grand and re-opening of the re-vamped Bill's and the Sahara will throw a little more room inventory into the market and slow the room price climb down and probably ramp up the comp offers for next year.

 

here's the deal, mailer offers are only for low-end players anyway. no "high-roller" or "valuable players" ever use a mailer, so you already excluded yourself.

here's the other deal. if you put the play in, you're going to get the comps on the backend anyway. so the only reason you'd be bitching about not getting nice offers after "a few" low play trips is that you're planning to have another low play trip and still want to get some sweet comps. that's the exact reason they drop the offers down.

queue the violins.

 

But on the plus side a year after I completely screwed them .... I get to do it again!

 

Well you would be wrong. Casinos aren't in the business of volume like most businesses. They are in the business of high price per unit. It's always been this way. Well until the economy went into the toilet.

As the economy improves so will the offers for higher play. In a down economy the casino is targeting everyone and everything. They need volume. In an up economy they can be more picky and can give heavier comps to fewer players. The same amount of promotional dollars are used, but on a smaller audience.

 

Funny because the only company that operates as you describe is MGM International. The rest take the entire history play into account. My host at the Wynn told me flat out he doesn't care if I low play him a few trips so long as it isn't that way every time.