Viewpoints: Discussing the use of player loyalty programs

Paul Gordon, SVP of Sales, RymaxWith a career spanning over 30 years, Paul Gordon is SVP of Sales for Rymax. Under his leadership since 2008, Rymax’s sales divisions are responsible for developing innovative loyalty-rewards programs to initiate consumer trials, create increased frequency and attain higher returns. Overseeing the growth of the sales divisions’ accounts, Gordon fosters new client relationships, drives organic growth for existing clients and aligns Rymax’s national brand partners with exclusive incentive programs. 

Jeff Baldi, SVP of Commercial Strategy, CasinoTracAn OEM and Casino Operations executive since 1995, Jeff Baldi heads up Sales & Marketing efforts for CasinoTrac. With extensive experience in customer acquisition, brand management, development, and relationship management, Baldi has led teams ranked in the Inc. 5000 and Deloitte Fast 500, for revenue growth.

Matthew Morgan, Chairman, OIGAMatthew L. Morgan (Chickasaw/Choctaw) serves as Special Envoy of Governor Anoatubby for the Chickasaw Nation. In addition to that role, Morgan serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association; a Board Member for Global Gaming Solutions, LLC; the Chairman of the Chickasaw Tax Commission; an Associate Justice for the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma Appellant Court, the Eastern Oklahoma Board Delegate for the Indian Gaming Association; a Board Member for the Oklahoma Association of Problem Gaming and Gambling; and a Tribal Advisory Council Member for the National Council on Problem Gambling. 

Erica Tessier, VP, Corporate Marketing, MoheganErica Tessier has over 25 years of vast experience in the casino marketing industry and is a day-one employee of Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Her career with Mohegan Sun includes management positions in departments of VIP Services, Casino Marketing and Consumer Promotions. Tessier was promoted to VP of Marketing at Mohegan Sun Pocono (now Mohegan Pennsylvania) in 2017 where she was responsible for overseeing marketing strategy and execution for all consumer and casino communications. In 2019, Tessier began her role as the VP of Corporate Marketing for Mohegan.

Justin Culp, Senior Director of Gaming Marketing, Choctaw Nation of OklahomaJustin Culp is the Senior Director of Gaming Marketing for the Division of Marketing and Communications of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He provides oversight and strategic direction to the Gaming Marketing team throughout the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma gaming properties. He also currently oversees the Marketing team and marketing initiatives for all the Choctaw Nation’s Division of Commerce businesses which include 18 travel plazas, 3 Country Markets, the Choctaw Hunting Lodge, several restaurants, commercial leasing, Choctaw Beef and 65,000 acres of ranches and farmland.

Is a player loyalty program as important as attracting new players?

Paul Gordon: The most important marketing initiative for casinos is player loyalty. Casinos are competing with casinos in their market and now many are also competing with online betting. Player loyalty initiates trial and increases play once enrolled. It also serves as a great communication tool to keep the players on top of promotions, offers, entertainment and new games on the floor. Players expect rewards from the casinos and expect good quality rewards that reflect on their importance to the casino and their hosts. Access to information makes it essential that the rewards are top-name brands and the latest model available because the players can easily search the item. The days of off-brand products and cheap products with a logo on them are no longer attractive to the player. And with Generation X, Y and Z becoming the core targeted players for casinos this group is brand-driven. And with Generation X, Y and Z becoming the core targeted players for casinos this group is brand-driven.

Jeff Baldi: When discussing the acquisition of new players & retention of existing players, the two need to be considered complementary as they’re both essential. At the core, it’s less costly to maintain an existing player database than to attract new players; however, revenue growth is bound to stagnate or decline without a regular influx of new players. That being said, a thoughtful, carefully crafted loyalty program can produce a more fitting player profile, which could aid in reducing unnecessary spending on new and returning players who are not generating the desired revenue. This also can foster more perceived value in the players’ minds, in turn creating brand ambassadors who are loyal and vocal. Vocal players can bring about changes that could otherwise go unnoticed based on their feedback alone & a well-integrated loyalty program could bolster ancillary venues at the property.

Matthew Morgan: In a word, yes. Maybe even more so. Player loyalty programs benefit everyone – guests and operators alike. Our customers benefit whether they are new to a particular property or long-time patrons.

Loyalty programs, when thoughtfully utilized, can encourage regular customers in to try a new entertainment or dining offering. You can design loyalty programs to offer a complementary dessert or beverage on anniversaries or birthdays. Loyalty programs can also be used to woo new customers, by offering more points per play for an introductory period, or discounted room nights if the property has a hotel. A well-tailored loyalty program can give all guests a better experience and happy guests are great customers.

Erica Tessier: Without a compelling loyalty program, it would be challenging to retain and engage guests, and attract new members. Historically, loyalty programs were offered through airlines and hotels; today, consumers will not even consider buying a cup of coffee without a loyalty program! For Mohegan Sun, our Momentum program plays a major role in attracting new players while also allowing us to make sure current members are informed of the variety of perks, promotions and giveaways that we’re consistently providing our members. When it comes to attracting new members, we make sure to have a very detailed and content-rich webpage for the program.

Justin Culp: Yes, through loyalty programs you are able to improve the guest experience on repeat trips through offers, discounts, promotions, service benefits, special events and activities.

What are the key elements of a player loyalty program?

Paul Gordon: The very first key element is to get to know your player. What people want and desire changes based on economic or social drivers. We see shifts in category redemptions in all of our programs, so we believe that giving players a choice in what they receive gets the strongest response. Along with choice, give the players a platform to view the loyalty program. Make the platform easy to use with searches by category, by brand and price point. Use the landing page as a key marketing platform to keep it fresh and current. The player loyalty program should have the same elements that any good shopping site has.

Jeff Baldi: First and foremost, a tiering system would have to be implemented to reward players based on varying levels of activity and spending, with strong incentives to climb the ladder. En route to climbing that ladder, earn & redeem promotions are a necessary secondary method for motivating players to reach new peaks in play. Your property likely has elements with a high perceived value, whether it’s discounted tickets for an upcoming concert or food & beverage comps at restaurants & bars- sometimes exclusive offers & discounts along these lines can be preferable to simply divvying out free-play. Additionally, combing through player profiles can generate ideas for player symmetries & events like slot or table game tournaments that speak to segments of your player base. Finally, a multi-channel effort is a necessity in spreading the word & a caring, and knowledgeable staff can keep players informed while also providing players with an avenue to share feedback.

Commercial and Tribal player loyalty programs can be similar in many ways. Typically, they will all offer some type of “points” as a reward for gaming and other on-property spend. However, in my experience, tribal casino loyalty programs tend to create a more personal program – Erica Tessier

Matthew Morgan: One important element to successful player loyalty is the user interface or platform itself. Is it seamless and easy to use? Is it laid out in a way that makes sense intuitively; are rewards and events easily navigable? If your platform is cumbersome or complicated, people are less likely to want to use it. Next, are the bonuses and promotions meaningful to your audiences? Will a specific offering like free concert tickets yield your desired result – perhaps more time spent on the casino floor before and after the performance? A registration bonus should be robust enough to be exciting and fun. Finally, are the promotions crafted to best benefit your business? Do you offer more points per play on historically low-play dayparts to increase their revenue? These elements are key to a win-win loyalty program.

Erica Tessier: A positive and fun guest experience is certainly important. A casino loyalty program should be transparent, portable and easy for guests to embrace. These elements have huge impacts on a successful loyalty program and go hand-in-hand with consistently offering exclusive discounts on everything from hotel rooms to entertainment tickets to gourmet meals and gift items.

Justin Culp: It’s important to provide valuable benefits as part of your loyalty program, including ease of becoming a member and aspirational elements that members want to strive for.

A well-tailored loyalty program can give all guests a better experience and happy guests are great customers – Matthew Morgan

How important is it to embrace new technologies in player loyalty programs?

Paul Gordon: Can anyone survive without their phone, texts or social media? We are now connected 24 hours a day and we are bombarded with information. Information that we seek and information that is thrust upon us by tracking cookies, geofencing and cross-site tracking. Casinos need to embrace that Boomers and every generation after are comfortable with social media and that their player loyalty program needs to use the same tools. Repetition of the casino brand and excitement in the program keep the players accessing the site. Offering new technology products in the rewards program helps make the program current and attractive among all of the other categories.

Jeff Baldi: As mentioned, multi-channel communication is paramount to reaching your player on any platform at any time & leaning into gamification can make even the most basic offerings more appealing. The proliferation of surveillance and business intelligence advancements are continuously creating more nuanced, defined player profiles. Embracing machine learning and various algorithms can enhance personalization in delivering the right strategy to the right player in drastically less time. Furthermore, these same technologies can be used to predict, detect and intervene in security measures of varying gravity including problem gambling or anti-money laundering.

Matthew Morgan: Embracing new technology throughout the customer experience is extremely important. Our younger guests in particular love technology. The easier we can make something – a transaction, registration, restaurant reservation – the better. Ours is an ever-evolving industry. New technology emerges every day. It’s up to us to stay abreast of it all and choose the applications that will best suit our individual businesses and which will excite or add convenience to our customers’ experience, both on our property and off.

Erica Tessier: It is critical to stay current with technology related to player loyalty programs. At Mohegan Sun, we offer on-property kiosks for card printing or account information; a personalized online portal for each of our members to view upcoming events and promotions, as well as provide the ability to connect a property Momentum account to an online gaming account in approved jurisdictions. The key is to always evaluate and strategize ways to develop and deliver unmatched experiences for valued guests.

Justin Culp: We must continue to adopt and incorporate new technologies into our loyalty program, including technology to the player portal that makes it easier for customers to access information. Technologies that help an organization meet its members’ demands like apps, integrations, online account management and on-demand ordering are important.

How do commercial and tribal player loyalty programs differ

Paul Gordon: They really shouldn’t differ with respect to the name brands that are offered. Everyone wants top brands such as Apple, Blueair, Coach, Cuisinart, Solo Stove, SMEG, Tissot, Viking and Victorinox, to name just a few. The differentiation is in the geography of the casino and the economic makeup of the player base. And always use the marketing strategy of segmentation and concentration. One size rarely fits all in any program so segment your players and concentrate the rewards based on what works best for the player. Rymax has over 450 brands and over 20,000 SKU’s and we try to bring on approximately 10-15 new brands each year to stay on top of trends and to keep the programs fresh and unique. Keep the program exciting and the players will be very loyal.

Jeff Baldi: Many of the inherent differences between commercial & tribal casinos also extend into loyalty programs. Varying regulatory framework structures dictate what gaming properties can offer, aside from the fact that commercial loyalty programs can be a bit more general. In contrast, tribal properties can feel more localized, lending to a sense of community. Due to this, commercial properties could have more over-arcing loyalty programs with ties to properties they own in other locales which can set the groundwork for motivating a decision of where players want to go simply by knowing they’re under the same umbrella as their favorite property in their area. Additionally, commercial properties are focused on broad geographic appeal, while the funnel for a tribal property is typically narrower.

Matthew Morgan: For many of our guests, the Tribal casino in their town is an entertainment hub that they visit regularly. They may visit a property’s steakhouse for special occasions, attend a concert or comedy show on the weekends, or stop off after work to meet friends for happy hour. These folks know they’ll be back at the property multiple times per month or quarter and so they may use their loyalty program to accrue points for something special. Maybe it’s a big concert or hotel nights for a staycation. Commercial gaming locations tend to be out of town, or even out of state for most people. That changes the value proposition of a loyalty program. Rewards might be more immediate and quicker to earn, since they are likely to be utilized on the same trip, within hours or a day of earning them.

It’s important to provide valuable benefits as part of your loyalty program, including ease of becoming a member and aspirational elements that members want to strive for – Justin Culp

Erica Tessier: Commercial and Tribal player loyalty programs can be similar in many ways. Typically, they will all offer some type of “points” as a reward for gaming and other on-property spend. However, in my experience, tribal casino loyalty programs tend to create a more personal program. This is what occurs at Mohegan Sun, where Mohegan Tribal culture is infused into the status levels and program names, and guest service is paramount!

Justin Culp: At Choctaw Casinos & Resorts, we focus on creating a Rewards Club that our players utilize and find beneficial at all levels. We want our guests to be rewarded for whatever they enjoy at one of our properties, including gaming, dining, hotel stays, shopping, pool cabana rentals, and spa visits. We also want to provide them opportunities to attend major events, travel, and participate in special activations on our property or with our brand partners.

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