Penn Entertainment CEO and President Jay Snowden, and Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim, discussed omnichannel strategy and the need for companies across the board to make it a business focus during G2E 2022 in Las Vegas.
Snowden said the growing digital market makes gaining an online foothold essential regardless of the industry.
He said: “You can’t think of a sector today where companies aren’t thinking about their digital strategy and their omnichannel strategy.
“The brick-and-mortar casinos, for us, are at the core of that omnichannel strategy.”
Snowden mentioned an example of large retailers like Walmart and Target that were primarily land-based taking a different marketing approach once online retailers like Amazon entered the playing field.
“Look at what Amazon did to Walmart and Target – those retail providing companies had their heads in the sand for some time as they didn’t think Amazon was going to work.”
He went on to commend both retail companies for recognizing the need for a change in the way they do business.
Snowden commented: “I actually think both companies have done a great job over the last five or six years approaching of omnichannel the way right way, which is giving your consumers multiple options to engage with you on your products and services.”
He said the US gaming industry has the perfect opportunity to embrace the digital frontier now that online sports betting has been regulated in more states than ever.
“When PASPA was overturned in 2018 and sports betting became legal, we viewed this as a good opportunity for our industry to go digital,” Snowden said.
Kim mentioned Europe’s longer history with online gaming and spoke about what the US will need to consider to achieve success with its market.
“Some places in Europe have had online gaming regulated for two decades. said Kim.
“I think the US will need to get to this stage, and that there will be a backlash in terms of maybe overloading the consumer. It’s all about getting the balance right and using technology to better understand consumer behavior.”
Appealing to younger audiences must be a focus of the omnichannel market, according to Snowden.
Kim agreed but noted online gaming companies and advertisers must also take the age of its audience into account.
He commented: “I do get concerned sometimes that advertising is becoming a bit much.
“When I’m watching football with my 13-year-old son and he’s asking me what bets we should place after seeing an ad, this is something you have to be particularly mindful of.”
