Marketing Directions

DECEMBER 10 2016, NEW DELHI

THE
EXTRAVAGANT
ONE

The House Always Wins

The Casino Industry

For Casinos, places where people try their luck and some make fortune big enough to last 2
lifetimes. Casino in itself has always been a nefarious and a controversial word. “

But today it is a booming industry with not only gaming as its main focus but hospitality and
service at its core

Turn the pages to see how big the industry is and how they market and promise the experience
of a lifetime!

“What is Life if not a Gamble?”

- F. E. Higgins
 Marketing Directions
The Casino Industry
Highlights
The stalwarts of Vegas like the plaza, The Bellagio or the MGM Grand. They are very
much part of a culture thanks to the Hollywood movies. At a closer home, Macau in
The Casino
China has been the king of the Casino world at the east end of the globe. Just for a
Industry
perspective of how big the industry is, you should know that it is worth 450 billion USD
and shows no sign of slowing down.

Casinos are
here to
Stay Casino Industry:Revenue (Billion USD)
200
182.77
180 171.04
Casino 159.71
Marketing 160
146.68
140 132.41
117.58
Casino 120 107.69 109.73 107.31
99.98
Industry 100
Attractiveness
80

60
Taking the
40
Casinos
Online 20

0
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
The Movie
Timeline India’s Education budget was 10.73 billion USD and the casino industry made
about 182.77 billion USD
Best
of the
Best Now if we look at what the industry makes in a year, you might be surprized on how things are
in the world and what they ought to be. The 2015 revenue of the casino world was 182.77 billion
USD. That is far greater than GDP of many nations.

“Get Creative and Experiment with your Marketing”

- Mike Volpe
 Marketing Directions
Casinos are here to Stay
The ability of the industry to be
profitable even during the recession and
be competitive tells something about
the business. It is an all-weather proof
business. It might even make money
even if we had an apocalypse, it’s just
one of those things.

But it is significantly dependent on

consumer footfalls and for that the
casinos resort to all kinds of means and
most of the marketing is not done calling
Slot Machines in Atlantic City: Standard attraction in a Casino it a gambling heaven but a holiday
destination of the family. Here a Dad can
play with his friends, enjoy the stay with kids and maybe a few cherished moments with Mom.

Casino Marketing: It’s Complicated than you Think!

Casino Competition

The overall competitive landscape of the casino industry is characterized

with high levels of competition among the existing players in the industry.
In addition, competition also extends to new markets. For instance, many
of the casino companies in the United States are looking at establishing
operations in other countries, especially countries like Singapore and
Macau.

Key Success Factors in the Casino Industry

The key success factors that should be considered in the casino and gaming industry include innovation in
products and services and the ability of the casino companies to reach for affluent populations. Both these
aspects go hand in hand as innovation is required to beat off stiff competition. This would be done through
building loyalty amongst the affluent population which itself is attracted to innovation in various areas.

“Marketing takes a day to learn. Unfortunately it takes

a lifetime to master” - Phil Kotler
 Marketing Directions
Porters 5 Forces Model

Customer Power: Threat of Substitutes:

Strong Moderate
Industry Rivalry:
Strong
Supplier Power:
Entry/Exit Barrier: Weak
Weak

Bargaining power of Customers: Strong

Even a slight change in the demand for casino services could directly impact the
revenues of the industry

Bargaining power of Suppliers: Weak

Casinos basically provide their own services with internal resources such as
employees properly trained in various casino games

Rivalry among existing Customers: Strong

Casinos, especially those that are located within the same area, engage in
aggressive marketing strategies against each other

Threat of new entry: Weak

Establishment of a casino generally requires massive initial investments

Threat of substitutes: Moderate

Other forms of entertainment involving some form of gambling, do not
necessarily match the customer experience in casinos

“My favourite chip trick is to make everyone’s stack

disappear” - Amarillo Slim
 Marketing Directions
Casino Industry PESTEL Analysis

• United States

ECONOMIC
POLITICAL

SOCIAL
•Demand for hotels • The attitude of
has engages in influences the demand Americans towards
for casino services gambling has
regulations because Casinos provided support
that open up usually have hotels. for the growth of
the industry, the industry.
for the •Real estate market
impacts casino
purpose of performance because • Current emphasis
improving its the attractiveness of on treating casino
the locations of gaming as addiction
performance casinos is partially tends to counteract
dependent on the real such American
estate value of such openness to the
locations. industry.

LEGAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
TECHNOLOGICAL

• Upcoming • Environmental • Laws in the

technologies concerns are countries of the
resulting in better minimal. origin. For
performance of example, some
casino industry • Foreign countries have
competition banned gambling
• Development of remains low since
the MIS softwares only a few • Expectation of a
changing locations around policy decision
consumer the world that which might effect
experiences have thriving the legal situation
casino industries

“Making Promises and Keeping them is a Great Way

to Build your Brand” - Anonymous
 Marketing Directions
Casino Industry Attractiveness
Revenues and Profitability are the main aspects which attracts
the investors towards the casino companies. The industry
outlook is stable which means that the revenues will continue
to rise over the next few years. Another important factor that
actually influences these investors is the fact that the visitors
which come from countries like United States and United
Kingdom spend a lot which is more or less due to the good
economic condition of the economies of these countries.
Better economic conditions simply means better purchasing
power for the consumers thereby contributing to the demand
for these casino services.

The customers are attracted to the number of innovative entertainment characteristics of casino companies giving diverse
kinds of experiences. These companies are involved in aggressive marketing techniques corresponding to magic shows,
stage performances and innovative entertainment programmes to attract all types of customers to stay at the casino
hotels and spend their money on the casino floor ensuring the customers stay for as long as possible.

Making a Millennial Proof Casino

Casinos will have to go social and tech savvy if they want to bring in the next generation of customers. Slot machines and
table games might be a thing of the past now, what the new generation needs is an experience and casinos have to
remember that this customer is not loyal to any brand they would just go wherever they get the better service and
experience.

“You cannot use up Creativity. The more you use,

The more you have” - Maya Angelou
 Marketing Directions
Taking the Casinos Online: Effect of Technology
A business that thrives also evolves with time, so have the casinos, they have been the early adopters of MIS
systems to keep a database of their customers and take the maximum share of wallet. A look at how betting,
gambling of the past gave birth to the casino industry that we see today:

Year Event

Harry Ogden became the 1st person to make a profit over his income from bookmaking. He
1790 had a view of the winners by operating from Newmarket Heath and studied the field, laying
odds on each horse rather than two propositions.

All types of gambling became constrained to the racetrack due to a law that restricted public
games of cards with money at stake. This spurred the so called bookies which operate from
1845 their brick and mortar locations to open up the market to other sports rather than just the
races. Bookmakers simply used a pen and paper, frequenting markets or backstreets before
moving into shops.
Betting shops were legalized in May and a staggering 10,000 shops opened within the first 6
months. The betting shop would contain a bookie behind the counter studying the pages as
1961 well as someone who was called a ‘Board-Man’ who actually marked up results and prices for
the various races that came from information transmitted through a wire service from Extel
and vocalized by the blower.

The then technology in betting stores evolved when a number of more gambling legislation
1986 allowed all the shops to show the races in the television sets. ‘Fruit machines’ or fixed-odds
betting terminals and computer generated racing courses were also added.

This was the time when the internet was in full swing, bookmaking firms realised the scope of
1998 earning huge amounts of money from online betting. Betting exchanges like Betfair and
Betdaq opened and the launch of online bingo and poker sites began.

2012 Revenue from online gambling was estimated at $4 billion – an 80% increase from 2008

2015 At the end of the year the online gambling industry was estimated to be worth $41.4bn.

“Why waste a Sentence saying Nothing?”

- Seth Godin
 Marketing Directions
The Movie Timeline
Casino’s being an integral part of some of the biggest blockbuster Hollywood movies:

Movie Name:
OCEAN’S ELEVEN (2001)

Casinos Featured:
Bellagio
MGM Grand
Movie Name:
ROCKY BALBOA (2006)

Casinos Featured:
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Movie Name:
IRON MAN (2008)

Casinos Featured:
Caesars Palace
Movie Name:
THE HANGOVER (2009)

Casinos Featured:
Riviera Hotel and Casino
Caesars Palace
Movie Name:
NOW YOU SEE ME (2013)

Casinos Featured:
MGM Grand
Movie Name:
JASON BOURNE (2016)

Casinos Featured:
Aria Resort and Casino

“If your advertising goes unnoticed, Everything else is

Academic” - William Bernbach
 Marketing Directions
The Best of the Best: Casinos
The Venetian Macao-Macau, China

Key Features:

 Seventh largest building in the world in terms of

floor area.
 Around 550,000 square-feet is dedicated to the
gaming space itself.
 The casino has no fewer than 3400 slot machines
and 800 gaming tables.
 Over 3000 rooms spanning over 38 floors

Foxwoods Resort Casino – Connecticut, USA

Key Features:
 Complex of 6 individual casinos
 Resort covering over 9,000,000 sq ft of area.
 Around 350,000 square feet of gambling space
 Over 375 gaming tables and 4700 slot machines
 Bingo Hall housing upto 5,000 players easily

The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino – Las Vegas

Key Features:

 Largest Casino in the World

 Five-Diamond luxury hotel and casino
 Around 120,000 square feet of gaming space
 Over 4000 rooms
 Home to some of Las Vegas most popular entertainment
centres, nightclubs and pools

“Target is like a Casino, You use lose track of Time &

Money” - Anonymous
 Marketing Directions

Some Electrifying Facts about the Casino Industry

 The first online casinos appeared in the early 1990s and were immediately popular. There
were 15 gambling websites in 1996, but the number leapt to 200 websites during 1997.

 In the UK, one of the biggest online casino wins came from a 20p spin. A fisherman who
wished to remain anonymous started playing a slot game called the Hall of Gods and
watched his 20p turn into a massive £5.4 million win.

 Richard Nixon funded his first congress campaign using the money he’d won playing poker
with some of his former Navy colleagues. The $6,000 he won at the poker table helped him
on his way to his first political post.

 When Annette Obrestad from Norway won the first World Series of Poker Europe main
event in 2007, she was a day off her nineteenth birthday. She remains the youngest person
to have ever won a WSOP bracelet.

“We cannot change the cards

we are dealt with, just how we
play the hand”
- Randy Paush

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