CM Comment: Broadband Internet continues to penetrate deeper into core casino demographic groups.
June 17, 2009: summarized from Pew Internet & American Life Project -- Home broadband adoption stood at 63% of adult Americans as of April 2009, up from 55% in May 2008. The greatest growth in broadband adoption in the past year has taken place among population subgroups which have below average usage rates. Among them:
- Senior citizens: Broadband usage among adults ages 65 or older grew from 19% in May 2008 to 30% in April 2009.
- Low-income Americans: Two groups of low-income Americans saw strong broadband growth from 2008 to 2009: First, respondents living in households whose annual household income is $20,000 or less saw broadband adoption grow from 25% in 2008 to 35% in 2009. Second, respondents living in households whose annual incomes are between $20,000 and $30,000 annually experienced a growth in broadband penetration from 42% to 53%.Overall, respondents reporting that they live in homes with annual household incomes below $30,000 experienced a 34% growth in home broadband adoption from 2008 to 2009.
- High-school graduates: Among adults whose highest level of educational attainment is a high school degree, broadband adoption grew from 40% in 2008 to 52% in 2009.
- Older baby boomers: Among adults ages 50-64, broadband usage increased from 50% in 2008 to 61% in 2009.
- Rural Americans: Adults living in rural America had home high-speed usage grow from 38% in 2008 to 46% in 2009.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/llsprg
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Pinnacle Entertainment Launches River City Casino Website
June 16, 2009: summarized from PRNewswire-FirstCall -- Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. has launched the property website for River City Casino, the St. Louis region's newest entertainment destination expected to open in the first quarter of 2010.
The property website, located at www.therivercitycasino.com, currently features River City-related news, community relations information, a special section for potential vendors to register for future business opportunities, and a link to the live project webcam. Website visitors are also encouraged to sign up for the River City Casino email list to receive project updates and special offers as they become available. In addition, detailed fact sheets are available for download in the media center and artist renderings are available by request.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/lnl4mr
The property website, located at www.therivercitycasino.com, currently features River City-related news, community relations information, a special section for potential vendors to register for future business opportunities, and a link to the live project webcam. Website visitors are also encouraged to sign up for the River City Casino email list to receive project updates and special offers as they become available. In addition, detailed fact sheets are available for download in the media center and artist renderings are available by request.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/lnl4mr
Changing Roles Within Direct Marketing
CM Comment: Clearly a trend worth monitoring.
June 23, 2009: summarized from EmailInsider -- There are currently two big shifts going on in the direct marketing world that affect email marketers: the decline of direct mail and the rise of social media.
The current recession has accelerated the shift to digital media and marketing. Recently, Borrell Associates predicted that advertising revenue from direct mail is expected to plunge 39% by 2013. Email was singled out as the key beneficiary of direct mail's decline.
While there are certainly macro forces at work behind direct mail's decline and is value in retaining workers with long-term experience with your brand, it's vital to recognize that direct mail experts lack many skills necessary to be successful at email marketing.
1. Designing an email involves knowing how inbox providers render CSS and HTML, dealing with situations where images aren't enabled, and designing for preview panes and mobile devices.
2. Running an email program involves much more segmentation. "Batch and blast" is a recipe for subscriber revolt and delivery disaster.
3. Email subscribers can more easily punish marketers that abuse their time with irrelevant messages by hitting the "report spam" button. Annoy enough subscribers and you will be blocked by ISPs and have difficulties delivering your messages to even those subscribers who want them.
4. The success of a direct mail campaign is determined by a very different set of metrics than that used to measure the success of an email campaign.
A direct mail approach to email marketing can ruin your program, so make sure that any transfers are properly educated and play a secondary role until they're fully up to speed. Conferences, webinars, vendor education programs, industry publications and blogs play a critical role in the continuing education of email marketers. Make sure that even your seasoned email experts are given the time and budget to keep up to date with the ever-changing email landscape.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nvh3d3
June 23, 2009: summarized from EmailInsider -- There are currently two big shifts going on in the direct marketing world that affect email marketers: the decline of direct mail and the rise of social media.
The current recession has accelerated the shift to digital media and marketing. Recently, Borrell Associates predicted that advertising revenue from direct mail is expected to plunge 39% by 2013. Email was singled out as the key beneficiary of direct mail's decline.
While there are certainly macro forces at work behind direct mail's decline and is value in retaining workers with long-term experience with your brand, it's vital to recognize that direct mail experts lack many skills necessary to be successful at email marketing.
1. Designing an email involves knowing how inbox providers render CSS and HTML, dealing with situations where images aren't enabled, and designing for preview panes and mobile devices.
2. Running an email program involves much more segmentation. "Batch and blast" is a recipe for subscriber revolt and delivery disaster.
3. Email subscribers can more easily punish marketers that abuse their time with irrelevant messages by hitting the "report spam" button. Annoy enough subscribers and you will be blocked by ISPs and have difficulties delivering your messages to even those subscribers who want them.
4. The success of a direct mail campaign is determined by a very different set of metrics than that used to measure the success of an email campaign.
A direct mail approach to email marketing can ruin your program, so make sure that any transfers are properly educated and play a secondary role until they're fully up to speed. Conferences, webinars, vendor education programs, industry publications and blogs play a critical role in the continuing education of email marketers. Make sure that even your seasoned email experts are given the time and budget to keep up to date with the ever-changing email landscape.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nvh3d3
Viejas Casino Launches New Website
June 18, 2009: summarized from Business Wire -- Viejas Casino (www.viejas.com) announced the launch of its new website. The site, launched this month, was designed with Viejas guests in mind. The new site offers an easily navigated gateway to all of the Viejas promotions and events, entertainment, shopping and restaurants. New features have been built into the previous award-winning site, to provide enhanced information and to acquaint our visitors with our great time, great value opportunities.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/mkw5ep
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/mkw5ep
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
PlayerVantage Adds Internet Power To Casino Database Marketing
CM Comment: Yes this article is a product press release issued by our sponsor GameLogic, but still it is very relevant and worth taking a look at.
June 17, 2009: summarized from Business Wire - GameLogic (www.gamelogic.com) announces the release of PlayerVantage, a turnkey platform for harnessing the power of the Internet to improve a casino's database marketing activities. PlayerVantage combines targeted email communications with an interactive player portal with GameLogic's engaging PlayAway game content, to create a uniquely personalized online experience for casino patrons.
PlayerVantage includes three key components:
1. Personalized communications designed and timed to improve the effectiveness of traditional direct mail. Combining traditional mail with electronic media has proven to result in higher response rates and a correspondingly better ROI. In addition, long-term cost efficiencies are realized as players elect to opt-out of traditional mail and receive communications exclusively online.
2. GameLogic's PlayAway™ suite of online fun, bonus-delivery and tournament games designed to engage players in a daily Internet-based relationship, thereby capturing their email address, and serving as the catalyst for their interaction with all the other aspects of PlayerVantage.
3. The PlayerVantage web portal, providing every member a personal, online "play space", complete with free online games surrounded by personalized marketing calendar, promotions, advertisements and more. The portal is the gateway for each online marketing call to action (email offer, PlayAway games, etc.) and contains all of the information relevant to that patron and his/her relationship with the property, as well as general and targeted messaging.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nja3wj
June 17, 2009: summarized from Business Wire - GameLogic (www.gamelogic.com) announces the release of PlayerVantage, a turnkey platform for harnessing the power of the Internet to improve a casino's database marketing activities. PlayerVantage combines targeted email communications with an interactive player portal with GameLogic's engaging PlayAway game content, to create a uniquely personalized online experience for casino patrons.
PlayerVantage includes three key components:
1. Personalized communications designed and timed to improve the effectiveness of traditional direct mail. Combining traditional mail with electronic media has proven to result in higher response rates and a correspondingly better ROI. In addition, long-term cost efficiencies are realized as players elect to opt-out of traditional mail and receive communications exclusively online.
2. GameLogic's PlayAway™ suite of online fun, bonus-delivery and tournament games designed to engage players in a daily Internet-based relationship, thereby capturing their email address, and serving as the catalyst for their interaction with all the other aspects of PlayerVantage.
3. The PlayerVantage web portal, providing every member a personal, online "play space", complete with free online games surrounded by personalized marketing calendar, promotions, advertisements and more. The portal is the gateway for each online marketing call to action (email offer, PlayAway games, etc.) and contains all of the information relevant to that patron and his/her relationship with the property, as well as general and targeted messaging.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nja3wj
Outbound Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing - Where's The Smart Money?
June 17, 2009: summarized from Business Marketing Goldmine -- During the course of my work as a copywriter, I encounter a surprising number of established businesses who, in marketing terms, have so far allowed the 21st century to pass them by.
While they may have an online presence, they do little to enhance their branding through incoming channels. Many have never conducted an online campaign, and few attach much significance to their online rankings and flow of site traffic. The prevailing attitude is 'business as usual' - i.e. reliance on the traditional channels of trade shows, direct response, email marketing and cold calling.
But while these methods remain effective in the short term, they are, like the dinosaurs before them, locked into a slow and irreversible demise. The evidence is all around us. Just take a look at the prevalence of new tools for blocking interruptive marketing, including sophisticated spam filters, and caller ID. And, even more worryingly, laws such as the CAN Spam Act and Do Not Call lists mean that even if marketers find a way of getting past the gate keepers, they'll find it much harder to circumvent the law.
The fact is the way people research new products is changing forever right beneath our noses. Smart businesses realize this, and are slowly shifting the emphasis of their efforts from 'outbound' marketing - i.e. broadcasting your message to thousands of people in the knowledge that between only 1% and 7% have any interest whatsoever - to 'inbound' marketing - by which people seek you out when they're ready to buy something. This means making the move away from conventional old-school marketing and investing more in search engine optimization, pay-per-click, business blogging and social media marketing. It means you'll be found by more qualified prospects and convert more of them to paying customers, and you'll stop wasting money on costly, hit-and miss interruption marketing methods.
A good place to begin is by analyzing your business's internet marketing effectiveness. Currently, how often do you to get 'found' by prospects in search engines, blogs and social media? To get the relevant data for your company, do some keyword research using Overture Keyword Tool, search on Technorati for blogs in your industry; search on social media sites relevant to your industry (Facebook, LinkedIn and others).
Use the data from the report to see how you can build more opportunities to reach prospects who are searching for your products and services.
Finally, develop a plan for transforming your company's marketing strategy from inbound marketing to outbound marketing, and bring it screaming and kicking into the 21st century!
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nemyqk
While they may have an online presence, they do little to enhance their branding through incoming channels. Many have never conducted an online campaign, and few attach much significance to their online rankings and flow of site traffic. The prevailing attitude is 'business as usual' - i.e. reliance on the traditional channels of trade shows, direct response, email marketing and cold calling.
But while these methods remain effective in the short term, they are, like the dinosaurs before them, locked into a slow and irreversible demise. The evidence is all around us. Just take a look at the prevalence of new tools for blocking interruptive marketing, including sophisticated spam filters, and caller ID. And, even more worryingly, laws such as the CAN Spam Act and Do Not Call lists mean that even if marketers find a way of getting past the gate keepers, they'll find it much harder to circumvent the law.
The fact is the way people research new products is changing forever right beneath our noses. Smart businesses realize this, and are slowly shifting the emphasis of their efforts from 'outbound' marketing - i.e. broadcasting your message to thousands of people in the knowledge that between only 1% and 7% have any interest whatsoever - to 'inbound' marketing - by which people seek you out when they're ready to buy something. This means making the move away from conventional old-school marketing and investing more in search engine optimization, pay-per-click, business blogging and social media marketing. It means you'll be found by more qualified prospects and convert more of them to paying customers, and you'll stop wasting money on costly, hit-and miss interruption marketing methods.
A good place to begin is by analyzing your business's internet marketing effectiveness. Currently, how often do you to get 'found' by prospects in search engines, blogs and social media? To get the relevant data for your company, do some keyword research using Overture Keyword Tool, search on Technorati for blogs in your industry; search on social media sites relevant to your industry (Facebook, LinkedIn and others).
Use the data from the report to see how you can build more opportunities to reach prospects who are searching for your products and services.
Finally, develop a plan for transforming your company's marketing strategy from inbound marketing to outbound marketing, and bring it screaming and kicking into the 21st century!
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/nemyqk
Hotels Are Jumping On The Social Media Bandwagon
CM Comment: Some examples of Twitter is use within the lodging industry.
June 16th, 2009: summarized from bNet -- With all the talk about Twitter, the micro-blogging social media platform, as a business tool, it's no wonder that the struggling hotel industry is now using it as a way to reach potential guests.
When a friend of mine, who keeps a blog that covers restaurants, told the Twitterverse how she had a sub-par happy hour experience at Hyatt's Andaz hotel in Los Angeles, the hotel (whose two-month-old Twitter handle is @andazweho) offered her a free meal at its restaurant. Andaz says it also made sure to correct my friend's grievance - that her party wasn't served enough bar food. How's that for customer service, social media-style?
And not only are hotels using Twitter to interact directly with its guests, they're also using the platform to generate general interest by giving away free stays and other goodies.
Marriott International Inc. (@marriottintl) recently held a "Deal of the Day" promotion via its Twitter feed and Web site, offering one discounted deal per day for a Caribbean, Hawaii or California hotel from June 1 to June 12.
Some hotels use their Twitter feeds to create a persona, essentially giving life to a hotel. The Westin Bonaventure (@thebonaventure) in downtown Los Angeles has given away free stays and meals at its restaurant to promote its business, but it also tweeted about the Los Angeles Lakers' championship run, ingraining itself into other parts of the city's culture. And then there's this: "Why didn't Lisa Bonet lay down her version of 'Baby, I Love Your Way' as a single? We love that song. 'Is that Peter #$@%* Frampton?'"
Some other hotels on Twitter include Shutters on the Beach (@ShuttersSecrets) in Santa Monica, Hotel Carlton in San Francisco (@HotelCarltonSF), the Iron Horse Hotel (@ironhorsehotel) in Milwaukee and the Charles Hotel (@CharlesHotel) in Cambridge, Mass.
While straying too far from business-like tweets, a la the Bonaventure, might not be all hotels' goals, reaching out to customers and potential guests on a more personal level than the traditional press avenues could be a good bet. While people are demanding lower prices and better deals from their go-to travel destinations, they also want better service, and communicating via Twitter or other social media platforms is an effective way to do it.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/lxxmhe
June 16th, 2009: summarized from bNet -- With all the talk about Twitter, the micro-blogging social media platform, as a business tool, it's no wonder that the struggling hotel industry is now using it as a way to reach potential guests.
When a friend of mine, who keeps a blog that covers restaurants, told the Twitterverse how she had a sub-par happy hour experience at Hyatt's Andaz hotel in Los Angeles, the hotel (whose two-month-old Twitter handle is @andazweho) offered her a free meal at its restaurant. Andaz says it also made sure to correct my friend's grievance - that her party wasn't served enough bar food. How's that for customer service, social media-style?
And not only are hotels using Twitter to interact directly with its guests, they're also using the platform to generate general interest by giving away free stays and other goodies.
Marriott International Inc. (@marriottintl) recently held a "Deal of the Day" promotion via its Twitter feed and Web site, offering one discounted deal per day for a Caribbean, Hawaii or California hotel from June 1 to June 12.
Some hotels use their Twitter feeds to create a persona, essentially giving life to a hotel. The Westin Bonaventure (@thebonaventure) in downtown Los Angeles has given away free stays and meals at its restaurant to promote its business, but it also tweeted about the Los Angeles Lakers' championship run, ingraining itself into other parts of the city's culture. And then there's this: "Why didn't Lisa Bonet lay down her version of 'Baby, I Love Your Way' as a single? We love that song. 'Is that Peter #$@%* Frampton?'"
Some other hotels on Twitter include Shutters on the Beach (@ShuttersSecrets) in Santa Monica, Hotel Carlton in San Francisco (@HotelCarltonSF), the Iron Horse Hotel (@ironhorsehotel) in Milwaukee and the Charles Hotel (@CharlesHotel) in Cambridge, Mass.
While straying too far from business-like tweets, a la the Bonaventure, might not be all hotels' goals, reaching out to customers and potential guests on a more personal level than the traditional press avenues could be a good bet. While people are demanding lower prices and better deals from their go-to travel destinations, they also want better service, and communicating via Twitter or other social media platforms is an effective way to do it.
Read more at: http://tinyurl.com/lxxmhe
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