Blog

Loyalty.

Every business seeks it from its customers. “Disciples.”  “Raving Fans.” “Build a community.”

Casinos are no exception. While a significant amount of their marketing is to attract new customers, they consistently need to market to their existing customers, possibly more than any other industry.

But have you ever talked to big casino players? They’re not like customers of other businesses, because they talk WITH each other…A LOT. Like fishermen! “I won here playing this machine.” “Ever since that casino did this, nobody wins there anymore.” They discuss strategy. They talk about successes and failures and benefits and crab legs and gin and tonics. A conversation among them is a testimonial-a-minute.

And part of that conversation ALWAYS includes, “So…are you up or down?”

And ay, there’s the rub.

Up or down against…who? The casino itself.

Casino players are trying to beat the casino. It’s the players vs. “the man.” Players aren’t competing against each other, they’re competing against the very place that wants them to consider themselves to be “raving fans.”  Their satisfaction with the casino comes from beating it. From outsmarting it. Certainly customer service, amenities, and things like cleanliness also factor into their overall experience, but none of those things guarantee a satisfying experience for the player like “playing with house money” does.

Building loyalty among those who are trying to beat you. It’s the Catch-22 of casino marketing.