The primary goals for LandMarkers Casino Gaming operations are financially driven. LandMarkers gaming marketing plan provides a strategy to achieve these financial goals through programs designed to generate revenues and develop an organization capable of producing these results.
Regarding income from gaming and guest services, all elements that drive revenue must be addressed rather than focusing on only one or two areas. These elements include defining and developing the “product” (i.e., goods and services), pricing strategies, merchandising and promotional programs, marketing and advertising programs and selling programs.
These programs will be aimed at “getting people to the door” and once there, meeting and consistently exceeding their expectations once “in the door”. All segments are addressed in this document.
Before opening, the culture of the property must be communicated and first “instilled” into the associate base. Our staff must be constantly aware that exceptional service and courtesy and efficiency are of the utmost importance.
Policies, procedures, standards and monitoring systems must also be implemented, to effectuate the business plan. While a discussion of these primary tasks is limited within this summary, the importance of effectively dealing with these issues is critical and receives due attention by the executive team.
The operational objectives will be focused on the guest … creating the guest experience and perhaps, more importantly, ensuring the guest receives an “entertainment value”: a fun, friendly, exciting, entertaining and service‑oriented experience for each guest at a price or cost (i.e., gaming loss) that results in a perceived entertainment value.
LandMarkers strategists ensure there are no elements important to the guest that are missing, i.e., the absence of a product or service does not cause a guest to leave or eliminate the LandMarkers property as the first choice to visit.
A constant solicitation and review of guests’ comments and opinions are conducted along with an ongoing survey of the subject market area and the competitors’ patrons to ensure the property is providing the expected needs of its target markets.
LandMarkers Casino Gaming properties reach their financial objectives primarily by:
- Creating an all‑round “entertainment experience”.
- Maximizing initial casino revenues by developing a core group of loyal, dedicated slot players and the dedicated, above average table players.
- Controlling the overall gaming quality of the “In-house” resort guest with combination pricing and target marketing strategies.
- Implementing on‑going “Shore Facilities”, “Revenue Retention” and “Entertainment Oriented” programs.
- Increasing the market share with the creation of food, beverage, entertainment and special features offering reasons to visit and return to the Casino/Resort.
- Offering our associates a safe, stimulating, rewarding and exciting work environment.
- Cultivating and sustaining our positioning statement by providing: “Fun and Games with Affordable Luxury.”
GAMING AS A BUSINESS
Gaming is a service industry. These services must be just as carefully researched, defined, “packaged”, “merchandised”, promoted and delivered just as manufacturing industries develop their consumer products.
Casino experiences are often measured by the guests with qualities that are often intangible and subjective. Although more difficult to measure than the quality of consumer goods, the burden is still on a service‑oriented business to identify and understand the expectations of the guest and then meet or exceed them. The program we implement is to “Go above and beyond” to ensure the highest levels of guest satisfaction for our visitors.
Gaming is in the leisure‑time business. Leisure industries compete for the public’s discretionary dollars because leisure‑time services are a “non‑necessity” product. The public must be offered something that causes them to choose casino gaming over other forms of leisure‑time activities. The guest, however, may view gaming as only one part of their leisure‑time experience. Consequently, attention must be spent on all the hospitality related services at a LandMarkers property to properly serve the guest.
Gaming products are relatively homogeneous. For example, the same slot machines are offered by all casinos and the structure of the other games cause them to be offered virtually the same by each casino. Casino properties, to form an effective competitive niche, must offer more than just slot machines and traditional casino games.
Gaming is offered only in limited geographic locations and must be consumed at its point of purchase. Consequently, the guest must be brought/ attracted to the LandMarkers property from where they live and away from other casino properties they might be considering to patronize. Reasons must be created to motivate the public to visit the resort area generally and the LandMarkers property specifically.
The price of casino gaming is “hidden” to the consumer but theoretically is a function of the statistical advantage of the casino; decisions per hour of the game/machine; and the average bet allowed by the casino or accepted by the slot machine. The cost to the player is determined by which slot machine or game is played, the average bet and the amount the player is willing to lose.
These criteria form the basis upon which to base revenue projections and make revenue-oriented decisions. Notwithstanding the theoretical price/cost of casino gaming, the perception of the guest is that the price of gaming is the amount of money lost at the machines or games.
Recognizing that more players lose than win, in order for the player to realize a value from his or her gaming experience, reasons other than the “experience” must be developed by the casino property.
THE GAMING PRODUCT
The gaming “product” ‑ that which guests will come to buy and LandMarkers will sell ‑ is an experience. In actuality, the “experience” of a visit or trip is an overall experience composed of the sum of many individual, discrete experiences “created and manufactured” by the many services and amenities to be offered at the LandMarkers property. LandMarkers gaming executives work as a developer and innovator of these experiences expected by people within its target market.
The product that creates the entertainment experience encompasses numerous tangible elements including “dollars won” or “lost” as well as food and beverage, and hospitality and leisure services offered by the property. It includes providing certain primary guest functions such as a place to park the car, a bed to sleep on, entertainment and the accessibility of exciting and varied amenities.
It also includes the intangible aspects of these and other services such as the excitement created by the win/loss cycle of the game, the showmanship which accompanies tableside food service or the enjoyment received from listening to a musical group or comedian in a lounge or watching a show in the main showroom.
Still other intangible elements may contribute to the entertainment experience such as the theme of the property, the design and decor of the hotel room or the simple pleasure of “people-watching-people” and feeling or being part of the “action”.
From a marketing perspective, LandMarkers principals then price these products in a manner that creates a value to the guest. Part of this process also takes into consideration competitive pricing practices in the market area.
From a financial perspective, LandMarkers focuses on pricing these products in a manner that recovers the cost of producing these goods and services as well as providing a target return on investment, even if this return is realized from the gaming floor. As such pricing levels must sometimes be set, in recognition of price‑volume tradeoffs. Some non‑gaming services will be set lower than market value to generate the visitor volume for the more profitable gaming “products” like slot machines and casino games.
Gaming revenue objectives may be reached via large numbers of guests with small gaming budgets …small numbers of guests with large gaming budgets …or some combination of both.
Of course, special attention is devoted to the constant evaluation of a guest’s level of play and his or her upwards or downwards rating befitting that level of play. A position within this “quantity/quality” matrix is taken by LandMarkers and then on-going marketing programs are developed around the strategy selected.
FUNDAMENTALS OF GUEST SERVICE
LandMarkers Hospitality deliver the fundamentals of guest service. This means, at a minimum, delivering each service courteously, professionally, accurately and speedily. More difficult but equally important, is to ensure these standards of service are provided consistently by each associate 24‑hours a day, seven days per week.
Unquestionably, the unrelenting objective is to create a competitive niche by consistently providing these service fundamentals and providing them better than the competition. We want to be known in the competitive area as “The Best Time in the Area”.
Instilling these goals effectively into the work force takes time. That is why LandMarkers invests heavily in the recruitment, and pre-opening training of our associate team. Our managers will be at the property up to three months prior to the date when the first guest arrives, to ensure that the entire operation is ready for the “Opening Celebration”.
In general, a market niche is created by concentrating on the entertainment aspects of our various goods and services. In other words, LandMarkers Hospitality teams not merely mechanically offer and deliver our services, but assure they are delivered in a fun, entertaining, exciting and memorable ways. The intention and goal for each LandMarkers property is to offer our goods and services with an additional entertainment value in an exciting and vibrant atmosphere.
THE ENTERTAINMENT EXPERIENCE
The concentration of a large number of people constitutes the “fuel” to start a party but may not necessarily cause a party to start. It is the sense of anticipation of (or actual participation in) the created ambiance and experience ‑ along with the inherent excitement of the win/loss cycles caused by the slot machines and the table games ‑ that will provide a natural catalyst for this party.
But merely offering the slots and table games is not enough. So, to these natural elements LandMarkers brings other entertainment catalysts to “get the party going” and keep it going. We strive to create an overall festive and entertainment‑oriented atmosphere in the non-gaming areas and, exponentially, within the gaming area.
This atmosphere is created not only by the presence of special public relations’ associates and personalities, whose only function will be to build and keep a “party atmosphere”, it is created by each and every associate. A visitor can then, at his or her choosing, amplify their own experience within the created festive‑environment by partaking of the slot or table game action of their choice.
The festive and entertainment‑oriented concepts are adopted in other operational areas. Food and beverage services are memorable experiences featuring a sumptuous “Grande Buffet”. The fine dining experiences include “tableside service” which will typify the overall entertainment experience and be illustrative of what will be offered in the rest of the operation.
Planned guest‑oriented activities await them outside of the casino; activities are designed to gently and positively “decompress” them in the most satisfying way such as dancing in a lounge, a show or shopping. It is a final “retention” principle designed to maximize per guest revenue while, at the same time, topping‑out the “entertainment experience” provided to the guest.
LandMarkers properties are launched as the “must experience” property in the competitive area. We gain and maintain the reputation as the “where it’s happening” property in the area. This builds initial and repetitive visitor volume. This reputation combined with an emphasis on quality and quantity allows us to price the “products” aggressively. Aggressive pricing, in turn, builds up gaming guest quality by attracting additional clients who seek quality and have the disposable entertainment budgets to pay for it.