Inside this Issue - Raving Consulting

1 2015 Quarterly Issue #3. Inside this Issue : Message from the 2. Promotion Analysis Gaming and 29-31. Leadership & 3-28, 35. Make the Most of Geek-Speak and Accomplish Your Strategic Goals Toby O' 3. Level 5 Leaders Sean 5. Marketing Technology Jeff 7. How to Create and Manage Your Own In-House Research Panel Deb Hilgeman, 9. Creating Value in an Industry That Enriches People's Lives Chris 11. How to Fit Bingo into Your Loyalty Program Nicole 14. Why Integrity Audits Need to Be a Priority Derk 16. How Developing Strategic Partnerships (aka That Bad Word, Outsourcing ) Kell 18. How Can Casinos Use Food and Beverage to Drive More Guests and Be More Profitable? Christine 20. Whether It's the Law or a Shift Interview with John 22.

2 Five E-Principles for Building Casino Brand Loyalty Mark 25. Five Reasons Your Data Analyst Can't Analyze Data . Adam 27. Casinos, Don't Change Your VIP Formula to Make It Commonplace Winnie 35. A Gaming Executive s Guide to 33. Save the 34. Dennis Khanh, Raving Partner, Food and Beverage ravingconsulting .com MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT. Dear Ravers, this edition of the Raving Solutions Magazine is hitting your email inbox two weeks before my dear friend, Steve Browne, and I are scheduled to each receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Casino Marketing & Technology Confer- ence at the Rio in Las Vegas on July 15. While I can't speak for Steve, I can share that for myself, the Award and the thought of receiving it after my presenting speaker (Anthony Curtis of Hun- tington Press) tells everyone how wonderful and visionary I am, raises a number of diverse feelings.

3 Honor. Gratitude. Embarrassment. Guilt. Completion. Validation. Unworthi- ness. Discomfort. Geez, you'd think I could just be gracious and accepting, and enjoy my few minutes of fame in the limelight. It's not that I think that I haven't accomplished anything or done some pretty cool and rewarding things in my marketing career. I know I have and will con- tinue to do so, with the help of numerous co-workers, partners, clients, friends, family members, and others. Perhaps it is my Catholic upbringing, but the thought of receiving this Casino Marketing Lifetime Achievement Award makes me wonder about all of the truly worthy gaming industry leaders who have not yet received it. It makes me a little sad that the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people in my career who helped me earn it, are not being honored with their own Award as well.

4 And it makes me truly miss my late mom and dad, Helen and Joe, who only saw me early in my gaming career when they thought I was wasting my Stanford education and promising future, to serve drinks, pitch cards and deal dice in an industry that, to them, looked like it had little future and little redeeming social value. Well, Mom and Dad, I'll be thinking of you when I accept my Award. And I want you to know that our industry has cre- ated a lot of value in a lot of ways. It has given your grandkids, your daughter-in-law and your son a wonderful life, it has challenged and engaged me for an entire career, and it has allowed me to meet and learn from some of the finest people in any industry, anywhere. Not a half-bad lifetime, wouldn't you say?

5 Sincerely, Dennis Conrad Honored, Humbled, Proud, and a Little Embarrassed Cover model: Can casinos strategically use food and beverage to generate additional gaming revenue? How can a casino's mix of food outlets, quality and service be used as an effective marketing tool? Meet Raving 's newest Partner, Dennis Khanh, on page 20 to find out the answers to these questions. 2. Raving Consulting | 475 Hill Street, Suite G | Reno, NV 89501 | Tel: 775-329-7864 | Fax: 775-329-4947 | LEADERSHIP & INNOVATION. Make the Most of Geek-Speak and Accomplish Your Strategic Goals Take time to make your data analyst your partner By Toby O'Brien During my early years in the arrived at the office I was borrowing with a hip-high gaming business, both at stack of printed, green bar reports.

6 They had printed the properties and as a consul- data on every single players club member since the open- tant, there really weren't many ing of the property. That's what you asked for, they said. data analysts. In those days, On the last page, at the bottom of the huge stack of green the employees who provided and white-striped, pin-fed computer paper, was the sum- marketing with information, mary the only sheet I really needed. reports and what little mea- surement we had available, I couldn't believe the number of trees they must have were often in the IT depart- killed in order to make their point, but I did the one ment. You asked for what you thing that changed our relationship forever: I laughed. thought you wanted, and they Out loud.

7 Until tears ran down my face. They knew that tried to bring it to you. There was little communication I knew. And they laughed, too. And we became buddies and even less understanding on both sides. ever after, for the five years that I worked with the team. I used to joke about the fact that any time I requested Since then, I have learned significantly more about the something from a casino client's IT department, a group business and about working with real data analysts. They of at least four guys (there weren't many females work- may have quirky personalities (fed by all that geeky stuff ing in IT then) would show up at the office I was using. that interests them). They may have a dry sense of humor When I'd ask why it took so many employees to get the that isn't immediately apparent.

8 It can be challenging for job done, the explanation was usually that some were in them to translate their knowledge from geek-speak to training or that only some had the knowledge about the applicable, strategic information. Marketers don't always particular topic. Maybe they were just insecure. Maybe speak their language. They are often some of the most some were good at numbers and others were better at intelligent people on the property. And they CAN get communicating. Maybe it was just more fun. The IT you what you need if you invite them to partner with march always reminded me of the soldiers guarding the you. You just need to spend some time in each other's castle of the Wicked Witch of the West. worlds. I remember working with a gaming client back in 2002.

9 Here are my guiding principles for developing a rela- It was one of my first Consulting gigs, and while I was tionship with your data analysts: trying to prove my value to the casino management 1. Include them in your earliest strategy and planning team, I wasn't exactly welcomed by all the departments sessions. Going to an analyst at the end of a project and outside of marketing. Meddler would probably best demanding information, deteriorates their ability to describe my image. help you. If they know your goals and your measure- Trying to acquire information from the player database, ment criteria upfront, they can design the reporting I asked the head of IT to provide some basic data regard- medium to gather pertinent data at the beginning of the ing the number of active players club members.

10 What I project, and have appropriate comparisons at the end. really wanted was a simple summary how many play- 2. Don't tell them what reports you want; tell them what ers were in the database, how many had played in the you are trying to understand. Data analysts are good at past twelve months, average frequency of visits, average translating your needs into appropriate report informa- amount of play (what we now would refer to as ADT). tion. You may think you want them to give you a ton of At the time, I probably wasn't particularly clear about numbers, when instead they can streamline the infor- what I needed. But they seemed peeved at what I was mation in order to fulfill your desire to figure out what requesting; in those days, it could take many, many hours direction to take next.