Social Media – Responding To Negative Comments

by Peter Arceo

There was an article in today’s Las Vegas Sun about how MGM Resorts International is monitoring and responding to negative feedback on social websites like TripAdvisor & Yelp.  I applaud them for doing this.  I think more businesses should take this stance.

Leadership is not the same as being the boss

By George Haldeman

Simply having a “C” title or even a VP title does not make someone a leader. It may make them a boss but there is a difference. There are numerous definitions of leadership and they can be debated forever. One thing we know for sure is we know a leader when we see them.

How a leader can help and hurt his team’s performance

By George Haldeman

At the risk of not being terribly original, I am going to quote Sun Tzu as I relate centuries old concepts which are relevant to the casino industry today. In chapter 3 Attack on stratagem, Tzu says there are 3 things a leader can do bring misfortune on his army.

Being all things to all people can lead to death of a brand

By George Haldeman

Knowing who you are as a person helps people to be confident and successful. People who know what their strengths and weaknesses are can spot opportunities where they can be successful and how to avoid pitfalls that play into their weaknesses.

Competing through divergence

By George Haldeman

In the hyper competitive world that most casino marketers operate in today, the word compete appears to have lost its meaning for some. It seems to me that some marketers think competing means mimicking.

Loyalty is never absolute in the casino business

By George Haldeman

In the casino industry, loyalty is never absolute. We can never assume that we have 100% loyalty from any customer. Because it is fair to assume we are not getting all of our active guests’ play, we can also assume that through improved processes (both marketing and operations) that we can increase our visitation and revenue from existing customers.

Continuous Improvement

By George Haldeman

I am always amazed when I hear consultants say they solve problems for their clients. I believe organizations should create a culture of continuous improvement instead of believing they are solving problems. We live in an ever changing environment. We have internal changes such as staff turnover as well as external changes such as the economy and competitors who are not static.

Email- Is it ready to be the prime communication vehicle

By George Haldeman

Email has gotten to the point where it is a mature communication vehicle. The technology has been stable for a long time and it has been widely accepted by the mainstream. The question for casino marketer today is whether or not it is ready to supersede direct mail as the primary form of communication. Some customers would prefer to be communicated with by email.  Is that preference going to yield the response rates of traditional direct mail?

Getting buy-in and why it is important

By George Haldeman

I recently spoke at the Gaming Technology Summit in Las Vegas. The panel discussion was about the need to generate ROI from technology investments. While I listed a series of non-technical issues that impact ROI, none has a greater impact than getting buy in. This is true not only for technology investments but also for new marketing initiatives as well as operational changes.

Data-Information-Knowledge-Wisdom

By George Haldeman

There are various stages of data transformation we go through as individuals and organizations. We start off with data. Data in and of itself isn’t very useful. In the casino industry, working with card in, card out, coin in, coin out and par values of machines doesn’t facilitate any business process.