With PromoNet, FutureLogic underscores the value of promotional couponing for building player loyalty and boosting revenues
If there was a message FutureLogic conveyed at the 2012 Global Gaming Expo it was that promotional couponing works, and the industry is just beginning to scratch the surface of its potential.
“We’re up and running with PromoNet in Europe and North America,” said John Edmunds, FutureLogic vice president, Global Product Management and International Markets, speaking last month from the show floor at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. “We’ve already been running successful product trials in Viejas [a San Diego-area casino] and Casino Montelago [in Henderson, Nevada]. Now we’re also up and running in the South Point [in Las Vegas] and London Clubs International in the UK. They’re running multiple promotions for carded and non-carded players, and they’re expanding it as well.”
At both the latest installations, South Point and LCI’s The Casino at the Empire in London, Mr Edmunds said that redemption rates have been “phenomenal,” nearly as high as 80%, according to reports.
With direct mail, redemption rates can be as low as 3-5% so you don’t get as much return for the marketing dollars you invest, he explains. With PromoNet you know that as much as 80 cents on the dollar is being directed to your most valuable players. In addition, Mr Edmunds notes, the average net win per game goes up as well. “People feel special when they receive a targeted reward and think, ‘Oh, I got a coupon. I’m going to play this game again.’” And players are coming back as well, he says, because the properties set up bounce-back promotions and extended-stay promotions where players have to return to the property later that day or the following day or weekend to redeem their coupons.
And interest in PromoNet is steadily building for Glendale, California-based FutureLogic.
“We’ve got a number of test sites lined up, including a number in key jurisdictions in Asia,” Mr Edmunds said. “Certainly by the end of the year we expect to have at least two or three in Asia.”
PromoNet targets carded and noncarded players and links promotions to game play. With promotional triggers working in real-time, the solution links game-play metrics and slot promotions directly to player behavior, enabling casinos to boost player club sign-ups, extend game play and increase slot revenues.
Compatible with the GEN3 Evolution printer and the GEN2 Universal printer,as well as the CouponXpress printer and DRT redemption terminals, PromoNet can be installed as a closed-loop, stand-alone issuance and redemption system, and it can be used across the casino, at slots, registration desks, restaurants, shops, shows and hotels. It can be used as an integrated solution with other system applications or run without a network on a bank of machines for high impact marketing. It also offers marketing and online monitoring software. The system can allocate budgets, design coupons, select triggers and conditions and ultimately approve promotions and download them to designated slots across the operation. Once downloaded, coupons can be issued at the machine, either automatically, based on game-play behavior that meets pre-set conditions, or manually via a casino host issuing on-demand coupons through mobile computing solutions.
The GEN2 Universal printer
“Players like to have something tangible to take with them,” Mr Edmunds noted. “Being able to hold that in your hand when you walk away from the slot machine enables you to show you’re a winner. You won’t forget that message.”
At its exhibit at G2E, FutureLogic also demonstrated new promotions designed to drive land-based players to a casino’s online sites and vice versa.
“One of the challenges that casinos have is they’ve got a data base of players who go to the casino, but now they want to compete in the online space,” Mr Edmunds explained. “So how do you get new and existing land-based players to visit that online space in a way that they’re incentivized to do it? You can’t give them generic rewards, it’s just not meaningful enough; you can’t spend a lot of money on everybody, there just isn’t the ROI for every account; but you do want to target highvalue players, so you must come up with something that differentiates your online presence in such a competitive market.”
PromoNet enables casinos to provide behavioral-based promotional couponing to target those high-value land-based players to go to their online sites—“promotions that takes into account what the player is doing at the game, how much they’re spending, how quickly they’re spending, time on device, all these types of triggers,” he said. “Even before players sign up to the club we can be offering promotions to incentivize them to sign up or visit the online site. PromoNet enables operators to provide meaningful and targeted incentives within both their land-based and online experiences.”
Players can also remain anonymous if they choose. “Maintaining anonymity is very important to many high-value players we talk to around the world,” Mr Edmunds said.
The application is especially promising for markets such as Macau, which has a huge mass market of anonymous players who come over from mainland China.
“You want to identify and target key players based on their high-value play,” Mr Edmunds said. “PromoNet Online allows a casino to target a high-value casino player to scan their smart phone at a bar code that will take the player to an online site that could be a casino’s online gaming site, free-to-play, pay-to-play or a player reward site.”
Another promotion would permit casinos to target similar high-value players who then could be offered a choice of prizes, enabling them to personalize their experience. As Mr Edmunds explained, “You might prefer a spa visit; I might prefer hard liquor.”
Another product that grabbed a lot of attention at FutureLogic’s stand was TableXchange, which brings TITO to table games by allowing players to use cash-out vouchers in the pit.
“We’re very excited that TableXchange is finally designed and ready to submit to regulators,” Mr Edmunds said at G2E. “We must have done 40 or 50 demonstrations on that yesterday.”
TableXchange connects table games to a casino’s existing TITO network by scanning and printing TITO vouchers. The technology creates a common currency across the casino, creating a bridge between slots and tables, helping casinos identify valuable crossover players and further streamlining operations by virtually eliminating the need to replenish chips at table games.
To buy in, the player gives a TITO voucher to the dealer. The TableXchange device scans and displays the voucher value on its LCD and touchscreen, allowing the player, dealer and security to confirm the voucher amount. The player then receives chips and a TITO voucher for any cash balance. To cash out, the dealer simply collects and enters the value of the player’s chips on the numeric keypad. The TableXchange device then prints a cash-out voucher for the player. The device is also fitted with a mag-stripe reader to record and update players club cards, enabling players to receive loyalty points for their activity at the tables.
FutureLogic also promoted its GEN3 Evolution printer, which is designed not only for ticket printing but serves also as the couponing engine for PromoNet. The GEN3 features expanded capacity for coupons, gray-scale printing for higher-quality coupon graphics and faster printing speeds.
The company’s GEN 2 Universal printer continues to be a strong performer as well and also can provide promotional couponing.
