Raving Consulting’s Dennis Conrad offers his ranking of the best (and worst) US casino promotions of 2009
I’ll admit it, I’ve lost count. This is either the 12th or 13th (or maybe the 14th) edition of my annual labor of love, the “Best (and Worst) Casino Promotions” of the year. Others probably call it something like “Conrad Gone Wild” or “How to Win an Award You’re Not Sure You Want”.
I didn’t mean for this to develop into an annual affair, but it has. Below is a list of the most noteworthy honorees (well, OK, some are “dis-honorees”). To recap, there is no award process for the “Best (and Worst) Casino Promotions of 2009”. Heck, there are no awards. There is one judge—me. The winners in “The Best” category should feel proud to receive my praise, but they might not. The Hall of Shame (“Worst”) winners will probably hate me (even though I don’t mention them by name), but I am hopeful that they achieved some excellent learning from their stumbles.
My selections are based on an unparalleled network of direct-mail samples, numerous personal visits as both a consultant and player, a wide variety of news and information sources and from the advertising, PR, collateral materials and Web sites of the casinos themselves.
And, oh yeah, much of the “crappy” info comes from a small but reliable cadre of snitches (er, sources) who get some strange high by sharing with me examples of the supreme failures and excesses of the casino marketing wars.
And once again I have attempted to not only highlight the big ideas but also the little things that made a big difference for casino customers, employees and communities.
So here they are, for your learning and entertainment pleasure, “The Best (And Worst) Casino Promotions of 2009”!