A Casino Strategy That Goes Beyond Demographics

There is more to casino gaming than the traditional slot machines and table games. Many casinos also feature luxurious hotels, exciting restaurants, state-of-the-art entertainment, and flexible meeting spaces. Increasingly, these casinos are seeking to attract event and group business. But attracting these high-value customers requires a comprehensive strategy that goes well beyond traditional marketing.

For years, casinos have relied heavily on demographic information to predict their audience’s behavior. However, knowing the ages of your visitors is a good start but is not enough to identify your most valuable target audience. Taking a more strategic approach will allow you to create an environment and communicate with your audience in the way that best drives them to visit and return.

In the opening scenes of Casino, Robert De Niro’s character, Sam “Ace” Rothstein, reflects on his long history of gambling. It is not a profession that leaves much room for romance or trust, as Ace explains to his mob partners: “Love and trust are dicey propositions; in gambling, you’re better off relying on blind chance.” This cynical worldview is at odds with the movie’s starring role, a sensual siren played by Sharon Stone. She is a force of nature, a sexy hustler who knows how to hold and direct the camera’s gaze. Her performance is both a sequel to Basic Instinct and an inversion of it. Like Catherine Tramell in that film, she is an object of desire but a manipulative shrewdness that is a formidable adversary.