What Do Casino Top-Tier Players Want? | Scentrifugal Events
01-03-2023
What Do Top-Tier Casino Players Really Want? The Answer Is Simple: Unique Experiences!
We all hear about casinos that give away a variety of gifts or prizes to its premium players: From cookware to luxury-brand cars, robot vacuum cleaners to vacations, the casino industry has a lot riding on guests walking through its doors—including the cost of the items.
In the popular imagination, the “high-roller” is an ultra-wealthy individual who thinks nothing of wagering thousands of dollars on the single turn of a card or roll of the dice. And indeed, these people aren’t necessarily strangers to many gaming properties. But the player who keeps the lights on at the overwhelming majority of casinos is the one who plays slot machines multiple times a month. These guests can be counted on to not only make regular visits, but bring substantial amounts of money with them. Thus, it’s not surprising that these customers are among the industry’s most coveted.
So, how does a casino attract these players and once they do, keep them coming back? That is the job of both the casino marketing and player development departments.
Ziprecruiter describes the director of casino marketing as the person who “executes and monitors short and long-range marketing plans and general casino marketing operations.” More to the point, the job of those in this part of the gaming industry is to devise ways to get players into their properties, and keep them coming back.
This can be done by offering complimentary goods and services, and by ensuring there is entertainment that will make the customer want to return. The marketing tools include the promotion of community involvement, the creation of partnerships with other businesses, and making sure the casino keeps abreast of the latest gaming trends and strategies.
It is the player development team, along with the casino hosts, who have the direct interaction with the guests, thus keeping them in tune with what the players really want. A 2018 article from Harvest Trends describes “the main responsibility of a player development professional, regardless of title, is to develop and maintain effective working relationships with a casino property’s very best players, and provide services to them to build player loyalty and increase the number of visits or amount played (or both) from among those guests.”
The casino host who is part of the player development team is there to build the database of customers and develop a rapport with their own clients. The players know they have a high worth, and expect to be treated extremely well in order to keep them playing at that property. After all, they can usually take their business to another casino that will be more than happy to welcome and accommodate them.
The members of the Scentrifugal Events staff have spoken with many guests, hosts, and marketing people over the years about what players really want. And what they’ve found is that players want experiential activities and events. It is no longer enough to offer a free heated blanket or comp meal at the steakhouse to keep guests happy and returning often. Casinos’ best customers want unique offerings that make it worth their while to come onto the property.
Among the popular methods of rewarding top customers is having a celebrity chef cook them dinner, or inviting them to “tasting dinners,” at which experts pair wine or spirits with various dishes.
Those at the highest levels of play may be invited by a casino to spend a shopping-spree weekend in places like New York City or New Orleans—or even London or Paris-- or be gifted with an all-expenses-paid cruise.
But after a while, casino guests become jaded. After all, how many times can you have Bobby Flay cook your dinner, or go to New York City for a shopping spree? It soon becomes the same-old, same-old, and thus loses its appeal.
As noted above, this is not a “ladies only” activity. When the Scentrifugal Events team stages a Making Sense Live! session, it assumes the role as part of a casino’s marketing department. As such, they spend a good amount of time welcoming the guests and engaging them in conversation. Often, when a male guest enters the event space, they are asked why they are attending. The standard answer is they are there because “she” (e.g. wife/fiancé/girlfriend) insisted they be there.
But invariably, when the same men are leaving and are asked if they enjoyed the experience. The response is virtually always some variation of, “I think I had more fun than she did!”
There are likely two main reasons for this. One is that fragrance-blending is obviously out of the “wheelhouse” of most men; the novelty of the fragrance-making experience is quite memorable.
The other is that men enjoy the “mad scientist” aspect of the blending process.
Scentrifugal Events has created fun, entertaining and experiential events for premium casino players that never cease to delight and enthrall them with their uniqueness. Inarguably, the most-repeated phrase spoken by casino guests at these events is: “I never heard of anything like this before!”
The company’s Making Scents Live! activities include a sit-down, create-your-own-fragrance experience, in which using a specially curated kit, guests of all genders can create a one-of-a-kind cologne or perfume that is truly their own. The sessions are led by a fragrance expert from the company’s “scentrifugal force”, and features a presentation that includes fun facts about fragrance, an “icebreaker” sensory-memory game, and, the “main event”—the creation of a player’s singular scent.
But all guests appreciate that unlike eating a meal or being gifted with a small appliance, fragrance making allows them to use their creativity—something that many people do not have the opportunity to do in their day-to-day lives.
And the fun that all guests have is visible, as the Scentrifugal Events staffers regularly have arms shoved under their noses by proud players who want to show off their creations. However, the actual product is not the point of the event. As Karen Dubin, Scentrifugal Events’ president says, “It’s not about the fragrance. It’s about the unique experience of making the fragrance.”
But some casinos aren’t necessarily interested in formal, sit-down events. Which is why there is the Making Scents Live! fragrance bar. Six complete fragrances are used, and guests select which they want to have blended. They are first tested together on the skin, and then the team does the blending. This is perfect as an add-on to a casino VIP party or to draw guests into the property as a giveaway that is also experiential, but which takes only a few minutes per person.
For the property that is looking for a more indulgent event, Perfect Pairings Live! is a different kind of option for casino VIP’s. Wine, chocolate, and fragrance, which all having similar notes, are paired together, and a fragrance expert discusses the similarities between them. The session ends with a Q & A opportunity for guests.
Now more than ever, casinos need to be competitive and engage their most important guests. No matter what type of special event or activity the property provides, experiential always hits the jackpot. And Scentrifugal Events experiences always brings casino VIP’s “a smell of a good time!”