Advertising in Gambling

Advertising in gambling business is very often very similar and not interesting. Casinos for advertising often use the faces of stars, pretty girls, luxury items, I think that such advertising does not reveal the topic of excitement.

Can you share some examples unusual casino advertisements?, funny or other creative advertising which you remember

Thank you!

I've done Infomercial styled advertising for casinos that showed values in gaming and restaurants and hotel rooms. There was no glitz or glamour. Just info on Gaming, odds, benefits from the players Club, discounts at restaurants, etc.

Quote: AlanMendelson

I've done Infomercial styled advertising for casinos that showed values in gaming and restaurants and hotel rooms. There was no glitz or glamour. Just info on Gaming, odds, benefits from the players Club, discounts at restaurants, etc.

Thank you for your feedback! I sent to You a private message

PS - I looked at your portfolio, I didn't see any creativity or humor there. Sorry, this is not what I asked.

All advertising, casino and otherwise, is successful if you remember the product. Most Super Bowl ads leave you wondering what the product was.

One of the best Super Bowl ads I saw and remember was one that highlights the incredible price for SB advertising time. In the ad, there's what looks like a homeless man watching a mechanical monkey bang some cymbals together for most of the ad. Finally the voiceover and text fade in says, "We just blew two million bucks. How are your investments doing? E-Trade."

As for casino ads, the most memorable for me, that I occasionally talk about while playing poker, was a mailer I got about 15 years ago from the Borgata poker room. Open the first panel and the main message is "Play poker. Make new friends." Open the second panel and it says "Take their money."

The most memorable current casino ad, for all the wrong reasons, is the current ad campaign for the Plaza, featuring what I describe as the Plaza douchebags.

What kind of advertising do you want? If you want funny what is the joke about?

What are you trying to sell? Creativity may not "sell" the casino.

Let me rip apart Station Casinos' current TV campaign. Their spots show their employees singing along with a music track about good times and how happy they are.

My qyestion: is this supposed to be an employee recruiting commercial?

If it is, great.

But if its supposed to make customers come in I have to ask where's the incentive for customers? There's no mention of payables or cash back or winners or players having a good time or how nice hotel rooms are.

In fact this campaign could backfire. Players watching at home who lose could sit there and be cursing at the happy employees and managers singing.

Pre Covid Station Casinos had a better campaign. They had photos and videos of winners with the amount of money they won. Examples: "I'm Martha and I won $1,200" and "Tony won $100,000" and you see Tony giving two thumbs up. In this campaign they paid their winners to return for a photo and videotaping shoot. That to me is more appealing than dancing dealers and managers.

So if you want humor or creativity I'll ask you again what's your target? What point are you trying to make?

I think today casino goers are smarter. They know they have many choices. I think what will appeal to them are things that will make them better off. I'll list some of them:

Better payables
More progressives
Better cash back
More free play
More comps
Restaurant discounts
Better table game bets such as automatic Buys in craps

I call that "smarter" advertising.

I think smarter advertising beats funny or creative advertising any day.

Give people a reason to come to your casino.

And thank you for this thread. I send out weekly Marketing Memos to about 400 clients and you gave me my idea for my next one.

Edited to add:

By the way, I did send you the TV video I did for one Vegas locals casino. After that ran on TV the casino also ran that video on their "locals bus" which picked up players around Las Vegas. It was on a loop and they used it to inform their players about what was available.

This one's a BLAST from the PAST:

In the late 90s, there was a huge billboard outside of the Lincoln Tunnel, which all the buses from NYC to AC went by.
I forget the exact wording but it was a photo of Trump with bundles of $100 bills in his hands, nd said something like
"I'm the Donald. I've got it, come take it."

I think there is/was a billboard somewhere near Stateline that says "Last chance to get even"

I always that was clever.

Here in pa - and I’ve only seen this done at sands/wind creek - they have signs everywhere saying “$5 roulette / blackjack all day” or something along those lines

Yet there is only that low of limits of games on stadium versions

I can’t tell you the amount of times playing at normal tables and people come up looking for a table that has that limit only to be told while pointing at the signs that it’s only stadium gaming

Imo - shady as hell and something that should be regulated somehow but considering it’s most likely on the edge of too little of an issue and being completely deceptive

I live about 70 miles from the state line, where they have non-tribal gaming.
Billboards for the casinos in the next state are predictably sprinkled along the highway.
Billboards for the tribal casino people are driving away from are right next to them, touting about a 5% better RTP.

The first casino they get to across the state line has last month's RTP posted conspicuously at the cage.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/222294931584336651/

Paddy Power have been known for some great stunts and advertisements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjXAvFh4bIo
(It's best if you google for them since I couldn't find the really good ones!)

But other bookies have also tried to get in on the act. https://youtu.be/Jv2H8rEeSfI?t=201 (The Paddy Power blind footballers one is towards the end of the video)

I think in the UK we tend to be happier with really funny ads e.g. https://youtu.be/hG0ZXD89Bq0?t=2849

The first time I saw a tattoo on a boxers back was rather shocking.

Quote: charliepatrick

Paddy Power have been known for some great stunts and advertisements. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjXAvFh4bIo
(It's best if you google for them since I couldn't find the really good ones!)

But other bookies have also tried to get in on the act. https://youtu.be/Jv2H8rEeSfI?t=201 (The Paddy Power blind footballers one is towards the end of the video)

I think in the UK we tend to be happier with really funny ads e.g. https://youtu.be/hG0ZXD89Bq0?t=2849

as long as you can pay for your mistakes they are not considered mistakes they are considered advertising

Quote: charliepatrick

But other bookies have also tried to get in on the act. https://youtu.be/Jv2H8rEeSfI?t=201 (The Paddy Power blind footballers one is towards the end of the video)

The moment with the cat, it was good!! : ))) Gambling this entertainment is for adult People, well, why product advertising should be boring? ))

I guess I'm out of touch. None of these commercials was funny. Not one of them gave me a reason to gamble at these casinos.

The soccer/cat commercial would never be cleared for broadcast in the USA. Peta would go crazy.

Quote: Dobrij

I thought for sure they were going to indicate the chick in the car was actually a man.

Quote: AlanMendelson

]. Not one of them gave me a reason to gamble at these casinos.

Alan, do you really need a reason?

Quote: AxelWolf

Alan, do you really need a reason?

If you're advertising you need to give people a reason to come to your place.

How many brick and mortar casinos are there in Vegas?

How many online casinos will take your money?

Axel how do you choose a casino? Is it because you found an AP play? Do you get better comps? Do you have a credit line? Does one casino's credit line give you a 30 day float while others have only 15 days?
Do you like the hotel rooms better at one casino over another?

The problem with humor ads is that they say little about the casino.

The truth is they are good for a media "pop" but they have no legs.

Godaddy's Super Bowl commercials are a case in point.
They sell nothing. They provide no information. And they dont bring in business.

The only people who make money from these commercials are the broadcast outlets that air them and the advertising agencies that produce them. The client companies get 30 seconds of fame and then nothing.

Frankly 30 second TV commercials are a waste of money. They usually air in two or three minute blocks and when combined with three or five other spots they simply get lost and are quickly forgotten.

Quote: AlanMendelson

...Frankly 30 second TV commercials are a waste of money. They usually air in two or three minute blocks and when combined with three or five other spots they simply get lost and are quickly forgotten.

What does work, and perhaps other countries don't have them, is themed adverts such as Heineken "probably" the best lager, Esso (put a tiger in your tank), Hamlet cigars (where after bad luck he needs a cigar to relax).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvNdhriwGuM&ab_channel=HamletCigarsComercials or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4tb55FttSU

Quote: charliepatrick

What does work, and perhaps other countries don't have them, is themed adverts such as Heineken "probably" the best lager, Esso (put a tiger in your tank), Hamlet cigars (where after bad luck he needs a cigar to relax).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvNdhriwGuM&ab_channel=HamletCigarsComercials or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4tb55FttSU

Not in the USA.

Smokers in the USA embraced the manliness of the Marlboro man. Would American men identify with the combover nerd in the photo booth, or the grandpa listening to the piano practice or the laundromat wimp?

No.

Smokers want Steve McQueen.

On page 1 of this thread I mentioned how this thread gave me the idea for a Marketing Memo for my clients.

I wrote the Memo and sent it out to my list which has about 400 business owners.

I also posted it on LinkedIn and I was surprised that it had more than 540 views in about 24 hours. Previously I usually got about 150 views on LinkedIn.

I am trying to figure out why this article has so much interest? Some of the positive comments came from others who also do advertising and marketing for casinos.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alan-mendelson-26a6a95_a-couple-of-days-ago-a-casino-company-approached-activity-6830475208378458112-TpAY

Quote: AlanMendelson

The problem with humor ads is that they say little about the casino.

The truth is they are good for a media "pop" but they have no legs.

Godaddy's Super Bowl commercials are a case in point.
They sell nothing. They provide no information. And they dont bring in business.

Do you know what kind of ad is realy selling? can you give example?

Dobrij. Please read my latest Marketing Memo. The advertiser I wrote about has a retail store. Here's the Marketing Memo I just sent out and posted on LinkedIn:

This morning I sent an email to one of my clients. In part the email said this:

"The video I did with you in 2019 had 1,388 views on YouTube during July. Viewers watched about 49% of it according to Google analytics."

This is very significant.

You might not know it, but YouTube is the second most used search engine. After Google, people use YouTube the most for researching products and services and where to shop and travel to.

Think about that. YouTube is #2. YouTube beats out Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and all the other social media websites.

And what's really amazing is that you don't have to pay YouTube for this free advertising.

Remember that: someone seeing your YouTube video is free to you. But on Facebook the average cost per click ad is $1.72 and that's just the average.

Had my client who had 1,388 views on YouTube last month paid for the same exposure on Facebook it would have cost him:

$1.72 X 1,388 = $2,387.36

Now, here's the best part. That video was on my Best Buys TV Shows in the fall and winter of 2019. It first appeared on YouTube in October of 2019 and it's still getting thousands of views and at ZERO cost.

1,388 views on YouTube last month is like 1,388 customers walking into his store on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. And the average viewer watched nearly 49% of the entire video which shows they were engaged. And this advertising was free.

I always upload my client's videos to YouTube at no additional cost. It's a free service and a free way for clients to continue to reach customers.

I know that some of you love Facebook and Twiiter and Instagram, but it's time to discover YouTube.

Get your videos on YouTube. Tell your story. It's a smart way to market yourself. And each view is free.

Quote: AlanMendelson

Dobrij. Please read my latest Marketing Memo. The advertiser I wrote about has a retail store. Here's the Marketing Memo I just sent out and posted on LinkedIn:

I reed. So what?! It doesn't explain anything

Quote: Dobrij

I reed. So what?! It doesn't explain anything

I dont think I can help you. Good luck.

Well at least for me, I think Casino DIRECT MAIL advertising is pretty effective, particularly if it includes a special room rate or some other kind of offer. And of course with this approach it is very targeted to a certain consumer.

Along those lines, now that I have given my e-mail address to both Caesars and M-Life (yeah yeah I know, there can be a lot of them so my delete key gets a workout), I get discount offers that way as well.

There are lots and lots of cookie cutter Casinos on the Strip. So how does the average Joe pick one over another ?

Quote: JohnnyQ

Well at least for me, I think Casino DIRECT MAIL advertising is pretty effective, particularly if it includes a special room rate or some other kind of offer. And of course with this approach it is very targeted to a certain consumer.

Along those lines, now that I have given my e-mail address to both Caesars and M-Life (yeah yeah I know, there can be a lot of them so my delete key gets a workout), I get discount offers that way as well.

There are lots and lots of cookie cutter Casinos on the Strip. So how does the average Joe pick one over another ?

I like what you wrote. Consumers look for deals and offers. And the average Joe does think all casinos are the same until they are told otherwise. Offers in the mail is one way to tell them. Jokes dont give that information.

We got an offer for several nights out of the blue from GVR earlier this year. YEP, we stayed there. I would go back - if the price is reasonable.

Quote: JohnnyQ

We got an offer for several nights out of the blue from GVR earlier this year. YEP, we stayed there. I would go back - if the price is reasonable.

This is one of the most effective advertising pitches. You give people something of value.

Quote: AlanMendelson

This is one of the most effective advertising pitches. You give people something of value.

Good advertising gives the people what they want.
Great advertising tells the people what they want.