Having the opportunity to tap into the knowledge and experience of a roomful of casino executives can help uncover insights that can impact your operation. This year’s GM and Casino Executive Exchange did not disappoint. In a panel led by Catalyst CEO Mark Astone featuring WinnaVegas Casino Resort GM Mike Michaud and Casino Del Sol CEO Kim Van Amberg, the discussion centered around key challenges in the industry and what operators are doing to mitigate them.
The challenges that were brought up by the group led to a discussion that revolved around five distinct areas:
- Inflation and Rising Prices
- Supply Chain Issues
- Staffing
- Marketing
- Cybersecurity and Insurance
In this blog, we are going to be expanding upon key takeaways regarding staffing, marketing, cybersecurity, and insurance!
Staffing
Revisiting a challenge that was discussed at the 2021 GM & Casino Executive Exchange is staffing. There has been a shift in the labor market that favors employees over hiring managers. Traditional drivers like job fairs have seen mixed results in attracting talent.
One challenge that is more unique to gaming is the timing from job offer to start date; it can be lengthy due to the licensing process. New hires aren’t always willing or able to afford to wait weeks to start work. Some properties have worked with their gaming commissions to streamline the process by allowing temporary licensing after the background check is complete. Since background checks are usually completed in a matter of a couple of days, the timeframe from offer to start date is dramatically shortened.
Other Recommendations:
- Recruit team members to provide testimonials.
- Engage local TV through marketing partnerships to attract new team members. Sponsorships can be used to leverage live reads and live segments to promote both specific employment events as well as general job availability.
- Include sign-on bonuses.
- Offer employee incentives or a finder’s fee to encourage them to recruit for the company.
One final thought a GM shared is, “Employees don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” It’s important to tap into the emotional side of employees to show them you appreciate their value.
Marketing
We are a marketing agency, so we wouldn’t be doing our due diligence if we didn’t discuss marketing challenges. After two very surprisingly favorable years in gaming considering the overall environment, the consensus is that we should prepare for a slow-down coming in 2023. With a possible recession on the horizon and inflation taking effect on discretionary spending, it is more likely than not that gaming properties will see play migration.
One challenge with that is not all properties have the resources on hand to have analysts dig into data and quickly determine where that migration is coming from. It makes it harder for marketing teams to develop a plan and tactics to offset that migration.
Some of the marketing takeaways:
- Move towards digital marketing as it is more targeted and cost-efficient
- Don’t be afraid of the older demo and digital marketing as they are the fastest segment adopting new technologies
- Transition to less branding and more action-oriented messaging
- If you are a sportsbook, look to capitalize on the younger demo to drive crossover play
The final topic discussed was cybersecurity and the need for cybersecurity insurance. It isn’t a magic bullet, but it does help when facing ransomware hacks. Properties should take a when it happens versus an if it happens approach.
And speaking of insurance, one GM shared that properties should do a 360-degree analysis of their insurance plans. This will ensure that they have the appropriate coverages they need and aren’t paying for something that may have been added to the policy many years ago but isn’t currently needed. This can happen especially if properties have undergone any type of renovations.
Takeaway
The biggest takeaway from the group was to really focus on the fundamentals both from marketing and operations perspectives.
