Even via telephone, it’s obvious that Casino Rama’s vice-president of marketing John Drake is having trouble keeping a poker face as he talks about the selection of Media Experts and Taxi as its new agency partners.
“We were very impressed by the cohesiveness of their teams,” Drake told Marketing this week. “Although we knew they were not the same company, we were extremely impressed by how they presented together and how they intend to work as one unit. They really did a great job of showing us the value they brought to the table.”
The two agencies, which work together on clients including B.C. Hydro, were among five agency groups that pitched the assignment during a formal review that launched in February.
While Casino Rama had not conducted a formal review in several years, it did award a creative project to BBDO Toronto (with media from PHD Canada) in April 2014.
Drake said Toronto agency Marshall Fenn, which has handled the creative and media assignments for Casino Rama since it opened in 1996, has continued to work with its long-time client in the past year, and will retain AOR duties through March 31. “We really felt compelled to have a real look in the marketplace to really see what else is out there,” he said of the review.
Drake said there are no plans to significantly deviate from Casino Rama’s previous media strategy, which has relied heavily on traditional media like TV and radio. However, he said the marketing team expressed a willingness to experiment during its first meeting with the two agency partners.
“We were pretty open to say that we are looking for some new thinking, and that we don’t know everything about everything,” he said. “We know where digital’s going, but it’s a big spectrum and we know we need some expertise in that area.”
Casino Rama has taken a humour-led approach to its marketing in the past, and Drake said there are no immediate plans to abandon that approach. One of its marketing priorities, he said, is to showcase a recent multi-million dollar renovation completed last fall.
Drake said the “Luck lives north” tagline that has been in place for the past year still has legs, though it too is up for review. “We are not dissatisfied with ‘Luck lives north,’ but the agency has the full ability to go right back to the drawing board and present new creative and new copy,” he said.
Casino Rama’s core customer is 45 and older with a slight female skew, though Drake said its marketing would emphasize making younger demographics aware of its core gaming proposition and other facets of its business, such as dining and live entertainment.
“We are a great entertainment establishment,” he said. “Although gaming is a significant component of what we do, that isn’t the only thing we do.”
According to data from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, Casino Rama attracted an average of 9,669 daily patrons in its most recent quarter, up from 8,205 in the corresponding year-earlier period. Gaming revenue from its 2,499 slot machines and 118 table games in the quarter was $86.6 million, up from $85.7 million the year before.
