Lately, I’ve been on the hunt, not for deer or duck as most of the men I know are doing right now. I’ve been on the hunt for brand champions. Not for shooting by arrow or bullet, but for finding out what makes them tick. What makes them such great brand ambassadors? There is no limited season for that. Brand champions can be found and cultivated 365 days a year.
There are moments each day for every business where employees can make or break how a customer will feel about that business. Creating brand champions is about leveraging employees to make those connections positive each and every time.
I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with most of our human resources directors to talk about the great employees we have, how we can get them excited about working for us, and how we can help them continue the conversation with potential guests and new hires within their own social networks – whether online or offline.
We have several employees we already know of as “engaged”. The volume of nominations for our recent Superstar project was incredible. It really was tough culling it down to the six or seven per property, and we’ve gotten many requests for doing it again. And the number of day 1 employees always blows me away.
We’re borrowing ideas from some companies who have such great brand champions that I am constantly in awe of them - Zappos, Southwest Airlines, American Eagle, Apple, Starbucks, Jet Blue…luckily the list is long. There are a number of things that we (and you) can do. They take time and or resources, but the only real dependency is the priority you put on your employees being an extension of your brand…scratch that…being the extension of your brand that you ultimately want.
I’d love it if you would take a look at the conversation we had in that meeting and if you shared what you are doing to create brand champions.
As countless businesses continue to advertise their friendly employees, customers can easily jump to a conclusion of a great product. This isn’t always the case. How many times have you sat down to a meal in a restaurant, greeted by the most intoxicatingly friendly server only to have one of the worst meals in recent history?
Today we expect “service with a smile”— and many times, that expectation is satisfied. But when customers are forced to wait in long lines, can fast and friendly overcome the burden?
Casino marketers seem to particularly ignore this paradox. Tuesdays are slow. Let’s do a 2-for1 buffet for lunch! Sure we’ll get the crowds, but what happens when the person with an hour for lunch finds herself still standing in line 45 minutes later. How is that smiling cashier going to solve this problem?
How about Thursdays? Let’s send out a bonus offer, but we want to make sure we’re tracking it. So, we make a customer stop by the players club booth first, and if we really want to be cruel, we’ll make them stop at the cage next before they finally get to sit at a slot machine. Lines. Lines. Everywhere a line.
Let’s face it. Friendly employees are the price of entry. I realize I say this as a marketer of what is becoming a paragon courtesy program, See.Say.Smile. But, as a consumer myself, I think that a great experience is the source of satisfaction. Customers who are having a good time, smile back at those smiling employees in a way that makes your casino a great place to work. So rather than throwing up a billboard with your smiling employees, think about what you can do to create some smiling customers…and thereby keep your employees smiling.
My apologies for being absent the last couple of weeks. I guess I didn’t expect to be so distracted. However, I have compiled my list for this week. I hope you enjoy these news clips and that they make you think of great ways to become better marketers.
Do you remember Delta’s iconic tagline “We Love To Fly, And It Shows”? I’d love for airlines to show me how much they love to fly because right now, it’s hard to see it while I try to manuever my way into some sort of comfortable sitting position, or when the person in front of me leans their seat back until it’s practically on me. It’s not that passenger’s fault. He or she is just working with what the airline gave them. I’ve been watching ABC’s Pan Am and I can’t help remembering how I used to love to fly. My mother would get me dressed up in a pretty dress, and I typically had a hat and white gloves. I remember peering into the cockpit with so much amazement. So much of the reasons people loved to fly are gone. I for one would love to see it come back. Read about how Delta is approaching the customer experience.
I’ve worked in the casino industry now for quite a number of years. Every single company I’ve worked for has created jobs, paid lots of tax dollars (LOTS!) and has become outstanding members of the communities. I know the media has to give the opposition equal time, butthese kinds of editorialsjust make me realize how little some folks know of the real casino industry.
…and then there are times when we just lose our focus. People are not huge fans of the gaming options being outside of the normal casino areas. Looks like some of the casinos are moving some games out to the public areas and folks are just not too keen on the additional availability. Read about it here…
Finally, I’ve been thinking a great deal about brand champions and employee engagement.At the heart of all these efforts is building a culture brand. Here are some good ways to start.
A few months ago, I introduced you to someone we had recently elevated to the rank of director. Today, I’d like you to meetMichael Giunti. I met Michael when I came to Isle of Capri Casinos in St. Louis. Like me, he was a transplant. Unlike me, his move to St. Louis was precipitated by the relocation of the Isle’s corporate offices. It wasn’t until I asked for this interview that I even knew he WASN’T from the South! Michael has once again relocated for a great opportunity. Today, Michael is the director of marketing at our Rhythm City Casino property in Davenport, Iowa.
JC: Tell me a little about your background and what got you here.
MG: I started in the casino industry in 1992 when casinos first opened outside of Chicago, in Joliet, Illinois. I got my first taste of working in this business while I was attending college. I briefly left for a couple of years, but once I came back, I never left again. I have worked with Harrah’s, Beau Rivage and the Isle of Capri in several areas up and down the Mississippi River from St. Louis to Tunica to Biloxi and now here in Davenport. I have worked in about as many areas of casino operations as I have jurisdictions — credit/collections, cage, players clubs, and all areas of marketing including some time with our corporate office as a regional direct marketing manager.
JC: What made you realize this was the right opportunity for you?
MG: Even though I enjoyed my time “at corporate”, I always knew I would go back to a property. I just didn’t know when or where that would be until this opportunity at Rhythm City presented itself. I was fortunate enough to have known the staff here already since I was doing their direct mail for the last couple of years. I knew it would be a great fit. The team is small but efficient and very energetic. They are all talented people. I feel I can learn a lot from them, and I hope to share my expertise with them. This is an excellent property to take the leap into a leadership role.
JC: In the few weeks you’ve been in your new role, what has been the biggest surprise or challenge and how did you handle it?
MG: The first day I started in Davenport I couldn’t find any way into the property because all entrances and exits seemed to be blocked off from the main road (River Drive). No matter where I turned there were barricades that read “Road Closed”. Finally after driving around the barricades I made it to the property. The main road was being resurfaced and that lack of easy access was severely impacting our business. Day 1 and I had a huge communication issue. My team and I had to figure out the facts, a message strategy and the tools we could use. We began to communicate to our guests via email, direct mail and print that we were still open, offering tips to help them maneuver around the barricades to get here. The word got out and the impact has since been reduced because the guests are now educated. To this day, the road still remains closed.
JC: So, you basically stepped in to a role with a support team already in place – with lots of existing ideas and habits in place. How did you communicate your vision to them to gain acceptance?
MG: The first thing I did when I got here (after we tackled the road closure) was to sit down with everyone both individually and as a team to hear their ideas. I wanted to know where they saw the future of Rhythm City going, what they wanted to try and what had worked? Once I met with everyone, I shared my vision to make sure we are all on the same page working towards the same goals. We immediately saw some opportunities with the existing advertising and media strategies and quickly made changes…together as a team. The team aggressively revised the weekday and weekend marketing lineup and implemented many changes, again very quickly. Some have worked well. Some haven’t, but so far I’m excited. We are trying new ideas and promotions. So, we’re learning and growing every day.
JC: What do you see as your biggest marketing challenge on the horizon?
MG: Here in the Quad Cities I believe my biggest marketing challenge is to find ways to continue to compete with the local casinos and without getting into promotional or direct mail wars. Rhythm City Casino has a great staff. It’s a fun..clean..and friendly place, but we don’t have a lot of the amenities other area casinos offer. We need to find more ways to drive in some retail business and continue to take care of our loyal guests to keep them coming back time and time again.
Michael was very generous with his time. He even agreed to reshoot his Get To Know video as part of a brand marketing project. Watch it. You’ll see why we had to reshoot.
“The digital revolution has rewritten the laws of marketing. So why do B-schools insist on teaching outmoded notions of price, place, and promotion?”
Seemed like a good opening. It was certainly one that I didn’t necessarily disagree with. I continued reading. Then, I hit a roadblock.
“But a closer look at some of today’s fastest-growing brands shows that time has buried the Four P’s. Companies can no longer use them to gain a competitive advantage and meaningful differentiation. In fact, they more and more look like the roadmap to failure.”
Huh? The author asserts that we’ve seen an explosion of companies that have done no advertising and therefore the concept of PROMOTION is dead. I disagree. The concept of advertising as the only means of promotion is dead, but not the concept of promotions. Would Facebook have become such a phenomenon were it not for word of mouth? What is word of mouth if not promotion? Did Pepsi stop promoting its product because it chose to put its promotional efforts around Refresh Everything rather than a Super Bowl ad?
Let’s talk PLACE. Yes, a physical place is becoming less important for some businesses as customers move online, but what is a website if not the place to find what you’re looking for?
PRICE is still as important as ever as the Internet allows us to become savvier shoppers and as we look to find more value for the limited dollars we currently control.
“Only Product Matters…”
Well, I do agree that product is ultimately THE most important P. You can promote a bad product all you want, but it’s not going to get you long-term results. Bad product but the perfect location (online or off)? Yep, that won’t last either. How about a can’t resist price for a bad product. Well, you’ll hook some first-timers, but chances are you’ll be up to your ears in complaints and refunds. And, don’t expect repeat purchases. Remember that word of mouth? It’ll get you, too.
The author asks why business schools are still teaching these “outdated” 4 P’s. I guess it’s because they still matter. I will admit that I often wonder if there isn’t a 5th P – PEOPLE. Every day I wonder how to increase employee engagement and create the best brand ambassadors. Then, I wonder, “Isn’t that PROMOTION?”
Here are the five clips that made me wonder, question, worry or smile this week.
Chevy’s changing approach to advertising to women is a great walk through the history of advertising. Read about it here.
Each day, I see articles about how more and more restaurants are evolving into more of a quicker, casual atmosphere with lower prices. Rather than scaling down his product, Eric Ripert is continuously focused on the star of the show but understands that his product has to stay relevant as opposed to cheaper. Read about his changes here.
Another clip that made me smile. I’m from New Orleans and still amazed at the different languages we speak that are still called “English”. I hope you enjoy this article as much as I do.
Boomers may be slow to adopt some things, but when they do, they do it with the power of the Boomer market. This has to give casino marketers (who live off of this demographic) a moment of thought. For those who have discounted social media and mobile marketing, read this…
Hotel guests recruited with Homeland Security spots. Wow! I just can’t imagined these interspersed with the relaxing spa images and cocktails at the bar that you usually see on the typical in-room channels. Read more here…
It’s an interesting phenomenon. Where you were raised and the influences of your family often become how you’re judged at first. Are you from the “right side of the tracks” or the wrong? Did you grow up on the Westbank or Uptown? Where’d you go to school?
This often becomes the measuring stick when you talk about your work experience. Where did you grow up and how?
I often make this analogy when I try to explain why someone approaches their job a certain way.
The beginnings of my casino career were with a company that was very rooted in database marketing and the art…scratch that, science…of offers and rewards. The hypothesis was that we could shave a little more off of the offers and add a little more to the slot hold and a customer wouldn’t notice. When you reached the point where the customer did actually notice, you just had to give them a bonus offer and they’d forget all about it.
The next phase of my casino experience was all art and no science…none…at all. It truly was a struggle for me. It was like asking a right-handed person to start writing (well) with their left. It was painful and wonderful all at the same time. I look back on the work that I did and I’m so proud of it because it made me stretch and it made me look at the business of casinos and marketing in a whole different light.
Now, I’m getting to combine art and science. I get to take all of what I grew up with to create some great programs.
So, why am I telling you my career’s life story? I think it’s important to know where your roots are and to appreciate them for what they’ve taught you. It all has to go into what you’re doing today and what you’ll do tomorrow. When I look at potential hires I look at how they grew up in their careers and then I look for the traits and genes they’ve carried forward.
Whenever I wonder why someone looks at something a certain way, I often ask where they grew up. Take public relations as a great example. It used to be that PR was about keeping your name out the news. Then it was about getting “good PR”. My takeaway from my all art experience, was that PR was all about relationships. If you read my post about relationships, you’ll know how important they are to me.
My advice: change neighborhoods every once in a while to learn more. Don’t stay in the same place from cradle to grave unless you’re not interested in learning something different and becoming better at what you do. One single gene does not make for a healthy person. Our bodies are made up of many genes. We’re designed that way for a reason. Only knowing one way of doing things does not make for a productive (healthy) employee. Besides, don’t you want to see more of the world?
