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the bingo reboot By Phil Gibbs
T
here has never been any doubt that Bingo is still one of the UK’s favourite pastimes but in more recent times has suffered in terms of appealing to a wider and younger audience. Having worked within or close to the industry for over 35 years I remember like most those glory days of the 1980’s and 90’s when admissions were much more easily obtained for club teams than they are at present.
INFINITY GAMING
Sadly, gone are the days when a new door gift or new pricing structure would guarantee a substantial uplift in footfall. It’s seems that present strategies are more aligned to maximum extraction and less about attendances. So as this much-loved institution begins its own recovery post Covidhow can we change the perception of what a visit to the bingo actually
holds?Traditional Bingo now needs a vital reboot if it is to survive in the current climate, very much in the same way as the team behind the JamesBond franchise has been brave and stripped away the gadgets and over the top storylines for a more realistic and current hero. Bingo now needs to become more Daniel Craig rather than Roger Moore. Certainly, the growing presence of more and more online Bingo sites have not helped the smaller clubs deal with the challenges they face. Online Operators offer multiple games combinations, varying stakes & prizes and promotional offers which are cleverly supported via traditional and media marketing tactics. Who would have thought that back in the 1980’s Bingo platforms would sponsor prime time TV slots or programmes and most daily papers would use full house tactics to improve its circulation?
