The Last Word

Digital Transformation

ur operator articles in this issue reinforce O the importance of seamlessly integrating your online amenities with your onground amenities. Valley Forge Casino Resort and Ocean Casino Resort have benefited greatly from the digital transformation journeys they have undertaken these last few years … and what they offer their customers is a better (and safer) experience because of that. I say safer because, in my opinion, a licensed onground operator that also offers licensed online gambling (omnichannel) has much stronger relationships with their patrons than an online-only operator. Plus, they have much more at stake should they lose their onground license because they can’t physically relocate their property the way an online asset can seamlessly move around the world.

Many European jurisdictions have had legal omnichannel casino gambling for years now. Europe is ahead of the curve and knows more about delivering legal omnichannel casino gambling than any other region – although in fairness to other regions, there remain many European onground casinos that are basically a ‘dark and dismal’ basement space with almost no supporting amenities to provide their patrons anything other than a gambling service. When I visit such properties, I cringe at how backward they are.

‘Backward’ can also be applied to our industry’s use of digital. I have had many discussions over the years with industry players who bemoan the slow speed of change evident across our industry. Sometimes the slow speed of change is driven by an inefficient or overzealous regulator, so it is not always the fault of management playing it too safe (digital payments anyone?). But there are more than a few instances where I have seen the potential for innovation stifled by senior management being risk averse … too focused on defense and not focused enough on offense to even consider trying something new or different.

Take as one example, digital communications. I ran the global marketing department for a supplier who is majority owned by Holland Casino (an unusual situation, and one that provided me excellent insight into how both suppliers and operators think). We had our own internal design team (who were, and still are, excellent). We created a digital video advert in 2009. It was, to my knowledge, an industryfirst. It is still delivering value today because I posted it on YouTube and it has had over 22,000 views and growing.

I expected our industry would quickly adopt digital video to communicate with target audiences. I was wrong. Operators have adopted digital video much more widely than suppliers. As I look at communications in media and on websites today, especially among suppliers, too much remains static photos and images. If you want digital transformation to happen, you need to walk the talk.

Biography Damien Connelly has worked with some of the world’s largest corporations on business and strategic planning, on creating innovation, and on introducing growth programs, such as with Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever and Vodafone. He’s worked in the casino industry for almost 15 years. His first MA was from Glasgow University in Economics and Management, and his second MA (with Distinction) was from Kingston University in Marketing. He is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.