Interview with Arjan Korstjens, Principal, Casino Marketing Academy
Is modern marketing the solution for the digital era?
Thanks for asking. As a Marketer I will always say Marketing is the solution for many things. When you ask ChatGPT what the definition of Marketing is it says: “Marketing can be defined as the process of identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer needs”. If you read that, it simply says you need to listen to others and put yourself in their shoes before you can persuade someone to do something. In that way I do not believe about things like ‘modern media’ and ‘digital era’ when you look at the foundation of marketing and communication. Knowing what your target group likes and needs has been the basics for decades. So a profound research, knowledge of the market and having the right insights are important like always.
How can you describe the digital marketing?
What does change is the way how content is delivered, the type of content you have to produce, the look&feel and tone-of-voice and yes, here digital marketing is different. That is mainly caused by the way generations differ in the way how they consume media. Our parents’ generation, who are now in their eighties, grew up without TV and were consumers in the first big consumer tech wave. VCR, Text TV, CD’s, mobiles and low bandwith internet. My parents, both almost 80, are still up to speed thanks to my children. But the way they consume media and information is in a slower pace than mine. They do not get all the ways people communicate now and have logged of on some parts. I always considered myself as very tech savvy, my first internet connection dates back to 1990 and I was one of the first with a mobile, but in some cases I even have to log off. My kids, 15 & 20, consume their content in their way. Reading is outdated and if a piece of content is longer than 30 seconds it has to be exceptional, otherwise you will lose them. So Marketing has to adapt to the target group you want to reach and present the message to them in the way they are used. Six years ago you were very ‘hip’ when you had Facebook or Twitter as a casino. Now? Does anyone even look? So using digital marketing has even become more difficult, too many channels to choose from and the channel and content will only work when it connects directly in your target group.
Which will be the characteristics of the future ways of gambling?
This change of attention span could lead to the conclusion that we also have to change our offer of our casino product, but I don’t believe that. The Gen Z kids also play games for hours and hours. So it is not that cannot be persuaded to play for a long time. That they consume media in snack format does not mean that also the games have to change in snack format. In this respect I always think of the discussions in our industry ten years or so ago. The Millennial was coming and that was the end of industry…. We had to make skill-based games, otherwise they would not play. Or do social media, or be hip, or… I never believed that. Yes, when the millennials were in their twenties they were not particularly interested, but to be honest, when were twenty tear old our core visitor group? I always said: wait until the millennial get a house, starts a normal job and get kids. Then we will see them. And what is happening now? Millennials also prove to develop themselves as normal people not they are in their thirties. It is not about changing the characteristics. Gambling is something different from playing games. Putting your ass, your own money on the line to make a win is an emotion. That triggers a neuropsychologic response and that is the main character of our product. Not completing a level in Candy Crush IS NOT the same as losing € 10 in a game. Neither gives shooting a lot of people in Grand Theft Auto the same winning feeling as playing € 10 on the winning number on Roulette. Where else in the world can you change € 10 into € 350 in less than 90 seconds, with no prior knowledge, without years of studying, without lifting a hand?
Will traditional gambling die? What do you think about the land-based fans? Should they turn to digital gambling?
That also answers your last question: will traditional gambling die. No, for sure not. Gambling is gambling and is as old as mankind. I always say it is the second oldest profession in the world. That does not mean we don’t have to change our environment and context we offer our product in. In my belief ‘old fashioned’ casinos, with solely a traditional offer will die. And with this I also mean the online casinos! Cinema’s these days don’t look like cinemas of the eighties. Amusement parcs and rides are different from twenty years ago. Even restaurants change their concept once every now and then. But casino’s? Except for some more digital equipment, did they really change? Are casinos listening to their guests? I know most of them will tell you yes. But in most cases I can prove them, by walking around talking to some guests and analyzing the data that they are not. Unfortunately we live in a world where we do tomorrow what we also did last year, because we have always done it that way. Yes, from time to time I see a pleasant new approach and a casino that surprises me. But most of the time I see the same old same old. In this respect the online casinos also have already became old fashioned as well. Thirteen in a dozen. Same user interface, same game offering, same live studio games, same onboarding, same e-mails, same bonusses. Same dinosaurs. Only difference here between landbased and online? Online still can afford to be old fashioned and non-unique. It is a growth market and in those emerging markets the need for innovation is less. When the money comes in, why change. But did landbased casinos not have that same luxury? In the 80’s, 90’s and even zeros. This luxury is however something the landbased can not afford. If they do not change they will meet the same faith their peers had about 66 million years ago: “What’s a meteorite?”
