MGW Exclusive: Mobile Pioneer Boyd Gaming Talks Past, Present, and Future of Mobile

286 0
286 0

boydlogoBoyd Gaming is one of today’s leading companies in the gaming industry, operating 22 gaming entertainment properties in eight states. But it is also rightfully regarded as a genuine mobile pioneer among fellow industry giants that have largely taken their mobile direction from Boyd Gaming’s trailblazing footprints.

Recently, mGamingWatch caught up with Brian Best,  Corporate VP of E-Commerce / Digital Marketing at Boyd Gaming, to discuss mobile’s past, present, and future in the gaming industry.

MGW: What role has mobile played in the successful growth and expansion of Boyd Gaming?

BEST:  Two and a half years ago, we were the first company to launch a multi-property players club app, which is called B Connected Mobile. It is a mobile complement to our flagship site B Connected Online. It has been a huge communication tool for our B Connected properties. With B Connected Online, we have more than 750,000 registered users.  It’s one of the most highly trafficked gaming websites out there.

What we wanted to do with B Connected Mobile was have that one-site capability for communicating with customers so that they could see their offers in real time, monitor point balances and card scores, or search for their favorite slot machines, all with interactive maps and using some of the native capabilities of their phones. When we launched, we actually launched on both iOS and Android, and we were the only company that was optimized for Android tablets and iPads at the time. We’ve been using that app, like I said, for about two and a half years. And we’re going to be going into version 2 here very shortly.

Boyd2

MGW: What are some of the improvements in the works?

BEST:  In April of 2012, we re-launched our B Connected Online product, having new functionality. And some of the features on B Connected Online include real time alerts for certain activities… right now customers can get emails when a new offer is posted to their account or a text message. Or if they have registered their app, they can get a push message right from the mobile app. We use these alerts for offers and for entertainment. Our site is very much built on personalization, as is the app. So what we try to capture are the special interests of our customers. 94% of our customers willfully provide information about what they’re interested in. And it really allows us to be better marketers and present more relevant information to our customers.

There’s another alert for letting customers know when a new slot product has hit the floor and it drives them to either the app or website for a look at what those new products are. And then there’s another one called Card Score Watch that gives them alerts if they’re close to losing their tier for their card or if they had just reached the next level in their tier program. And all of these are trigger based campaigns that are automated through our system. But when we redo the mobile app, we will bring all of that functionality into the app and enhance those alert capabilities significantly.

MGW: What is driving Boyd Gaming’s intense focus on mobile?

BEST: From the very beginning we’ve been focused on mobile. We have a mobile booking engine for our hotel. We were some of the first to have all of our sites enhanced for mobile. And just recently, we have gone through all of our property websites and all of them have been designed using responsive design so that we are enhanced for not only for smartphones – both vertically and horizontally – but for tablets as well.

We’re also very conscientious about listening to our customers and we want to have a stable product. Right now, from a mobile app perspective, for the last year and half, we’ve had 4.5 out of 5 stars on the App Store as well as Google Play. And probably the biggest thing that we do is there’s a feedback form not only on the website but on mobile. And we are listening to our customers very carefully. We make sure we always put our customers first.

Boyd1

MGW: Has mobile reached a point where casinos and gaming companies can simply no longer afford to ignore it in their marketing?

BEST:   In my opinion, absolutely… In an industry founded on direct mail, we are now seeing close to 50% of our emails being viewed on a mobile device and that number is growing and growing and growing. We will continue to focus on apps, SMS messaging, responsive design websites, and email, as we believe mobile is going to continue to be an integral part of our business, and will continue to grow as our customers adopt and use mobile technologies.

In this article

Join the Conversation