Olg/weg Case Analysis

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- Transportation

The location of Mohawk is isolated for people if they do not have a car. And even if you have a car, but are planning to consume alcoholic beverages, it becomes a problem. Consumption of alcoholic beverages may be not a priority for those who watch the race or come to the casino. But it may be common to see passive customers watching a race just for pleasure and having a drink or two. Moreover, there are not many signs on the road or billboards so that you could recognize existence of the place while driving by in advance.

- Attraction of younger customer segment

Youth and young adults, approximately 25-40 years old, are the segment that the OLG and Mohawk Racetrack want to attract. Even though there is a 15 years difference between a 25 years old and 40 years old customer, both generations are more likely to socialize and explore. They prefer to participate in such entertainment with friends, or spouses, constantly communicating with each other. They enjoy variety and uniqueness of places they visit (Pierceall, 2014).

At the OLG slots, on the other hand, everything seems to be too digitalized. There is no same excitement of communication between people, for example, on a roulette. There are no real croupiers or dealers as well.

- No business during winter and early spring for WEG

Since there are no races starting for late October – beginning of November, the revenue goes down and there is not much they can do about it, because it is a weather issue.

Options, solutions, and implementations

There are multiple options that both or one of the businesses could imply in order to a) attract new customers and retain them b) increase revenue during dead time (for Mohawk Racetrack) after the races season is over, or even during a not busy time of the day or week c) mutually benefit from investment into more entertainment in the area.

Starting from the easier ones to implement,

- Social Media presence

Especially, if they want to attract younger generation or implement new strategies (implementation will be discussed later), they need to heavily invest into advertising the Facebook Page.

Key strength is that better Social Media presence is the cheapest way to reach the audience, gain their attention, and provide with information. Better communication with potential or dissatisfied customers increases trust and loyalty to the business.

There are barely weaknesses of a managing the social media platforms more actively because the costs are low. To provide a better communication through the online channels, they need not more than about five hours of week to prepare and post news and updates and reply to customer’s private and public questions and concerns.

- Transportation

Following the regulations and standards of marketing and advertisement of Mohawk, some advertisement could be present on the billboards, within 5 to 10 miles from major locations.

The possible solution to the problem of getting to Mohawk could be to provide shuttle buses from most populated areas where desired segment of customers resides. The way it can work is through passive advertisement of the service. For example: “We want you to be safe. Do not drink and drive. For your convenience, we are offering shuttle service to our entertainment complex every Friday and Saturday from following locations: … “. This way, the advertisement doesn’t contain any direct invitation to gamble, rather it tries to provide a safer service and convenience.

Key strengths are that even if the shuttle service does not bring desired results, it is something that is easy to schedule or cancel. After checking the travel time from several cities around the Mohawk, I concluded that the average ride is 20 to 40 minutes. The buses should be arranged based on the demand (for example, have people to sign up for it or pay some kind of a deposit that guarantees you a seat as well as gives information to Mohawk about how many people to expect). The cost will vary based on which third party Mohawk will partner with and how much of their budget they can invest into such service.

Possible weaknesses are that it may take time to reach the desired customers and get them to use the shuttle service and come to the Mohawk. It will also incur costs related to renting the bus/hiring a third party, etc.

- Variety for the youth

According to Pierceall from Portland Press Herald, UK and US casinos are working on making the slot machines appealing to a more diversified group of people: attaching different themes from different years and categories to the games. So, instead of putting the usual slot machines, they try to go away from the traditional machines to more sophisticating game experience, such as a slot machine in the Mexico City, where players “sit inside a cozy, futuristic-looking orb much like sensory heavy arcade video games”. (Pierceall, 2014) Moreover, it is unclear how much the live entertainment in the Slots area (live music) influence the inflow of repeating or new customers, and if it is attractive and interesting for the youth.

On the tour around OLG, it was mentioned that they do not have real dealers due to cost saving goals. But the croupier can be hired for a not full workday and week: he can work only peak times. This option is a balance between saving on paying to employees and providing more options and variety to the customers.

Realistic and non-realistic ideas and how to implement them

In order to support the horse racing industry, especially non-peak season that was mention earlier, Mohawk should focus not just on the races, but horses in general.

- There are a lot of horse lovers among young kids or teenagers. Some of them own a horse. Having a horse lovers club days on not busy days will help to a) get revenue even if there are no races b) support and help the horse industry thrive in all directions. The way the corporation will benefit from holding club days is that children who will be told about horses, how to take care of them, ride, and etc., will be the future potential participants in the races or maybe even dedicated employees. The OLG, on the other side, will have a potential to get inflow of parents of those kids to the gaming floor, while they will be waiting for their children to finish the “lessons”. Such club days could be openly