Recognizing the need to connect with casual gamers by instilling confidence in their ability to tackle table games, Choctaw Casinos & Resorts partnered with TRG and AdTheorent to develop and deliver a series of easy-to-digest, entertaining gaming tutorials through a machine learning-powered, performance-focused digital-advertising campaign to increase casino visitation across their locations.
Objective
American Gaming Association research shows that 42 percent of American adults participated in some form of gambling in 2022, and 34 percent visited a casino, up from 28 percent in 2021. The U.S. commercial gaming industry continues to grow as casinos and gaming expand into more states and new categories – with revenue reaching an annual record of $604 billion in 2022, a 14 percent increase from 2021.
Suffice it to say that interest in commercial gaming is at an all-time high, and the competition for capturing this growth — particularly from state-legalized online gaming — is intense. Up for grabs are casual gamers, and less-frequent guests keen on the social connection and energy found around the gaming table.
Context
This was the first year of the Choctaw Casinos & Resorts Table Games digital advertising campaign. The Choctaw campaign outperformed for a northeast regional casino and resort. The other casino sought to generate awareness of upcoming events among key audiences and ultimately drive site visitation.
The Choctaw campaign outperformed the other casino campaign across all metrics:
The northeast regional casino digital advertising campaign did not utilize AdTheroent's custom foot traffic models which proved vital in the Choctaw Table Games success.
Creative and Media Strategy
The target audience for Choctaw was casual gamers between the ages of 35 to 64 whose lack of knowledge may prevent them from feeling confident enough to join a table game, or worse yet, visit the casino at all. To help identify this niche audience, AdTheorent employed contextual keyword targeting related to "how-to" casino table game terminology and layered on geo-location data; only delivering impression opportunities within a 40-mile driving radius of the three key casino locations in the area.
The Choctaw Casinos & Resorts media and creative strategies worked hand in hand throughout the campaign to drive engagement and casino visitation. To boost awareness of Choctaw Casinos & Resorts table game offerings, the media strategy harnessed AdTheorent's advanced predictive advertising and foot traffic models, precisely targeting those most likely to take the desired campaign action.
Through cross-device display and rich media gamification units, users could "virtually" practice table games such as blackjack and craps across digital devices. Simultaneously, easily digestible tutorial videos across CTV and cross-device video channels encouraged users to explore Choctaw's offerings before visiting. This holistic approach engaged players across multiple touchpoints, effectively building their confidence and driving visitation.
AdTheorent employed contextual keyword targeting related to casino table games terminology (i.e., blackjack, roulette, poker tournaments, etc.) to reach qualified consumers while also layering on dynamic location data validated by GPS signals to reach the target audience in key geographic areas within a defined radius of specific Choctaw locations. Further, AdTheorent implemented frequency caps to focus on unique reach and continuously optimized to improve visitation efficacy, utilizing myriad signals such as ad position, publisher, geo-intelligence, time of day, and many others to maximize campaign performance.
To demonstrate the impact that the AdTheorent campaign had on driving visitation to Choctaw locations, AdTheorent ran a foot traffic lift study using Foursquare, which leverages location-based data between exposed and control groups. The foot traffic lift study proved the AdTheorent campaign drove increased household penetration and incremental sales lift compared to the control markets – successfully achieving the campaign objective.
Mobile identifiers and the location data available played a vital role in the campaign's overall targeting as well as the creative execution. AdTheorent's location targeting uses validated GPS signals derived directly from a consumer's device and can target GPS latitude/longitude data down to five decimal places (providing a three-foot radius of any specific point).
This granularity of targeting ensured that the dynamic location data for the Choctaw campaign was spot on as potential new players passed any of the three Choctaw locations. AdTheorent stores and continually updates demographic age and gender information, thus allowing AdTheorent to monitor performance of each myriad mobile signal. This led to increased impression delivery toward users ages 35 to 54 due to increased CPA performance.
The amount of data available through AdTheorent's machine learning technology allowed them to build custom foot traffic models based on geo-targeting parameters. AdTheorent matched location-based data and ran predictive location targeting to serve ads to audience members who are in certain locations in real-time and have high predictive scores to take Choctaw desired actions (in-casino visitation). This capability was crucial to leverage Foursquare for a foot traffic lift study and directly correlate casino visitation from AdTheorent's media exposure.
Prior to the campaign launch, the tribal gaming industry was experiencing a significant upswing nationally, generating a record $40.9 billion in gross gaming revenue in fiscal year 2022, as per the National Indian Gaming Commission. In Oklahoma, a competitive landscape was unfolding, with 33 tribes operating 133 gaming facilities.
This collective effort aimed to secure a more substantial share of the commercial gaming market, contributing to a notable 4.9 percent year-over-year surge in the state's overall revenue. Choctaw Casinos & Resorts saw the opportunity to capitalize on this growth trajectory and leverage the power of digital advertising to reinforce the brand's market position.
The Choctaw Casino & Resort Table Games digital advertising campaign exceeded all advertiser benchmarks, demonstrating a significant increase in visits to casino locations quarter-over-quarter while maintaining a low cost per visit and attributing valuable business outcomes directly to the digital advertising campaign.
Results included:
The remarkable 303 percent surge in conversions from Q3 to Q4 because of the digital advertising campaign, underscoring the effectiveness of AdTheorent's advanced predictive advertising solutions and custom-built foot traffic models. With these innovative solutions, Choctaw was able to successfully identify, optimize, and engage the desired target audience, and ultimately drive visitation to Choctaw Casino & Resort locations.
