"Never has an industry had more information on players and done less targeting with it"

As part of the educational sessions that will take place during this year's Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in –on Oct. 14-17, at the Las Vegas Sands Expo & Convention Center– marketing guru Scott Stratten will deliver a series of unconventional lessons on ‘UnMarketing.’

In his keynote address, Stratten will present strategies and insights from a business leadership perspective and drawing from his experience as a longtime patron of the gaming industry. Stratten is co-host of UnPodcast and author of five best-selling books, including UnMarketing: Everything Has Changed and Nothing is Different. He ran one of the most successful viral video agencies in the world and now assists companies like Walmart, Pepsi, and IBM in navigating the landscape of business disruption.

Could you provide a brief description of the notion of ‘UnMarketing’? in which ways do you think your lessons could be useful for the gambling industry?

'UnMarketing' is keeping yourself at the top of mind for your customers, so when they have a need you provide, they chose you over your competitors without even considering them. I’m fortunate enough to only keynote conferences. I don’t do consulting, so I’m free on stage to say whatever I think and what can best help attendees without trying to rope them into having to use my company. Although since I’ve been fascinated and LOVE the gambling industry for decades, I would consult pro bono anytime.

Organizers of this year’s edition of G2E have promised a ‘dynamic lineup of disruptive’ voices, including keynote speaker Scott Stratten. Could you provide details on what makes the UnMarketing proposal something disruptive for the gaming industry, both for the land-based and online verticals?

Disruption almost never comes from within the current industry players. Innovation happens through insubordination of ideas, something that is frowned upon in a company’s cubicles. One of the reasons is our brains aren’t entrenched with politics and failures that dwell in our minds that prevent innovation. If we don’t know what we don’t know, it’s easier to blaze a new trail.

The name of your keynote at G2E is 'The Age of Disruption: Everything Has Changed and Nothing is Different.' What do you think has changed in terms of marketing and which of these changes could be relevant for the gambling industry? What remains the same?

I wish one thing would change, which is fewer postcards in the mail from casinos that aren’t targeted properly and the emails promoting another new “improvement” to a virtual gaming app. One poker site said a while ago they were changing the reward system to benefit players, which was laughable when you looked at the improvements which apparently is Latin for fewer rewards that cost players more. Never has an industry had more information on players and done less targeting with it. As a prime player both at casinos and on apps, I’m not sure I’ve ever been targeted properly and that’s such a shame.

In the U.S., sports betting has been legalized on a federal level and many states have been enacting legislation to regulate that vertical. Online gambling has also been going through a similar road. In which ways can your UnMarketing lessons help sports betting and online gaming companies, especially taking into account the influence of technology on traditional marketing?

One of the problems that a lot of the online companies have is they don’t learn from brick and mortar mistakes because they think the laws of psychology are different. They’re not and the line has blurred between the two. Local casinos now have gaming apps, online properties are starting to brand/align with properties.