Unlike the past three recessions, it will not be the Baby Boomers who lead the recovery. That is the finding of a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers and Retail Forward.

Baby Boomers are now faced with financial commitments, such as debt accumulated in better economic times, decreased savings accounts and retirement right around the corner. In contrast, the Gen X and Gen Y demographics have a higher percentage of discretionary income and it is the “up-market affluent” segments of these groups that will be the spending leaders in the post-recessionary era. The report goes even deeper into the spending potential of the larger Gen Y generation, citing their desire for instant gratification and spending patterns on products that offer the latest technology, such as smartphones and MP3 players.

Marketers will need to recognize how to target Gen X and Gen Y consumers, understanding that they shop differently than their Baby Boomer counterparts. These younger shoppers are more concerned with practical consumerism and purchase more selectively. The report concluded:

• Private label brands will still appeal to Gen X and Y shoppers, due to less cost and perceived value.

• Younger shoppers will continue to pick and choose among luxury brands, only buying items that they see as timeless, useful or versatile.

• They will continue to use shopping patterns and techniques employed during this downturn including shopping at certain stores to save money, more purchasing online and more use of social networking sites to find out about sales, promotions and product reviews.

No matter the size or location of the property, the past 18-20 months have been challenging for casino marketers, something that was once unthinkable in the casino industry.

The current economic downturn has caused a fundamental shift in how players, even core players, are choosing to spend. At Kochan & Company, we see trends in trading down and over, but rarely up, as players at all income levels have had to reposition themselves. It can be very tempting to jump on the latest marketing fad, try to counter all the competitions’ offers or get a little too creative chasing new customers.

We know from past downturns that there are always smart marketers who manage to survive, or even thrive. What this economic environment has taught the Kochan team is that sticking with 5 basic marketing principals is a sound strategy for success.

1. Strengthen Customer Satisfaction or You never get a second chance to make a good impression. The minute a guest enters your property, make sure their service experience is enjoyable and exceeds their expectations.

2. Build Brand Loyalty or Never underestimate the power of “Free”. From free valet to free appetizers to free play, when you give your guests added value, you create an immediate sense of appreciation and loyalty.

3. Focus on Customer Retention or A bored player is a player that’s walking out the door. Spontaneity adds energy. Hot seat promotions, big jackpot celebrations, a visit from a casino host: anything unexpected can help keep the excitement level up on your floor.

4. Track Marketing ROI or If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. You can run successful promotions more than once. Make it an annual event, or depending on the size of the promotion, run it longer (6 weeks instead of 4) or even run it every month. You will save on precious marketing dollars, and reward your guests with a proven experience.

5. Insure a Return Visit or Bonus entries rock! Increasing your guests’ chances of winning a prize provides an incentive for another visit and more play…plus it can help build business on weak days.

Earlier this year MarketingProfs released a comprehensive report, “The State of Social Media Marketing”. The study found that due to the frequency of posts, Facebook had far more usage than Twitter with both the consumer and corporate participants. Another finding was that only 10% of Twitter corporate accounts have 2,000+ followers, with the median at 150 followers. As far as Facebook, only 6% of corporate fan pages had 2,000+ fans, with the median being 65 fans. It will be interesting to see how Facebook’s new “Like” button, as opposed to the old “Become a Fan” button, impacts these numbers.

For marketers developing a social media campaign, the report found that some of these lesser-used tactics worked best.

1. Using Facebook data to profile customer demographics and interests.

2. Creating an in-person event using only Facebook or Twitter invites.

3. Engaging Twitter users with positive brand tweets to act with a special offer, invitation or reward.

4. Responding directly to Twitter users who are negatively tweeting about the brand.

The report also sited counterproductive social media tactics. These are the top 3.

1. Companies that only post their own messages and links to their promotions.

2. Treating social media as a short-term campaign.

3. Pushing out content using auto-following services.

Agency President Bob Kochan was a 2008 inductee into the St. Louis Media Halls of Fame, in the fields of Advertising and Public Relations.

As the largest green-certified builder in the St. Louis area, Consort Homes asked Kochan & Company to develop a campaign that focused on their “Live Green” positioning, while also featuring their new, up-front pricing program. The Kochan & Company team put our years of homebuilding marketing experience to work for Consort as we tackled their objectives.

We met those objectives in 2 ways. First, we crafted an identity for their new pricing structure called “Perfect Price”. With “Perfect Price”, our client can take a position of superiority with a statement that is completely credible and unique in the marketplace. This identity can easily be incorporated into all aspects of Consort Homes’ marketing. Then, we created the “ECO” campaign. This creative features headlines that reinforce Consort Homes’ commitment to green building: “Eco-logical”, while offering the highest quality construction and energy saving materials, features and appliances for the best price: “Eco-nomical”. The campaign clearly supports our client’s existing “Live Green” branding, and their new “Perfect Price” program. The creative is flexible and can easily be adapted to the messaging that the client feels is most relevant to the market.

Consort Homes launched their new marketing campaign, “ECO”, in late February. Kochan & Company also placed the media for this campaign, which includes print and online ads in various publications and websites. The campaign will run in the St. Louis area through 2010.    

As marketers in this new economy, we are constantly challenged to create programs that generate business, while showing a positive return on investment. Because it is more expensive to acquire a new customer, the best return on investment is to reward the ones you’ve got, and offer incentives to get them to spend more. This holds true whether you are consumer-oriented or B2B.

This fact has lead to the explosive growth of loyalty programs. In the consumer space, the average U.S. household belongs to 14 loyalty programs, but is only active in 6. So, are these programs still meaningful to customers? According to a new report by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, marketers need to closely monitor these programs, or risk diminishing returns. This report found customers want clear, understandable offers and more personalized messaging.

The top 4 Loyalty Program mistakes:

1. Too many conditions and restrictions

2. Rewards that lack real value

3. Communications and service not targeted specifically for members

4. Too much non-relevant junk emails and direct mail

Another interesting finding was the disconnect between how marketers feel they should communicate with their best customers compared with how customers really source loyalty program information. 60% of the marketer respondents said that they planned to increase their use of online tools and social networking. However, the report found that 65% of customers acquired information through point-of-sale information, company websites, company representatives and word-of-mouth. Only 11% of consumer respondents found program information through online ads, 4% in social media networks and 3% in blogs.

“It had the element of surprise featuring two unexpected ‘old-time’ favorites in a touch football game,” he [Kochan} said. “It had great entertainment value while selling the energizing ‘benefits’ of a Snickers bar to the target audience.”

Bob also weighed in on the much debated Anheuser-Busch Super Bowl ads. To read the entire article: http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2010/02/08/daily4.html?ed=2010-02-08&ana=e_du_pub

“…in fact, they [the VP Fair organizers] threw every radio station out. So I called Bob Kochan, who’s well-known here. He runs an advertising agency. At the time he was re-furbishing The Admiral….”

For the rest of the story, see page 213.

Read more about the RBGA’s award dinner at: http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/river-35441-growth-rbga.html