Once upon a time, a beautiful, new resort property on Atlantic City’s Boardwalk—the first new casino in two decades—opened, operated for two years, closed, and was left for dead.
That was the Revel, and as subsequent owners hatched various schemes to revive the property that never materialized, current owner Luxor Capital appears poised to finally allow the resort—reopened in summer 2018 as the Ocean Resort Casino—to realize the revenue potential of what is, in the end, one of the most beautiful beachfront hotels on the East Coast.
The name was changed earlier this year from Ocean Resort Casino to Ocean Casino Resort, which may appear to be a small change, but is in fact key to how Ocean has been repositioned as a unique entity—a luxury resort that offers a fair deal to the gambler, a rarity in Atlantic City or anywhere else.
The rebirth of Ocean Casino is now returning dividends in the form of successive months of positive results. It is a rebirth that gained steam when former Tropicana marketing executive Mike Donovan was brought in as chief marketing officer of Ocean in March.
Donovan has led a transformation of Ocean into a gambler-friendly property. Where former owners downplayed the casino in plugging the property as a luxury resort that happened to offer gaming somewhere down the list of amenities, the new Ocean Casino is concentrating on rewarding its loyal casino players in new ways.
The new marketing position is already changing the way players look at the Ocean Casino. The property was named Best Casino in Atlantic City in a Press of Atlantic City poll, and, in this year’s annual reader survey by Casino Player magazine, readers voted Ocean the awards for Best Comps, Luckiest Casino and Best Rooms.
This week, Ocean’s revival enters a new phase with the rollout of a newly revamped player’s club, dubbed Ocean WOW Rewards. In addition to adding a top “Chairman” tier, the new club jacks up the loyalty perks for all levels. For Chairman-level players, the casino has, for the first time, partnered with outside entities to offer special perks.
“We always had a great property; nobody can deny that the product is amazing,” Donovan told GGB News. “We wanted to combine with that the best offers people can get, anywhere.
“We went from weekly marketing to daily marketing; we added the entire Revel database—people the prior regime weren’t talking to at all—and we’ve really tried to create a lot of value for people, from added dining comps to added free-play offers, added gift days, gift cards, giveaways, promotions… We’ve really tried to step it up on the casino side.”
Among the benefits of the new Ocean WOW Rewards club—effective Tuesday, October 1—are 1:1 comps on dining, shopping or hotel says; 2:1 awards for free slot play; same-day free play; and the new five-tier club system (Blue, Gold, Platinum, Black and Chairman), with the top Chairman level including special Chairman invitation-only events, complimentary cabanas at the Poseidon Pool, complimentary suite upgrades, an annual $500 celebration dinner, and a choice at the end of each year of an “Annual WOW Gift,” the list for which includes a Carnival cruise, trips to tropical islands, and a one-year lease for a Mercedes-Benz.
“We looked at this as an opportunity to go from the worst benefits in town to what are the best benefits in town,” Donovan said. “Formerly, we had no outside partners that people could use, so we’ve added those at certain levels. Also, we’ve added that next level, the Chairman’s tier, that a lot of higher-end players expect, and we’ve given them benefits that other national brands have, but no one in Atlantic City has.
“If you’re a Chairman-level customer, we’re going to give you something tangible at the end of the year. Because you’re a quality customer, we want to reward you, whether that’s a one-year lease on a Mercedes-Benz, luxury jewelry items, $10,000 in gift cards, $7,500 in free play or a lot of other options. If you are that high-end, Chairman-tier customer, we’re going to give you something that nobody else in town will.”
Player-Friendly
The Ocean WOW Rewards program is the latest in a string of player-friendly features added to Ocean this year under Donovan. New casino elevators whisk hotel guests directly to the casino floor. Wayfinding around the property points to the best attractions on the floor.
The casino has added new games like Mississippi Stud and Texas Hold ‘em Flush, as well as new side bets such as the popular Lucky Ladies. On the slot side, 250 of the latest slot games from several manufacturers were added at the beginning of the summer.
“Additionally, in the past, we weren’t introducing a lot of these great food-and-beverage outlets to our casino players,” Donovan said. “You might have come in before but never visited America’s Cut, our phenomenal steakhouse. Now, if you’re a quality player, we send you weekly dining comps for that.
“And we’ve comped a lot more rooms compared to what they were doing in the past. Even during the slow season, we’ve just pushed a lot more casino comp rooms, and gotten people used to the great product this is. Because once you get people in here, and they’ve had a great experience, it’s going to be tough to go back to where you were before.”
With Ocean, Donovan has accomplished what is arguably the most difficult task in marketing—recapturing business from former customers—by getting them back in to see what the property now offers. “You’re going to have to give somebody more than what the guy down the street’s giving him—to get them in the door and really make it worth their while,” he said.
“We’ve done that for about six months now, and we’ve seen tremendous impact over the summer. Our slot revenues have grown dramatically, and that was really the piece of the business that the place was missing before. We’ve built that up to where our slot revenues, year over year, are now gaining 35-50 percent over last year.”
Donovan points to the recent awards the property as evidence the property has successfully changed its identity with the playing public. “We deliver, more than anyone else, that combination of value for your money and a luxury product that is going to be tough to get anywhere else,” Donovan said.
“It’s expensive for us, but not nearly as expensive as not having the players in. I would rather have players here all day and give them tangible reasons to come play with us versus somewhere else. At the end of the day, for the right customers, it’s always worth it.”
