Asian casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Limited announced several key appointments to its new leadership structure, including naming of presidents for each of the company’s Macau properties.
The appointments are pursuant to the company’s announcement in November that Lawrence Ho, chairman and CEO, has resumed direct supervision of day-to-day operations and actively reassessed the management structure.
Heading the latest appointments is Frederic Winckler, who has been named chief marketing and brand officer, a newly created position reporting directly to Ho. Winckler will also serve as a member of the executive committee of MCE. In his new role, he will be responsible for the marketing and branding of all the company’s consumer brands.
Winckler most recently served as global chief marketing officer for Louis Vuitton based in Paris. He was awarded the Luxury Marketer of the Year in 2014. Prior to Louis Vuitton, Winckler served as CEO of J. Walter Thompson Paris, having been with that organization for 22 years to lead its efforts in various countries for key luxury brand clients including BMW and Rolex.
“I am very excited to have Frederic joining the MCE team,” said Ho. “His international and luxury brand experience will certainly provide invaluable insights as we develop an enhanced strategy to leverage MCE’s luxury and entertainment propositions.”
Gabriel Hunterton was named president of City of Dreams, Macau.
Hunterton is a seasoned gaming industry executive, who, Ho said is exceptionally knowledgeable of the Macau market and has a solid track record of producing remarkable results.
Andy Choy has been named president f Altira Macau and Mocha Clubs. Choy has over 10 years of direct involvement in a broad set of gaming industry disciplines. He has worked with the entire spectrum of properties from stand-alone local casinos to major Las Vegas Strip properties, to international five-star integrated resorts.
Most recently, Choy served as the chief gaming officer for Melco International, the single largest shareholder of MCE, with responsibility for the Melco Group’s growth through development opportunities in the gaming sector.
Choy was named as one of the “25 People to Watch” in 2017 by Global Gaming Business.
Each of Melco Crown Entertainment’s property presidents will be a member of the company’s executive committee and report directly to Ho. According to the company, the reorganized structure is designed to be more efficient to enable faster decision-making and provide clear accountabilities.
“I’d like to thank the management team and all our colleagues for fully supporting the recent changes at the company,” said Ho. “These changes are part of the process to make MCE stronger and more efficient, and to better position the company to fully exploit future growth opportunities. In December, Melco International Development Limited announced the acquisition of an additional US$1.2 billion of Melco Crown Entertainment’s stock.
“Upon the completion of this acquisition, Melco will assume a majority ownership of over 51 percent in MCE. I cannot think of a more compelling evidence of my positive outlook on Macau’s long-term prospects and my faith in the strength and quality of our company and its management. This should also further emphasize MCE remains my highest priority.”
Some analysts criticized the naming of Winckler as CMO. “A lack of gaming/hospitality experience in the new CMO raises some concerns as the gaming industry, especially Macau, has its own idiosyncrasies,” wrote Sanford Bernstein analysts Vitaly Umansky, Zhen Gong and Yang Xie, while adding that Winckler’s “extensive digital marketing experience may be critically important as Macau gaming operators continue to extensively utilize online marketing and social media.”
