Joingo helps casinos target a mobile audience
It’s all about mobile marketing.
For casinos to successfully reach their customers with players’ club rewards or special offers, it is more important these days to target them through mobile marketing instead of direct mail.
Joingo LLC, a San Jose, Calif.-based technology company with offices in Las Vegas and Incline Village, has developed a mobile application menu allowing casinos to customize smartphone apps, as well as target and interact with loyalty club members.
“We have a one-stop shop solution for a fragmented eco-system of apps,” said Alex Kanwetz, Joingo’s co-founder and vice president of business development. “It’s also not about just having an app anymore; it’s about how you use it.”
The company’s Mobile Loyalty System ties into a casino’s customer database, enabling the property to create a more personalized marketing campaign using customer history, personalized preferences and geographic location.
Joingo’s clients are using the app-creation program as a mobile marketing tool to deliver time-sensitive promotions.
Apps also are seen as a convenience service for customers who can track their loyalty points anytime from anywhere and collect rewards. Apps also can be integrated with social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
“The value to the player is that they receive something that is personalized,” Kanwetz said.
Founded in 2008, Joingo employs 25 people, with plans to expand to 60 by the end of the year. For now, the technology company is focused on growing its client base of 12 gaming companies.
“We are focused on gaming because it is such a large space,” Kanwetz said.
Joingo’s program can be used by operations of any size, from small tribal casinos to major resorts in Macau. The company can get a mobile loyalty or marketing app up and running in 30 days, Kanwetz said.
He said it’s economically impossible for smaller casinos to build these applications.
Kanwetz declined to say how much the system costs. Joingo’s system works with the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry operating systems, and can offer text messaging and mobile websites.
The text messaging is based on personal preference, visit patterns and customers’ status with a loyalty program. It’s about providing an “enriched personal experience,” Kanwetz said.
The mobile program also allows customers to track their loyalty points and collect rewards. On the marketing side, mobile allows for offers and coupons to be delivered in real time.
“We drive the business to the front door, and casinos know that,” Kanwetz said.
Among Joingo’s clients is Tamarack Junction in Reno and the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. The company also has partnered with Konami and SHFL entertainment.
The first customer was Snoqualmie Casino in Snoqualmie, Wash.
Joingo recently entered into an agreement with Williams Interactive LLC to provide the infrastructure for its desktop Play4Fun free play casino for use on mobile phones. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“This is an exciting step in the evolution of our Play4Fun network that enables our customers to best engage their players, whenever they desire gaming entertainment between casino visits,” said Orrin Edidin, president of WMS Industries and Williams Interactive.
Joingo also is branching out into another competitive business — online gaming.
The company developed the Joingo Game Network, a catalog of mobile gaming content for casinos and the infrastructure to deliver the games to mobile devices.
Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at csieroty@reviewjournal
.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @sierotyfeatures on Twitter.
