the-application-of-CRM-in-Harrahs-enterainment

1TheapplicationofCRMsysteminHarrah’sentertainmentIntroduction&Background:Harrah'sEntertainmentwasfoundedonOctober30,1937asasmallbingoparlorinReno,NevadaoperatedbyWilliamF.Harrah.Thecompanywentpublicin1971with450,000shares.Followingthat,in1972,itwaslistedontheAmericanStockExchangeandin1973Harrah'sbecamethefirstcasinocompanylistedontheNewYorkStockExchange.OnNovember23,2010,Harrah'sEntertainmentIncchangeitsnametoCaesarsEntertainmentCorporation,Harrah'swillremainakeybrandinthenewlynamedcompany.Uptonow,thecorporationownsandoperatesover50casinos,hotels,andsevengolfcoursesunderseveralbrands.Thecompany,basedinParadise,Nevada,isthelargestgamingcompanyintheworld,withyearlyrevenues$8.9billion.Withamarketofincreasedoptionsandcapriciousconsumers,casinosareincorporatingCRMasanecessarymethodofsurvival(Kale,2005).Harrah’sEntertainment,Inc.isthepinnacleofaCRMsuccessstory.TheirCRMdatawarehousetracksovertwentymillionguestsatanyofitscasinos,hotels,entertainmentlocations,orrestaurants.ThenetworkhasallowedHarrah’stogeneratemorethan20percentgrowthsinceimplementingCRMbecausetheycananalyze,predictvisits,designrewardprograms,andsteermarketingcampaignsfortheircustomers(Kale,2003).ThecentraldriverforimplementingCRMshouldbetoachievethehighestlevelofcustomersatisfactionandloyalty.Harrah’sCRMstrategyincludesfourparts:CustomerloyaltyprogramDecisionsciencebasedtoolsHotelrevenuemanagementPersonalcontactmanagementTheapplicationofdatawarehouseincasinoindustryDataWarehouseOverviewIncomputing,adatawarehouse(DW)isadatabaseusedforreportingandanalysis.Thedatastoredinthewarehouseisuploadedfromtheoperationalsystems.ThedatamaypassthroughanoperationaldatastoreforadditionaloperationsbeforeitisusedintheDWforreporting.2Adatawarehousemaintainsitsfunctionsinthreelayers:staging,integration,andaccess.Stagingisusedtostorerawdataforusebydevelopers.Theintegrationlayerisusedtointegratedataandtohavealevelofabstractionfromusers.Theaccesslayerisforgettingdataoutforusers.Datawarehousetechnologynowhasbeenextensivelyappliedinmanycasinos,makingthosecasinosgiveabettermanagementtocustomers’data,andhavingabetterunderstandingoftheirconsuminghistoryorfindingtheirdifferencesthoughtheirconsumingrecord.Asaresult,theywillbemorecompetitivebytakingadvantageofdatawarehouseanddatabase.Fortheapplicationofdatawarehouseincasinos,thereisnobetterexamplethanHarrah,asthistechnologyhasbecomethemostimportantreasonforthesuccessofHarrah’sentertainment.Harrah's,theworld'slargestproviderofcasinoentertainment,isexpandingitsenterprisedatawarehousetoincorporatethecustomerloyaltydatafromCaesarsConnectionCardintoHarrah'saward-winningTotalRewards(R)program.Oncecomplete,themergeddatabasewillhaveaccountsfornearly40millioncustomers.Harrah'sisaleaderinactivedatawarehousingandintegratesavarietyofreal-timedatawithhistoricaldatatocreateanarrayofrevenue-,operations-andcustomer-focusedapplications.Inaddition,Harrah'sisdeployingtheTeradataDualActiveSolutiontoensurethattheirdatawarehouseisalwaysavailabletousersandprotectedagainstdisastersoramajorsinglesystemoutage.Theseactiveapplicationscanexecutemorethan400,000tacticalqueriesagainsttheTeradataplatformdaily.TheChallengeorbackgroundofdatawarehouseusage:In1997,Harrah'sintroduceditsTotalGoldsystemfortracking,retaining,andrewardingits15millionguestsregardlessofwhichcasinostheyvisitovertime.Forexample,afrequentguestatHarrah'sAtlanticCity,NewJerseycasinowillbeimmediatelyrecognizeduponpresentingaTotalGoldcardinthecompany'sLasVegascasinoandisdulyrewardedforhisorherrepeatbusiness.Traditionally,casinoshavetreatedcustomersasthoughtheybelongedtothesinglepropertytheyvisitedmostoften.However,we'vefoundthatcustomerswhovisitmorethanoneofourpropertiesrepresentafast-growingsegmentofourrevenue.Wewanttoencourageandrewardthesecustomers,saidJohnBoushy,Harrah'sSeniorVicePresidentofInformationTechnologyandMarketingServicesatHarrah's.ThepatentedTotalGoldprogramentitlesHarrah'srepeatcustomerstofreeentertainment,vouchersforfoodandaccommodation,andpointsredeemableformerchandise.TheserewardsencouragecustomerstoremainloyaltotheHarrah'sbrandacrossthecountry,andovertime.Recognizedbybusinesspublicationsasaleaderinthecasinoindustry,Harrah'shasexperiencedtremendousgrowththroughoutNevadaandbeyondduringits60yearsofoperation.Inrecentyears,thecasinohasdiscoveredthatcustomerswhovisitmorethanoneofHarrah'spropertiesareafast-growingsegmentofrevenue.Harrah'sisexpandingtheTotalGoldprogramwhichproducesmorethan20millioncustomeroffersannually.3TotalGoldandthedatawarehousetrackeachoffertodeterminewhenandhowoffersareredeemed.Withtheexpandeddatawarehouse,Harrah'scananalyzehundredsofcustomerattributestodeterminethelikelihoodofavisit,predictedspending,opportunitiesforcross-selling,anddetermining'life-timevalue'ofeachcustomerwithinashortperiodoftime.ThisallowsHarrah'stotargetpromotionsandmailingstoindividualcustomerpreferences.Forexample,Harrah'smightawardhotelvoucherstoout-of-stateguests,whilefreeshowticketswouldbemoreappropriateforcustomerswhomakedaytripstothecasino.TheBenefitsHarrah'snowproducesmorethan20millio