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Essential Guide to ... Category C Market Perspectives
BINGO OPERATIONS
Mecca continues to diversify Category C offering
Category C gaming formats continue to be a main drawcard for Mecca Bingo, according to Mohammed Zabed, head of amusements for the Rank Group subsidiary.
Coinslot: How is the Category C gaming sector currently faring for Mecca? Mohammed Zabed: Our performance in Category C is solid. We do not have to totally rely on our B3 income as we are experienc- ing growth in both areas. Community reel- based products such as Solid Gold, Be Rich and video-style community games such as Winwall from Astra are working really well for us. Barcrest Group’s Royal Fortune was our best performing community game over the royal wedding period, and the com- pany’s Rainbow Riches Community Cash is also working extremely well for us. Early reports from Empire Games’ newly released Juicy Fruity Community have also been pleasing. What we are finding with Category C in particular is that our best per- forming games are predominantly in the community format - be it reel-based or video-based - but we do have a number of strong performing single-players.
CS: To what extent has the stake and prize
uplift helped benefit the sector? MZ: Legislation from 2007 put certain restrictions and limitations on Cat C. The initial 50p/£35 was seen by many as a dis- aster. But certainly with the new £1/£70 element, developers have become more creative. Rather than thinking ‘let’s bury our heads in the sand’, designers have been asking: ‘How do we actually attract that cus- tomer, give them a better experience and increase the time they spend on the machines?’ Really, the way the games are now designed - the way we are multi-stak- ing and allowing people into community and top feature boxes - has given a better return to the customer and a better experi- ence. This is helping Category C to become more successful.
CS: How does Mecca ensure the best possible Category C product reaches is customers? MZ: We spend quality time with manufac- turers, feeding back information from our
INDEPENDENT OPERATORS Industry needs to support AWP manufacturers
Collaboration and partnership between pubcos and operators are key to maximising Category C machine income, according to Peter Weir, chief executive of the IOA Group.
ing major changes for many years in terms of legislation, taxation, demo- graphics and broader changes in social attitudes. Many Pub Cos are investing in their brands with a myriad of value offers which have and continue to be success- ful in retaining and attracting new cus- tomers. Much of that growth has been driven by food offers which doesn’t always sit comfortably from a machine supply perspective. Whilst food-driven pubs have impacted machine densities resulting in fewer machines, in certain sectors of the pub market the IOA is achieving good cashbox growth year on year, which is obviously great news for our customers. A key feature of the service provided by the IOA is the transparency and
Coinslot MAY 20 - MAY 26, 2011 “The traditional pub has been undergo-
integrity of our income perform- ance data which is universally regarded as the most robust in the business. When you look back at the IOA income charts, over the last couple of years one game stands head and shoulders above everything else, and that’s the reel-based Deal or No Deal. The range has a fantastic pedigree and has consis- tently gener- ated great cash box. It succeeds in delivering the player a lot of time on
the machine with very good enter- tainment value.
Whilst we feel concerned over the grossly exagger- ated claims relating to digi- tal fruit machine revenues, the IOA’s currency is facts and the empirical evidence demonstrates clearly that currently the best perform- ing machines are the reel- based models. That’s not a subjective judgement - it’s a cash box judge- ment. Digital gaming is accepted by players in LBOs and AGCs where there are much
higher jack- pots but in pubs we
are still waiting for players to engage with digital Category C machines. We will continue to work with the manufacturers testing new games and when the digital cash box produces more than its reel- based cousin we will work with our cus- tomers to site them. Our duty is to our customers and specifically to our cus- tomers’ machine income. Collaboration and partnership between pubcos and operators are key to maximising machine income. It’s cru- cial that we work together to educate pub staff and management on the impor- tance of machines and their contribution to the bigger financial picture. Operators must continue to deliver proactive machine management and robust machine testing regimes such as the IOA’s. Lastly, the industry needs to sup- port the AWP manufacturers who are facing the double whammy of reduced volumes and rising material costs. There’s no doubt this will be a huge chal- lenge for the industry.”
customers and amusement managers. We have sessions with developers every six to eight weeks where we sit down and dis- cuss our findings and what we believe is right for the bingo sector. This constant two- way dialogue helps the industry to inno- vate - and if this helps generally across the board then all the better. The only way games can be better developed for what the customer wants or what the customer requires is if we actually feed their thoughts back up the supply chain.
CS: Do visitors to your bingo halls always understand the differences between the different gaming categories? MZ: Customer awareness is crucial for Mecca. We have 10-penny lanes, where introductory customers can clearly see the value proposition. We have signs in our venues that distinguish the different types of games, and all our machines have top boxes and ears that clearly display the stake and prize potential. The machines are in
clearly defined zones so there is no confu- sion when it comes to all the different offer- ings in our venues. Our customers definitely understand the different value propositions we offer. In addition, we also publish literature and constantly train our amusement team leaders who are there to serve the customer. They help to upsell our products and allow customers to play demonstration modes. This is important because you can’t just expect a machine to arrive and a customer to be fully conver- sant with how to play it.
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