THE CANARY
INUVO The canary in the coalmine
S
aracen Casino Resort is the first purpose-built casino constructed in Arkansas, a $300m investment with an 80,000 square-foot gaming floor and 2,300 slots. It’s also the first casino to utilize Inuvo’s considerable data processing
powers, to get ahead of the game when it comes to marketing. Inuvo’s AI-driven solution allows the casino to understand and market to the reasons behind why Saracen’s patrons demonstrate an interest in the various experiences available at the casino. This in turn means they can market to previously unexplored areas of the digital world to create a highly cost-effective and diverse marketing program. We talked to Inuvo CEO Rich Howe and Saracen’s Carlton Saffa about this truly innovative approach.
Carlton Saffa, Chief Market Officer, Saracen Casino Resort
Casino International: What is the fundamental role of Inuvo? Richard Howe: A number of us involved in building Inuvo were involved in building another billion-dollar company called the Acxiom Corporation, also located in Arkansas. It’s a giant technology and data company that for the most part invented the consumer data-oriented methods that make up the foundation of modern-day online advertising. This is the information the industry uses to find audiences and to make sure they are in line with your objective. We call that approach who-based marketing. It was invented four decades ago and was the catalyst behind our success at Acxiom. The Inuvo mission was to re-invent that industry, to kind of accommodate the latest and greatest technologies, address the issues of consumer privacy, anonymity, and the use of third-party consumer data. We wanted to design a solution that changes and disrupts
the marketing paradigm and, as it turns out, the cornerstone of that solution is artificial intelligence. We’re in the business of helping brands and companies like
Saracen leverage the latest technologies. Inuvo provides them with the thing they have been wanting forever: the ability to market against the reasons why consumers show intent towards brands, products, and services. Inuvo’s biggest differentiator is that our technology finds the why behind
36 SEPTEMBER 2021
Richard Howe, Chairman and CEO at Inuvo, and Carlton Saffa, Chief Market Officer, Saracen Casino Resort, talk to Jon Bruford about a concept that will change casino marketing forever. Yes, really.
someone’s buying behaviour, instead of trying to uncover who that consumer may be. It’s a really important distinction, with the ‘why?’ being considerably more important than the who. Think about it – when conventional marketers sit down and they think about their advertising, they say ‘who is my audience, what is my demographic, how much money do they make, and what are their interests?’ That’s the who, it’s always been focussed on those demographics around a predetermined persona, but the real gem of understanding comes from the ‘why?’ We saw this with Saracen, we were running a program and what did our AI do? It immediately started to hone in on the plethora of reasons ‘why’ consumers were drawn to Saracen, one of the reasons being their fantastic dining options. It immediately started to signal hey, there’s an important ‘why’ people are coming here and it’s the restaurant, it’s a draw. That’s the important distinction and how we help clients like Saracen unearth new findings to actually put their messages in front of individuals who are in market who are signalling right now, with their digital hands up, that they like food, they appreciate fine dining, and we know it before anyone else does. So rather than have that client go off to some lesser restaurant, we can put the message in front of them that Saracen has the best restaurant in Arkansas. Suddenly, you’ve got them at the point they were thinking about it and then they’re at your casino eating a great meal, while also seeing the other things you can offer with that experience. This is generally how our technology works and it works
incredibly well. We have so many examples we can give you where it’s worked in the real world.
Richard Howe, Chairman and CEO at Inuvo
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