1. Information Systems for Managers Assignment Harrah’s Entertainment Inc.
Section F Group 3
Aditya Gupta(2016PGP018)
Ambati Giridhar Ravikumar (2016PGP049)
Chandran M (2016PGP099)
Mehta Rushit Dinesh (2016PGP213)
Pranjali Silimkar (2016PGP278)
Priyanka Mohanta (2016PGP288)
Vishnu Priya (2013IPM074)

2. Company History Why CRM ?
Launched by Bill Harrah in 1937 in Reno, Nevada
It had business interest in casinos, food, beverages & hotel industry
It operates 21 casinos across the country with 4 million sq feet of casino space, hotel rooms
Why CRM ?
Changes in gaming laws
Instead of opening lavish properties, Harrah initiated CRM
Harrah decided to compete using a brand strategy supported by IT
They started a Total Gold program which was intended to increase customer loyalty
Harrah’s COO, Loveman, launched three major initiatives : changing the organization structure, building the Harrah’s brand & delivering extraordinary services and exploiting relationship marketing opportunities.

3. CRM consisted of two elements : Total Gold Program and Database Marketing
Total Gold program customers were given electronic card
The customer information collected using this card is stored in central repository
This information is used to reward customers
They also tired a tiered approach where customers were divided into gold, platinum and diamond tiers
Cross-market was another objective of this program

4. Database Marketing Database Marketing Program Reasons for implementing
Result
New Business Program
Focus on customers new to the brand or property & encourage them to take 2nd & 3rd trips
Improving investment decisions at customer level
Ratio of new customers acquired from new signups has increased from 30% in Apr-99 to 50% in Jan-00
Effective
Loyalty Program-Frequency Upside
To make a customer switch from a competitor to Harrah’s by increasing the frequency of visit
Marginal increase in number of trips per guest, which indicates that more guests have started using the program
Loyalty Program- Budget Upside
Encouraging customers to visit Harrah’s first before other casinos and thereby capture a larger part of their spending
Average revenue per hour as well as per day has increased
Observed winning amounts have exceeded their predictions
Not conclusive
Retention Program
To get back customers who have stopped visiting Harrah’s on a regular basis
Number of guests increased until offers were valid. This number started declining marginally

5. Customer Worth
Harrah believed in capturing the long run net worth of the customer rather than past behavior for two reasons:
Information generated form one single visit may not accurately predict the future worth of the customer.
While the customer may not be a great one for Harrah, he/she may be a great customer for competitors. Harrah’s objective was to convert this customer to a loyal Harrah’s customer in the long run
Harrah’s strategy
Harrah’s has developed customer centricity as a core-competency through their database marketing initiatives
Predicted customer worth has a demonstrated higher efficiency than observed worth and is sustainable in converting competitor’s customers into their own
The challenge would be maintain the level of customization and service per customer as the customer base and number of visits increase