Dominic Dudley
Harrah's, one of the largest US casino groups, has chosen the UK for the launch of its first interactive services but is taking a different approach from its competitors.
In a break from industry norms it's avoiding traditional casino games and has identified 35-48-year-old women as its core market. It's also launching a novel subscription-based model for its games, which will allow people to win prizes even when they're not playing.
The company appears to have learned lessons from the efforts of one of its main rivals, MGM Mirage, which opened an Isle of Man-based online casino in September 2001 under its own name. This was shut last summer after failing to attract enough customers.
Although Harrah's operates 26 casinos around the US it has decided that its own name carries little cachet in the UK so is launching a new brand, LuckyMe.
Instead of casino games, Harrah's will be concentrating on skill-based games. Users will pay between £10 and £56 a month for unlimited access to the site. There is a fixed pool of prize money which must be given away each month, with a top prize of £150,000 on the main Wingo game.
'We don't want to subject our audience to that much risk,' explained Kevin Flood, MD of Harrah's Interactive.
Advertising is planned on Yahoo!, MSN, Tiscali and the TradeDoubler affiliate network. There will also be advertising in women's magazines and offline marketing in shopping centres.
The company is also eyeing up a deal with AOL which could go live in June.
The firm has a UK licence to run its fixed odds 'Wingo' game, which is based on bingo. @@
Harrah's, one of the largest US casino groups, has chosen the UK for the launch of its first interactive services but is taking a different approach from its competitors.
In a break from industry norms it's avoiding traditional casino games and has identified 35-48-year-old women as its core market. It's also launching a novel subscription-based model for its games, which will allow people to win prizes even when they're not playing.
The company appears to have learned lessons from the efforts of one of its main rivals, MGM Mirage, which opened an Isle of Man-based online casino in September 2001 under its own name. This was shut last summer after failing to attract enough customers.
Although Harrah's operates 26 casinos around the US it has decided that its own name carries little cachet in the UK so is launching a new brand, LuckyMe.
Instead of casino games, Harrah's will be concentrating on skill-based games. Users will pay between £10 and £56 a month for unlimited access to the site. There is a fixed pool of prize money which must be given away each month, with a top prize of £150,000 on the main Wingo game.
'We don't want to subject our audience to that much risk,' explained Kevin Flood, MD of Harrah's Interactive.
Advertising is planned on Yahoo!, MSN, Tiscali and the TradeDoubler affiliate network. There will also be advertising in women's magazines and offline marketing in shopping centres.
The company is also eyeing up a deal with AOL which could go live in June.
The firm has a UK licence to run its fixed odds 'Wingo' game, which is based on bingo. @@
ffice:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1
lace w:st="on">UK</st1
