Planet Dailies utilizes Panasonic plasma, LCD and digital technology to create a unique design that helps it stand out from other Las Vegas Strip eateries.

If you’re trying to gauge the impact digital signage is having on the gaming world, you need look no farther than Venetian Macao. When the $2.4 billion, 1 million-square-foot Las Vegas Sands property opened last year in Macau, it did so fully-wired with a cutting-edge, resort-wide digital signage system from Melbourne, Fla.-based Harris Broadcast Communications, a division of Harris Corporation.

Harris Broadcast’s InfoCaster Digital Signage suite of products allows Venetian Macau to create, synchronize, and deliver individualized messages throughout the property. For example, in the casino area, the InfoCaster systems will retrieve progressive-jackpot-amount data from a central server, and combine this information with other messages from the resort’s sales and marketing department. In the convention facilities, InfoCaster will retrieve conference room assignment data and other exhibitor information from the main server for display in predefined zones.

The InfoCaster system is able to accomplish these tasks through a coordinated network of specialized products. InfoCaster quad- and dual-channel players synchronize and deliver content from multiple sources to thousands of remote displays spread over a nationwide network, addressing individual messaging display requirements. Creation stations, which enable easy acquisition and content creation of graphics, live video and dynamic data content, are used to design InfoCaster presentations and templates for the players. Finally, the Network Manager system — an advanced management, scheduling and monitoring tools give users control and flexibility over the enterprise network — allowing operators to control specific devices with targeted messaging throughout a large-scale network.

“[Our] digital signage solutions are ideally suited to this type of application, as it provides a customized solution to address every digital signage requirement — not just in the casinos themselves, but throughout the resort facilities,” said Tim Thorsteinson, president of Harris Broadcast Communications, shortly after Venetian Macao opened last fall. “With the tight integration of InfoCaster systems and Network Manager, The Venetian Macao will have a flexible digital display solution, a scalable messaging platform and exceptional video quality that is in keeping with the standard that guests of this unprecedented luxury resort expect.”

Harris Broadcast sees enough potential in the gaming space that it introduced casino resort specific digital signage solutions at last November’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. The InfoCaster product line offered to gaming facilities allows content to be customized to enhance the guest experience at various venues such as food and beverage areas, convention spaces and lobbies, retail shops and gaming areas. It includes added features ranging from Jackpot Intelligence, which allows operators to persistently display jackpot and progressive information on multiple screens throughout the facility simultaneously with other messages and video, to Way Finding and Direction Map capabilities—touchscreens with GPI recognition and playback functionality that help guide patrons through increasingly complex resort layouts.

Visual appeal

Harris Broadcasting is wise to gear digital signage product to the casino marketplace. Indeed, it appears gaming facilities large and small, new and old in Asia, Europe and the United States are snapping-up the high-tech signs and the systems that manage them.

“I think we’re crazy in our industry if we don’t adopt this technology,” said Freddie Maatouk, corporate vice president of casino marketing for PlayLV Corp., which operates several downtown Las Vegas casinos, including the Plaza Hotel & Casino. “We’re buying them [plasma and LCD signs] at the rate of six to 10 a month.”

Among the reasons PlayLV is converting the new signage technology, according to Maatouk: reduced printing costs and direct mail costs, real-time messaging, content flexibility and scalability, and marketing effectiveness. Maatouk is particularly enamored with digital signage’s ability to better market to patrons already inside a gaming property.  “They’re just a captive audience. You’ve got them right there,” he said.

Some operators have turned to digital signage to help give a gaming facility a design edge — to make it stand apart in a crowded resort marketplace. When the new Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino opened on the Las Vegas Strip late last year, it did so with the Planet Dailies Coffee Shop, a one-of-a-kind eatery that features 50 digital displays strategically placed throughout the venue.

“Planet Dailies’ carefully crafted atmosphere, created by the renowned designer Thomas Shoner, features overlapping wall panels that look as if they’re floating,” said Planet Hollywood Owner Robert Earl Robert Earl shortly after the November 2007 opening of the property. “The monitors are strategically placed so diners can catch breaking news, entertainment reports or sporting events from anywhere in the restaurant. Moreover, the system allows us to create and deliver our own messaging, and as we learn more about our customers, we can more effectively target the content toward their interests.”

The digital displays, which include both high definition LCDs and plasmas, are part of the digital signage system provided by Panasonic Systems Integration. The various displays throughout the Coffee Shop, which range in size from 32 inches to 60 inches, are controlled and programmed by restaurant management using Panasonic’s proprietary retailTV software, NMStage, a scheduling and content distribution system. With NMStage, content can be scheduled and managed down to the second on any combination of displays, even dividing the display into multiple segments. Programming for the Coffee Shop includes sports, news, entertainment, daily specials from the menu on a touch screen kiosk, packaged media and casino entertainment.

The signage is also augmented with a high quality three-zone audio system which allows different programming to be played in various sections of the Coffee Shop.

The retailTV system at Planet Dailies also includes a server and six media players and is connected to the Internet to allow retrieval of live information and electronic content delivery. The Internet connectivity also allows for remote monitoring and management of the system. Within the Coffee Shop, NMStage operates on a secure network environment with dedicated bandwidth to help ensure quality images and viewing.

Business sense

While Planet Hollywood views digital signage as a way to provide distinction and visual appeal, others tout the technology’s ability to better coordinate and more efficiently run a property’s inter-casino marketing program. For example, when Station Casinos opened the Las Vegas-based Red Rock Casino, Resort and Spa in April 2006, it did so with a Paltronics One Link Media System, which not only manages sign media at Red Rock, but also coordinates media activity for nine other Station properties.

“Paltronics’ One Link wide-area media network allows us to manage a full range of media content at multiple properties, run highly-visible promotions and manage frequent customization,” said David Frankhouser, director of slots at Red Rock at the time of the Paltronics installation.

The Paltronics One Link wide-area media network is an end-to-end narrowcast system that connects all media to deliver custom messaging. It allows many media sources to be composited together to form “channels.” These are viewed using Paltronics media controllers which are similar to a TV set top box.

The display controllers “mix” video and audio sources including live broadcasts, recorded MPEG video, static images, scrolling text, gaming jackpots and the like, to be shown on LCD, plasma and other video displays.

One Link Media is managed by the servers themselves or from media workstations running Paltronics’ Media Director software. Media Director allows an authorized user to change channels, schedule future channel changes, manage displays, author channel and scripts.

One Link Media supports a wide range of marketing objectives at Stations’ properties, such as advertising Jumbo Jackpot winners and game play, in-house club booth promotions, and cross advertising jackpot hits at a particular property. Centrally managed from Red Rock, the Paltronics’ media network originally connected Boulder Station, Fiesta Henderson, Fiesta Rancho, Green Valley Ranch, Palace Station, Santa Fe Station, Sunset Station and Texas Station casinos.

“Wide-area media networks have the power to redefine the casino gaming industry’s expectations of excellence for media management, administration and deployment,” said Angelo Palmisano, president and CEO of Paltronics. “Our innovative One Link system solutions deliver advanced technology that provides economic and administrative efficiencies and will play an important role in evolving the casino gaming industry.”

Of course, One Link Media can also work on a smaller scale for a stand-alone property. Last year, Paltronics installed the system at the 100,000-square-foot Valley View Casino in San Diego., Calif., where, along with the company’s One Link Slot system, it is used to manage all media, slot progressives and RGB in-machine meters for the property.

“The One Link Media system and in-machine meters bring a new level of marketing excitement to our property,” said Todd Jackson, director at IT at Valley View Casino.

Meanwhile, Progressive Gaming has also found standalone casino success with its Casinolink Media multimedia display system, which combines state-of-the art media display capabilities and unique gaming applications such as real-time progressive jackpot displays with odometer in plasma and LCD functionality. At Three Rivers Casino in Florence, Ore., Progressive Gaming’s digital signage display technology has helped Shawn McDaniel, director of casino operations, enhance and showcase offerings at the new permanent casino.

“The digital signage display allows us to communicate with the player and let them know what’s going on,” he said, noting the casino operates some 45 to 50 LCD displays. “We can change it instantaneously. It’s easy to use, and it’s not that expensive.”

McDaniel said he’s saved on sign production costs, and uses the digital display technology to highlight everything from slot denominations, upcoming food specials, in-house promotions, entertainment and more.

“Digital signage is obviously well understood as a marketing tool,” said Bob Parente, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Progressive Gaming. “In addition, it’s a key ingredient to promoting things that are going on in the floor. We have to make sure that player understands someone’s wining, and more importantly, how to win.”

Added excitement

International casino operators also understand the marketing and customer education value of digital signage systems. Much like their North American counterparts, however, many overseas gaming operators also turn to digital technology to add some spice to their gaming floors.

Last October, the Hyatt Regency in Aruba, Dutch Antilles, installed the JackpotJunction Pro gaming-enabled digital signage platform from Netherlands-based Gaming Support B.V. JackpotJunction Pro consists of Jackpot Data Interchange, AudioJunction and multiple instances of VideoJunction. Once in place, the system allows the scheduling and deployment of multimedia broadcasts throughout a full-service gaming venue. With its standardized client/server architecture, JackpotJunction Pro lets resorts create a fully-integrated, multi-zone broadcast environment that serves the gaming, hospitality, retail, F&B areas of the

property.

“JackpotJunction’s ability to create excitement, consolidate digital marketing and generate incremental gaming revenue made it a natural choice for our operation,” said Martin Dijkhoff, slot manager at the Hyatt Regency Aruba. “We’re happy to join a long list of operators to benefit from this exciting technology suite.”

The list of operators using JackpotJunction digital signage technology is indeed long and includes Monte Carlo electronic casino in Budapest, Casino Théâtre Barrière de Toulouse in France and Regency Casino Mont Parnes in Athens. Nick Hogan, vice president of sales and business development for Gaming Support, expects digital signage growth to continue for some time to come.

“The technology has spread to virtually every sector of every economy, covering retail, heavy industry, media, transportation, government, education, even religious organizations,” Hogan said. “It’s a very powerful and cost-effective means by which to transport content, and the application coverage is spreading like wildfire.”



Additional reporting and writing for this article was provided by Marian Green.