If you are to visit many of the casino resorts in North America, there is a fair chance you will come across Ellen Slot machines nestled among the roulette and blackjack tables of the plush casino floors. “Ellen” here is, of course, Ellen DeGeneres, the talk show host and comedienne. Created by IGT, the Ellen slots are incredibly popular in resorts and have been officially licenced to use the imagery of its source material, DeGeneres.
So, let’s pose a question for budding marketers: What does Ellen DeGeneres have to do with casinos? The answer is absolutely nothing. IGT and Ellen saw an opportunity to create a product using the television star’s fame for crossover appeal. It’s not an uncommon thing in the world of casino, and Ellen isn’t the first, nor will she be the last, celebrity to front a casino game.
Casino branding is sophisticated
But the whole concept of branding casino games is an interesting one, and through which other marketing industries can learn something. It is about much more than taking the image of a film star or movie and sticking it on a slot machine in the same manner as you would put Captain America on a lunchbox. The developers need to contextualise the branding, and weave it through the fabric of the game.
We will leave Ellen aside for the moment, and look at how developers tap into pop culture for the online market. A good place to start is the Immortal Romance Slot by Microgaming. Released in 2011, it was designed to capitalise on the popularity of the Twilight movies and books that were all the rage at the time. It’s not an officially-branded slot game, but it is still recognisable as tapping into Stephanie Meyer’s world of moody vampire teens. The game is incredibly popular, for sure, but we certainly aren’t saying it’s only played by fans of the series — far from it. The appeal lies in recognisability.
The same developer, Microgaming, is credited with developing the world’s first officially-branded online slot, Tomb Raider, back in 2004. Unlike Immortal Romance, above, this was more like a piece of official merchandise. Everything about the slot was designed to appeal to fans of Lara Croft. Does it work? Well, if you were an avid gamer, would your head be turned by the Tomb Raider slot or an unremarkable game with bars, sevens and fruits? It’s most definitely the former.
Playtech leads the way in branded games
Possibly the most significant jump into the branding of casino games was pulled off by the developer Playtech. The company has a huge selection of games that it terms “Premium Branded Slots”. These range from movies like Robocop to the Top Trumps card-trading games. However, Playtech really came to prominence with its range of Marvel games, which tied-in with movies like X-Men, Fantastic Four and Incredible Hulk. Disney let that contract run down, though, as it did not want to be associated with an adult pursuit like gambling.
So, what did Playtech do when Disney pulled the plug on Marvels slots? It signed a massive deal with Warner Bros. to create DC Comics casino games. There are loads of titles tying in with movies like Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad. The game presentation is slick and sophisticated, and they would not look out of place in a Comic-Con event. It’s perhaps the pinnacle of pop-culture branding at casinos. But that certainly does not mean it’s the endpoint. This trend will continue as long as it remains a viable marketing strategy.
