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Accumulated credits are traded for rewards, cash, coupons or complimentary services, and tallied to determine customer loyalty levels of gold, platinum or diamond. Associated services and privileges become increasingly valuable with each new level.

“Using information gathered almost exclusively through card use, we have assembled a centralized, award-winning data warehouse containing information about how our customers interact with us,” explains Harrah’s President and CEO Gary Loveman. “Decision-science-based analytic tools allow us to better understand our customers so that we can offer them the best reasons to visit and play at our properties.”

Harrah’s first established a segmented marketing approach in 1998. Using historical data, which showed how often customers visited and how much they spent, these early modeling efforts provided basic segmentation based on various demographic trends.

Historical data show how often a customer visits Harrah's casinos, explains Norton, but predictive models reveal which customers are likely to visit other casinos in the market as well. Once these customers have been identified, Harrah's can target them for campaigns that will draw them back to Harrah's casinos.

Clearly, the Total Rewards is more than just a loyalty program — it’s an essential component of a highly advanced customer relationship management system.

Without its advanced CRM capabilities, Harrah’s would have to send blanket marketing materials to everyone on its mailing list, which would lower the profitability of its campaigns significantly. Instead, the company can divide customers into more than 80 different segments for each marketing campaign and target only those who are most likely to respond.

Since nearly 50 percent of Harrah’s revenue is driven by marketing, and the precision of its CRM capabilities helps to ensure the effectiveness of those efforts. Most importantly, the program helps Harrah’s staff treat all of their best customers — not just the high rollers — like VIPs.