Company: Mohegan Sun
Agency: Middleton & Gendron
Timeframe: July 2003 to present
Casino junkies hit their favorite gambling halls with the expectation of greeting their usual favorites: Croupiers with a deft slice of cards, slot machines that run hot and
cold, and roulette wheels spinning their clickety-clack siren songs.
But at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, CT, there are some rather unlikely guests who turn up regularly: best-selling authors who arrive for meet-and-greets, VIP
parties and book signings. Hey, it's not everyday you can meet writers of the caliber of Sue Grafton or Nora Roberts at a casino - and you can thank Suzanne Dorn, senior vice
president at the New York agency Middleton & Gendron, for that turn of events.
"This has always been a lifelong dream of mine: to bring the literary world to one of my clients," says Dorn. "We've had the Mohegan Sun account close to nine years. Every
year when you do a PR program for a client, you try to think of new ideas. With a casino, what you're trying to do is come up with programs that not only entice guests to come
back, but also get guests that would never venture into a casino."
Dorn set the groundwork for this unorthodox program in 2003 and opted to go with a single publisher. "We created this idea for Penguin Group (USA). The reason I picked
Penguin is because all of the authors I really liked were under their brand."
Dorn simultaneously ran the idea before the Mohegan Sun leadership, and they were equally enthused. "We were very excited about it," recalls Mitchell Etess, president and CEO.
"We've always looked to do things differently. This kind of activity has a lot of appeal to our entertainment guests and casino guests."
Betting on Best-Sellers
Dubbed the "Winning Authors" program (an obvious pun on both the A-list scribes recruited for the events and casino's promise of rewarding gamblers), the endeavor got off to a
start in July 2003 when Catherine Coulter agreed to participate in a two-day event publicizing her novel "Blindside." The event included a Q&A at the Mohegan Sun Cabaret (a
theater seating 300 people), two book signings, a special VIP event for the casino's special high rollers and members of the Mohegan Indian tribe (the casino is tribally owned),
and even a special author's breakfast for the winners of a special radio promotion. Dorn recalls one of the most enthusiastic promoters of this event was the author herself.
"Catherine Coulter was fantastic," she says. "She is very big on alerting fans and realizes how important it is to spend time with her readers and fans. She worked the tables
at the VIP event and she was fantastic. She also had another book signing on the second day and for two hours straight she sold books."
Coulter also knew how important the location was: Mohegan Sun attracts an average of 35,000 visitors daily. The success of her appearance convinced Penguin, Mohegan Sun and
Dorn to proceed further.
Since then, the "Winning Authors" program has brought high-profile Penguin writers to Mohegan Sun on a quarterly basis (and twice in the summer, as part of the casino's "Hot
Summer Fun" promotion). Among those who turned up to meet fans and sign books were: Tammy Faye Messner with "I Will Survive...And You Will, Too!"; Paul Burrell, Princess Diana's
one-time butler, for "A Royal Duty"; Sue Grafton with "R is for Ricochet"; and Harlan Coben with "The Innocent." The next author on the schedule is gangster film icon Frank
Vincent with his book "A Guy's Guide to Being a Man's Man" (he will be at Mohegan Sun this coming Saturday, April 1).
High Stakes
The authors who have been part of the program have all been excited on this unlikely stop. Says Dorn: "Even when it's presented to the authors, they're like: 'A casino?' They
normally do this at Borders or Costco, so they're like: 'Wow! I never really thought about it!'"
To date, Nora Roberts has been the most successful author in the program - Dorn reports her selling approximately 500 copies of "Visions of Death" during a two-hour book
signing. But if a sentimental favorite exists among the casino regulars, it would be for the book "Funny Cide" and the 10 (yes, 10) men who owned the unheralded but plucky race
horse that nearly won the Triple Crown.
"That was a great event," says Dorn. "We had the racing fans come in. And, no, they didn't bring the horse - that would've been a real coup!"
Measuring the ROI on the "Winning Authors" program is a bit complicated, since admission to Mohegan Sun is free. But based on the media clips and impressions gathered since
2003 and the feedback from casino visitors, Mitchell Etess has been extremely pleased by what he has seen to date.
"We estimate that over 50% of attendees come in for the signings," he says. "These type of non-traditional events bring in more people than normally visit casinos."
The publishers at Penguin are also pleased, and they now position Mohegan Sun as one of the first stops on national media tours for its A-list authors after the obligatory New
York kickoff. As for Dorn, her work earned an Adrian Award at last month from the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International.
But perhaps the ultimate winners are the fans that get to meet their favorite writers in a very unlikely setting. "I know of guests whom I've recognized from event to event,
who say they've cleared their schedules to attend," says Dorn of her PR equivalent of a full house.
Contacts: Suzanne Dorn, [email protected]; Mitchell Etess, 860.862.7416