Foxwoods Dropping Wampum Card For Dream Card

Here is something that was in The Hartford Courant today.

Foxwoods Dropping Wampum Card For Dream Card

Foxwoods Dream Card (Handout / April 15, 2008)

By MARK PETERS | Courant Staff Writer
April 16, 2008
Foxwoods is dropping its Wampum Card loyalty program after more than 15 years, and in its place will launch a new card next month designed to associate the casino more closely with MGM Mirage, its Las Vegas-based partner.
The new Dream Card, like its predecessor, can be used for complementary meals, hotel rooms and merchandise based on the amount a cardholder gambles. Credits on the new card, however, also may be redeemed for gift cards that can be used at MGM Mirage casinos in Las Vegas, including the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay.
The change comes a month before Foxwoods is scheduled to open the new MGM Grand at Foxwoods, its first project in partnership with MGM Mirage. Although the Wampum Card is well-known among Foxwoods gamblers, the Dream Card is part of the new “Vegas-style” image Foxwoods is cultivating.
“A lot of deliberation” went into the change in card name, said Joseph Jimenez, senior vice president of casino marketing at Foxwoods. “It is a new era for Foxwoods. We need a brand that would reflect perfectly where we are headed.”
The upscale MGM Grand at Foxwoods, next door to the existing Foxwoods casino, includes a new hotel tower, casino, entertainment and convention space, restaurants and shopping.
Foxwoods will launch the new card May 1 and send 320,000 of them to current customers in coming weeks. Wampum Card holders can continue to use their cards, and all current points will be transferred to the new program, Jimenez said.
The Dream Card doesn’t allow customers at MGM casinos in Las Vegas to earn points to use at Foxwoods.
Despite the new name and new benefits, the Dream Card, like other customer loyalty programs, has a single purpose: Get people to come to the casinos more often, said Robert Shook, author of “Jackpot! Harrah’s Winning Secrets for Customer Loyalty.”
“The whole thing is to get more traffic into the casino,” he said.
There are a few ways the cards help to do that. They provide an incentive for people to gamble more, they cross-promote casinos in different markets and they allow companies to track customer preferences, Shook said.