Rank Group, owner of Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casinos has released figures showing a five percent like-for-like revenue increase over the 20 weeks to May 17th 2015. Total revenue was up four percent. Chief executive Henry Birch said the company’s online offerings were looking particularly solid. “The group’s performance continued to improve in the 20-week period, with our digital channels performing particularly strongly driven by improvements in marketing, retail cross-over and product development,” he said.
Did a twerking cactus really help increase revenue at Mecca Bingo?
Mecca has 91 bingo clubs in the UK, as well as operating online. The brand also includes Enracha, a nine-club bingo chain in Spain. While revenue for Mecca’s traditional bingo halls were flat, the company enjoyed an 18% increase in digital revenue during the period. Perhaps surprisingly, much of the success is being credited to a twerking cactus. In Autumn 2014 Mecca launched a television advertising campaign that featured a cactus plant dancing provocatively while telling viewers of Mecca’s latest online offer. In case you haven’t seen it, the advert begins by parodying shampoo commercials as a woman wearing a lab coat and clutching a clipboard walks forward to hint at what’s to come. It then cuts to a man in a cactus suit doing something that can only be described as twerking. The cactus promises new members £50 of play for £10 spent. “The improvement in Mecca’s digital revenue seen in the last 20 weeks is especially pleasing resulting in overall growth in the Mecca brand,” continued Mr Birch. Rank Group explained the rise was a result “an improved mobile product offer and a successful TV campaign.” Whether it was down to the randomness of the memorable advert, the deal offered or a combination of both, it looks like Mecca’s twerking cactus has done its job in boosting the company’s sales and its profile. 