Page 122 - BCM June 2024

MARKETING

The program was pro- • e Frequent Bowler’s Club Card issued by ARC could
moted at ARC centers be used at any location, including a liates such as Tri-
with a variety of support angle Bowling Centers.
materials, including • A card transaction with no paid games would gener-
counter cards and iers. ate a receipt showing the cardholder’s point balance and
bowling average (if used).
• Each center, upon approval from the corporate o ce,
could create its own unique tables of coupon value o ers.
ese could include special o ers on bowling center prod-
ucts (including from the pro shop), as well as o ers from
local business ventures.
• Each center had the option to issue points for paid
games of open bowling. e number of points issued was
normally one point for each paid game.
• Each center could issue a select number of bonus
points to a member who signed up another new member.
• Additional points could be provided for bowling on
slow days or during slow day parts.
It was a far-reaching, exciting program, and RSI even
Yes, as well as who had the capability of executing “Instant Win Games” and
Yes, as well as who
is bowling in more than one “Sweepstakes” prizes. ese sales promotions could be
center (league or open bowling). managed by a single center or by any number of partici-
ose are just a few of the highlights from our conver- pating centers. It was agreed that RSI and ARC would so-
sations with RSI. e program went live at a handful of licit national and regional partners to provide high-value
locations in 1992. It was an instant success. e system prizes.
was extremely fast and easy to use for both customers and RSI monitored all points issued by an individual center
employees. and reported any unusual activity. It also provided a
One of the features that I especially liked was the abil- printout of all cardholder members that were active for
ity of an ARC employee to come into the center, swipe a designated period, resulting in an active (as well as
their card from the terminal that faced the customer, and inactive) list of participants at each location. is activity
receive a printout of all the specials for that day. Any dis- report included (for each location):
counts were immediately applied to the customer’s pre- • Total Frequent Bowler’s Club members.
paid remittance to avoid any confusion or disagreement. • Members signed up for the month.
Before the program was implemented at all locations, • Members signed up for the year to date.
RSI provided a list of program speci cations that were • Paid games for the month.
introduced, along with sample equipment, at regional • Paid games for the year.
meetings within the ARC chain. Here are a few of the high- In addition to all of that, RSI provided a 1-800 techni-
lights from those meetings, as well as the de nitions that cal help desk support function. Trained technicians were
were provided: available to answer any center employee’s questions
• e Frequent Bowler’s Club is simple, easy to use and about the operation of the system. Unfortunately, the
compact. hours were limited, so some questions from our locations,
• Operating details were spelled out on a single page. many of which were open 24 hours, had to be addressed
• e countertop system had a 9-inch by 12-inch foot- on the following day.
print. I tried to hook up with Byrley again when I was with
• e terminal and printer t together on a custom Nationwide Bowling Corporation, but by that time he was
stand. so busy with the supermarket program that they e ectively
• Each Frequent Bowler’s Club Card was computer stopped promoting the idea to any other business con-
matched and inserted into a card carrier. cerns.
• e carrier contained a brief detachable customer en- I often wonder if this is an idea that has come full circle,
rollment form, including information about club features and could perhaps be addressed by some enterprising
and bene ts on a portion that could be retained by the new group of bowling centers… or even an individual
customer. operator?

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