Site of the Month

Beacon Bingo

Beacon Bingo is a well known name in the world of land based bingo halls, why was the decision made to offer your brand on the internet?

Beacon Bingo is one of Europe’s largest and most experienced gaming organisations operating 6 Beacon Bingo Clubs and 26 Showboat machine arcades; opening its first club in 1966.

Online Bingo has established itself as a fantastic community game, which allows players to interact with their friends while they enjoy the gaming experience and what’s more, players can do this from the comfort of their own home. Beacon Bingo wanted to be part of this great online experience and extend their dedication to Bingo to this new medium by launching Beacon Bingo online.

We are a Bingo company and want to provide the best in bingo wherever it is played. Old clubs, new clubs, On-line and whatever comes next!

Tell us a bit more about your two hosts?

The Site Hosts are Bingo Manager Chris Drake and Television presenter Emma Morton Smith and were added as miniature people, acting as guides helping visitors find their way around the site.

Chris Drake – Chris is a long time Bingo operator who has always been in the forefront of Bingo developments. He was in at the start of bingo on the internet and now delighted to be running Beacon Bingo On-Line helping player find and access the Bingo entertainment they seek.

Emma Morton Smith – Is an experience television presenter and communicator with a knack for explaining things in easily understood language.

You are the first internet bingo site to offer video help across your site, how did the concept come about?

Beacon Bingo is the first in the bingo community to use ‘site hosts’ to help its players navigate the site and interact with them.

We wanted to echo our club experience by greeting our players as they enter the site and explain our games to them with a personal touch.

Free bingo is the latest craze, how do you feel that this has affected sites like Beacon Bingo who don’t offer it all day, every day?

Free Bingo is an appealing proposition to many Bingo players; while this is great the prizes available in these free bingo rooms often represents the amount that the player has paid to play.

Beacon Bingo offers a number of alternatives to the completely free bingo that is found on some other Bingo sites; BOGOF and penny bingo are two great options for Beacon Bingo players.

There is no doubt a place for free bingo On-line as there is in the clubs and yes we intend to add an element of it to our programme. However we do not see it as a product in it’s own right but as part of a balanced bingo offer.

How do you plan on maintaining the interest of your internet bingo players?

Beacon Bingo is dedicated to bringing the best in Bingo entertainment to bingo players everywhere. There are always new and interesting promotions, games and jackpots for the players and they are focused.

We will focus very strongly on community, innovation, entertainment and good value bingo policy, just as we do in our clubs.

How popular is BOGOF bingo to your members at Beacon Bingo?

BOGOF Bingo is very popular at Beacon Bingo. Most Bingo players are looking for good value bingo games and great bingo prizes. This low stakes/high returns attitude from bingo players is reflected in the popularity of the BOGOF and penny bingo games – we call it low stakes high fun bingo.

Again like free bingo we see it as part of a balanced bingo offer.

Which of your bingo offerings do you feel is most popular with your members and why?

The feeling of community and entertainment along with fun promotions and value for money. The way players jump between our facebook site and the playing page is a good example

We feel that free bingo is killing the bingo promotion as brands try and compete with sites like Cheeky Bingo – will you be focusing more on the prize promotions or going the way many sites have and offering more free bingo?

We will not be offering 24 hour free bingo but will use an element of free bingo along with big money promotions to reward our players.

How Does Beacon Bingo interact with its internet bingo community?

Social networks are “the new rock n’ roll” in the world of online bingo and Beacon Bingo is out to make a big noise with its innovative use of “social media” like Facebook and Twitter. Players can join the Beacon Bingo community by logging into their Facebook or Twitter account and they will be able to chat to other members, get updates on the latest news and promotions and view regular postings, videos and photos from Beacon. Beacon Bingo’s Facebook page is a distinctive focal point for creating a booming community of loyal Beacon online members – with the dual aim of retaining those players and increasing their lifetime value!

If that isn’t enough players can take advantage of daily quizzes, competitions and prize giveaways: Everyday there are free £5 and £10 promotional codes available as both prizes and rewards for players who become fans of the page and take part in the competitions. As a fan of the Facebook site, not only do players get to be part of a social network dedicated to a passion for bingo, but they also have an informal, engaging place where they can interact with the brand directly.

Chris Drake who is Beacon’s Online Manager, and one of the site’s hosts, said, “In order to give our customers the best possible experience each time they visit us, we are constantly looking to innovate to make their time with us as exciting and fun as possible. Using Facebook and Twitter it also gives the player a chance to interact directly with us meaning we get to listen to what the customers want and react accordingly.”

“As well as daily cash prizes to be won on the Facebook site we also offer anyone who joins us a Facebook fan with a Free £10 credit to play with us on the main site.”

---