Marcel Tobler, CEO of Swiss Casinos, lifts the lid on how the operator used AI to level up its ad creative while streamlining costs
There’s a lot of conversations being had at the moment about how AI is driving operational efficiencies, but how is Swiss Casinos using it in a creative capacity?
We are using it in several ways, but one of the most effective has been to create the visual assets for one of our most recent ad campaigns, A New Game Every Day. This ground-breaking video marketing campaign was based around the concept of “movement” and aimed to capture the brief moment when you become so immersed in a game that its characters seem to appear in the real world. Once we had the ad mapped out and story-boarded, we used AI to create commercial videos, visually merging the gaming world with reality. You can watch the adverts here. This innovative approach underlined our digital edge and made the campaign stand out as modern, immersive and relevant. 
How did the campaign perform? And did using AI help unlock any efficiencies?
The campaign performed incredibly well and to date has racked up more than 27 million impressions and 9 million views – this is impressive when you consider the population of Switzerland, where the ad ran, is just 9 million. I can’t go into too much detail, but the campaign has delivered an above average account creation to first deposit rate and with performance touchpoints from the first few months alone showing a highly promising conversion rate well above 50% which is a testament to the quality of the leads it has generated. Using AI to create the ad has significantly reduced spending on the campaign and allowed us to ultimately reduce the average CPA from the campaign by 40%. This shows that AI technology isn’t just experimental, it’s commercially effective, too.
Why do you think it resonated so well with players in Switzerland?
The campaign’s primary goal was to build brand awareness by clearly promoting our online casino brand, swisscasinos.ch, as having a USP of providing A New Game Every Day – something that we know is important to players as it gives them a reason to keep returning while keeping their experience exciting and fresh. Through high reach and consistent messaging, the campaign achieved its goals, boosting recall and establishing swisscasinos.ch as a dynamic and innovative online casino. It generated great interest and resonated well with players by showcasing familiar games and characters they recognise and love and seeing them emerge into the real world – something only made possible by AI.
What challenges do using AI in this way present and how did you overcome them?
There are many. It’s worth pointing out that while AI is great for generating campaign creatives, the concept, storyboard, editing and overall production still require input from skilled and experienced humans. Then there are the AI hallucinations to contend with – this is when the AI delivers a result that’s not expected, and we had enough of these with our A New Game Every Day campaign to create a blooper reel, which you can watch here. This shows why it’s so important to not solely rely on AI and have a team of human experts to sense-check what it is producing – this is certainly the case when putting campaigns through the lens of responsible gambling and safe gaming.
Beyond AI, how does Swiss Casinos leverage cutting-edge technologies to deliver a smooth and seamless experience across its retail and online casinos?
We have deployed smart technologies in many service areas across our properties, but especially at our new casino in Winterthur. This includes things like check-in and the cashier, which are fully automated. This means a faster, more efficient registration and cash handling process for customers, while freeing up staff to focus their attention where it matters – towards our guests and providing them with a personalized, premium experience. We also use smart technologies to support responsible gambling and compliance, and to power our Swiss Casinos Member Club. Ultimately, we are an omnichannel operator, and by leveraging state-of-the-art tech, we can provide a superior guest experience at all times and across all channels.
You mentioned that the Swiss Casinos Member Club is powered by smart tech. Can you talk to us through this?
The Swiss Casinos Member Club is a modern loyalty program that takes the player experience and customer experience to the next level. It first launched at our Schaffhausen property in 2024, and we’ve just rolled it out at our final property, marking a strategic milestone in the land-based casino sector. The purpose of the Swiss Casinos Member Club is to reward loyal guests and offer them more than just a typical casino visit. Thanks to smart technologies, registration is quick and free at the front desk, and guests get a personalized member card on the spot so they can start earning points straight away.
The card is linked to both slot machines and live games, and every round played earns rewards and status points that contribute to a six-level system – for each level cleared, the member unlocks additional rewards and perks. They can also use points to purchase items in the Swiss Casinos Member Club Reward Shop.
The Member Club is just for our retail offering now, but we will be introducing it to our online casino next year so that players can earn points across both channels. For us, the Member Club goes far beyond the casino floor and creates the technological and strategic backbone for delivering a seamless guest journey across all channels.
So, as you can see, Swiss Casinos is a company that embraces innovative technologies, whether that be AI for our marketing campaigns, or bridging the gap between the retail and online worlds.
