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SCALING THE AEM CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL

August 30, 2016

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Ben HubbleExec Director, Marketing Technology Development

Lynn TabetAEM Technologist/Cake Provider

WHO WE AREMGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL

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• About MGM Resorts• The Past • How Our System Works• The Present• So What Happened?

IN THIS PRESENTATION

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SLIDE TITLE

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LAS VEGAS RESORTS

REGIONAL RESORTS

RESORT FAMILY

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THE PAST

OUR ORIGIN

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• Formed through mergers• Strongly independent resorts• Disparate technologies and approaches• No CMS• Web 1.0• No comprehensive guest strategy

“PRE” STATETANGLED WEB

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BUILDING A PLATFORMGUEST EXPERIENCE TOUCH POINTS

DIRECT & INDIRECT, DIGITAL & ANALOG

GUEST EXPERIENCE FEATURES

UNDERLYING TECH FUNCTIONS

PEOPLE & PROCESS

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• A foundation for content management• Ecosystem of integrated products• End-user (authoring) experience• Ability to customize the product for our company• Growing support base

WHY AEM?WHAT DID IT OFFER?

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• Analytics: Adobe Analytics, Dynamic Tag Manager, IBM Tealeaf• Testing: Adobe Target• Site search: Adobe Search & Promote• Media playback: Adobe Scene7• Translations provider• Content delivery network• In-house transactional systems• Existing touch points (digital signage, etc.)

OTHER TOOLSLOOKING AT THE WHOLE PICTURE

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• Single AEM architecture for all resort sites• Single site architecture for all resort sites• eCommerce: hotel reservations, ticket sales, restaurant reservations• Loyalty program sign-in and offer redemption• Full translation into multiple languages• Responsive

WEB OVERVIEWOUR CHECKLIST

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HOW OUR SYSTEM WORKS

COLONIZATION PLAN

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CORE CONTENTCONTENT POPULATES PAGES

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• Tiles• Adobe Search & Promote• From Core Content• Tags, categories & priorities • Guest location• Analytic influence

• Site Content• From Core Content• In-component authoring• eCommerce capabilities

HOW IT WORKSTAG! YOU’RE IT.

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• Guests need full service in-market• Maintain one version of each site• Search engine rankings• Some drawbacks (page complexity/weight, authoring)

WHY RESPONSIVE?AUTHOR ONCE. READ EVERYWHERE.

Oh crap moment:Authors tend to only view one viewport when “proofing” their work.

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THE PRESENT

WHERE WE LANDED

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• Launched July 2015• Highly engaged team • Provided initial visibility into system and operational issues• Single property team operates site

FIRST OUT OF THE GATE: MGM GRANDOUR MOST COMPLICATED PROPERTY

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• Focus on Las Vegas• Executive sign-off• Property buy-in• 16 sites in total, 12 in 4 months

REMAINING PROPERTIESTHE ROLL OUT

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• Three weeks per property in parallel (five batches)• External contractors & internal employees augmented the team• Agency partner on-site• Manual move of website content• Careful EDAM/WCM coordination• Staging environments• Redirect lists• On the job training (including “train the trainers”)• Property team maintained• Internal support team for tech questions

HOW WE DID ITWAR ROOM

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• Centralized build, decentralized operations • Changes in system demand• Content model did not support all users• Design differentiation• Small issues were magnified• Permission issues• Lack of governance (tech, strategy)• Organization not ready to support content• Operational Discovery

- What worked for one did not work for all

SCALING UP CHALLENGESGROWING PAINS

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• Empowerment of marketing staff• Decreased time to market• Single strategy• Data for informed decision making• Conversion & engagement

BETTER FOR USORGANIZATION

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• Consistent experiences across sites• Consistent content across touch points (web, Apps)• Relevant content• Actionable

BETTER FOR OUR GUESTSTECHNOLOGY

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SO WHAT HAPPENED?

THRIVE OR JUST SURVIVE?

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• Empowerment of marketing staff L• Decreased time to market J• Single strategy K• Data for informed decision making K• Conversion & engagement J

ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGESBETTER FOR US?

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• Consistent experiences across sites J • Consistent content across touch points K • Relevant content K• Actionable J• Managing new builds K

TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGESPOST-BUILD CHANGES

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• Centralized operational plan• Constant system revision• Assess our organization’s capabilities• Be iterative if possible• Be aware of the AEM release cycle• Every AEM implementation is unique• AEM experts are not common

• Even authors have to be moderately technical

AEM LESSONS LEARNEDMOVING FORWARD

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• Distributed power• Fast-ish• Establishes processes• Separation of content from design• Remote access• Scheduling• Standardized

AEM POSITIVESYAY!

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• Cost• Unique execution/not standard• External support• Technical dependencies• Multiple interfaces

AEM NEGATIVESBOO!

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THANK YOU!