Differing 'escape' ads sell Las Vegas, Reno
I remember Reno as a place only old retired people went to gamble or you went there to get a divorce. I remember it as being, downtown anyway, kind of rundown and one of those areas you always feel like you are going to get mugged. It has changed a lot in most of the downtown area. The city is attempting to dust off its image but there are still seedy parts in the downtown area. The two things I think will help is the excellent job they have done on the Truckee River area, making it a place you want to take a stroll, see the live concerts there and several down town. I highly recommend the "Brews and Blues" held in late spring early summer. The biggest and most appreciated project for Reno, when it is completed will be the train trench. No more trains passing under your hotel window at 2am. Of course locals will say that the completion of the freeway project at the Spaghetti Bowl, "I80 meets US395" but that will probably never finish.
RENO (AP) — In Las Vegas, "What happens here, stays here." But Reno, Sparks and Lake Tahoe combine to be "America's Adventure Place."
No glitz, just glory: The sunset over Lake Tahoe is just one difference between northern and southern Nevada.
By Tim Dunn, Reno Gazette-Journal via AP
Two phrases, two advertising slogans in Nevada. One might sell sin and the other scenery. Or, they might be selling the same thing — escape.
"The Vegas one is selling escapism from your humdrum life," said Tim Maland, president of the Reno Hilton, northern Nevada's largest hotel-casino. "The northern Nevada marketing statement is about leaving your ordinary life behind and coming to an adventure."
The suggestive Las Vegas line is a hit, so much so that it's the newest entry in the country's pop culture vocabulary. Everybody's saying it, from The Simpsons to first lady Laura Bush.
"Love it or hate it, this is our most successful ad campaign to date," Marina Nicola, a publicist for the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, said of the line created by R&R Partners advertising agency.
"It becomes the language," said Edward Estipona, a Reno advertising executive.
The northern Nevada line hasn't – yet. A cartoon character or president's wife, at least to anyone's knowledge, hasn't uttered it.
The line is repeated often at the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority, where tourism officials count on "America's Adventure Place" to create an image for northern Nevada.
After 9/11, fewer visitors came to northern Nevada and Las Vegas. The Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority's annual visitor count fell from 5.1 million in 2000 to 4.8 million in 2004. In Las Vegas, the number dropped from 35.8 million in 2000 to about 35 million in 2002.
"We found Reno didn't have a great perception in our (tourist) market," said Deanna Ashby, the authority's executive marketing director. She described Reno's old image as "a place where you can get your teeth knocked out in a barroom brawl."
"I think we have made strides in changing that," she said.
Slogans, even ones with just three words, don't always come easily. For the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority, the biggest problem was the last word.
"One of the things we debated a lot was the word place," said Jeff Beckelman, president and chief executive of the convention authority.
"We went through 'America's Adventure Destination,' 'America's Adventure City,' 'America's Adventure Opportunity.' It's hard to come up with a word that described what this entire region stands for. We settled on place. I liked the way it fit with the other two words."
Presto, a tag line.
The convention authority wants to suggest such adventures as skiing, hiking, mountain biking and whitewater kayaking.
"Everything had land, air and water involved," said Estipona, whose EVP Partners ad agency created the campaign to go with the "adventure place" slogan.
The idea is you can climb a mountain, or ski down one, in the morning, then gamble, eat and take in a show at night.
"We have to sell a gaming-plus mentality," Estipona said. "We can't live on gaming. If we just said 'gaming,' guess what, just about every place has gaming. What makes us different?"
The landscape.
"We're always going to have our natural resources," Estipona said. "Use our natural resources to attract people."
Las Vegas, with "What happens here, stays here," re-created an image.
"Might be that you can get away with something you can't get away with at home," said Liz Younger of the Younger public relations and advertising agency in Reno.
It took two guys to come up with the five-word Vegas line, R&R writers Jason Hoff and Jeff Candido, who since have moved on to Boston and New York, respectively.
The television ads suggest naughty behavior, but what happens in Las Vegas is mostly left to the imagination of the viewer.
Tourist visits to Las Vegas have increased since the start of the ad campaign. Northern Nevada's figures also are up this year.
"I think, probably, the Vegas (campaign) is working well," Younger said. "I think America's Adventure Place, if given enough time, will too."
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Nevada ads sell 'escape'2/2/2005 8:58 AMRENO No glitz, just glory: The sunset over Lake Tahoe is just one difference between northern and southern Nevada. By Tim Dunn, Reno Gazette-Journal via AP-->
RENO (AP) — In Las Vegas, "What happens here, stays here." But Reno, Sparks and Lake Tahoe combine to be "America's Adventure Place."
No glitz, just glory: The sunset over Lake Tahoe is just one difference between northern and southern Nevada.
By Tim Dunn, Reno Gazette-Journal via AP
Two phrases, two advertising slogans in Nevada. One might sell sin and the other scenery. Or, they might be selling the same thing — escape.
"The Vegas one is selling escapism from your humdrum life," said Tim Maland, president of the Reno Hilton, northern Nevada's largest hotel-casino. "The northern Nevada marketing statement is about leaving your ordinary life behind and coming to an adventure."
The suggestive Las Vegas line is a hit, so much so that it's the newest entry in the country's pop culture vocabulary. Everybody's saying it, from The Simpsons to first lady Laura Bush.
"Love it or hate it, this is our most successful ad campaign to date," Marina Nicola, a publicist for the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, said of the line created by R&R Partners advertising agency.
"It becomes the language," said Edward Estipona, a Reno advertising executive.
The northern Nevada line hasn't – yet. A cartoon character or president's wife, at least to anyone's knowledge, hasn't uttered it.
The line is repeated often at the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority, where tourism officials count on "America's Adventure Place" to create an image for northern Nevada.
After 9/11, fewer visitors came to northern Nevada and Las Vegas. The Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority's annual visitor count fell from 5.1 million in 2000 to 4.8 million in 2004. In Las Vegas, the number dropped from 35.8 million in 2000 to about 35 million in 2002.
"We found Reno didn't have a great perception in our (tourist) market," said Deanna Ashby, the authority's executive marketing director. She described Reno's old image as "a place where you can get your teeth knocked out in a barroom brawl."
"I think we have made strides in changing that," she said.
Slogans, even ones with just three words, don't always come easily. For the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority, the biggest problem was the last word.
"One of the things we debated a lot was the word place," said Jeff Beckelman, president and chief executive of the convention authority.
"We went through 'America's Adventure Destination,' 'America's Adventure City,' 'America's Adventure Opportunity.' It's hard to come up with a word that described what this entire region stands for. We settled on place. I liked the way it fit with the other two words."
Presto, a tag line.
The convention authority wants to suggest such adventures as skiing, hiking, mountain biking and whitewater kayaking.
"Everything had land, air and water involved," said Estipona, whose EVP Partners ad agency created the campaign to go with the "adventure place" slogan.
The idea is you can climb a mountain, or ski down one, in the morning, then gamble, eat and take in a show at night.
"We have to sell a gaming-plus mentality," Estipona said. "We can't live on gaming. If we just said 'gaming,' guess what, just about every place has gaming. What makes us different?"
The landscape.
"We're always going to have our natural resources," Estipona said. "Use our natural resources to attract people."
Las Vegas, with "What happens here, stays here," re-created an image.
"Might be that you can get away with something you can't get away with at home," said Liz Younger of the Younger public relations and advertising agency in Reno.
It took two guys to come up with the five-word Vegas line, R&R writers Jason Hoff and Jeff Candido, who since have moved on to Boston and New York, respectively.
The television ads suggest naughty behavior, but what happens in Las Vegas is mostly left to the imagination of the viewer.
Tourist visits to Las Vegas have increased since the start of the ad campaign. Northern Nevada's figures also are up this year.
"I think, probably, the Vegas (campaign) is working well," Younger said. "I think America's Adventure Place, if given enough time, will too."
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Nevada ads sell 'escape'2/2/2005 8:58 AMRENO No glitz, just glory: The sunset over Lake Tahoe is just one difference between northern and southern Nevada. By Tim Dunn, Reno Gazette-Journal via AP-->
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