Outside experts critical of Las Vegas ad campaign

Thursday, Dec. 18, 2003 | 10:52 a.m.

A panel of meeting and convention planners argued Wednesday that Las Vegas sends the wrong message to the business community with its "what happens here, stays here" advertising campaign.

But the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which is paying for the television campaign created by R&R Partners, is reminding people that those ads -- known as "Vegas Stories" -- are directed at leisure travelers rather than business travelers.

A campaign that features the tag line "We work as hard as we play," is focused on the business community and doesn't include the more controversial slogan or depict any risque behavior by Las Vegas visitors.

Terry Jicinsky, vice president of marketing for the LVCVA, said there are no plans to scrap the "Vegas Stories" campaign and that the LVCVA is confident that it is communicating the right messages to the right audiences.

"We're very aware that our destination has two core audiences and two very specific campaigns," Jicinsky said.

He said the business brand campaign focuses not only on meeting space, hotel rooms and restaurants and shows to entertain clients, but also on how the excitement of the destination tends to increase attendance at an event.

Jicinsky said the results of the campaigns speak for themselves: Convention attendance is up 13 percent this year through October.

But it was the "Vegas Stories" TV campaign that stuck in the minds of panelists attending the final day of the Governor's Conference on Tourism in Las Vegas.

"It's not the most effective message to give to business," said Steven Hacker, president of the International Association of Exposition Managers, Dallas, of the "what happens here, stays here" message.

"You'll get a bunch of executives saying Las Vegas is not the kind of image we want to be associated with," Hacker said. "I think you should revisit the wisdom of that broadcast campaign."

Panelist Bruce Harris agreed.

"I'm disappointed with the 'what happens here' campaign," said Harris, president of Twinsburg, Ohio-based Conferon, a meeting planning company. "What is that message going to say to my wife? Is there something that's going to happen here that has to stay here? You're sending the wrong message. With so many good things here, why tell about the dark side?"

Harris' comment drew applause from many in attendance at the session. About 800 people from across the state attended the three-day conference.

Panelists also suggested that Las Vegas properties should be more flexible in their booking policies and contracts for meetings and conventions because with competition on the increase, planners could take their business elsewhere.

"It's easy to lose sight of the future if you've convinced yourself that you are bulletproof," Hacker said.

He explained that while Las Vegas, with its abundant hotel infrastructure and popular attractions, is a popular convention destination today, it could be vulnerable to rivals like Chicago, Dallas and Orlando, Fla., which would offer contract terms that are better for the shows.

Panelists said meeting planners are frustrated when they guarantee the purchase of a block of rooms for a convention, then find that the hotel or third-party operators sell rooms to conventioneers at cheaper rates than the block rate. The meeting planners say the conventioneer can use the Internet to find the lowest possible room rate, yet the meeting planner who negotiated to have the event at the hotel in the first place doesn't get any credit for the sale.

The end result, the panelists said, is that meeting planners must pay for food and catering and still pay for a block of rooms guaranteed in the contract, even though most of the conventioneers are staying at the hotel with a rate better than the negotiated rate.