Gaming briefs for April 26, 2004

Monday, April 26, 2004 | 10:43 a.m.

A New York advertising agency has won an account with the Hard Rock hotel-casino in Las Vegas for a non-traditional marketing campaign that could cost as much as $10 million.

DiMassimo Brand Adverting competed with more than 40 other advertising agencies for the account, Phil Shalala, vice president of marketing at the Hard Rock, said.

He said the campaign will include non-traditional marketing strategies such as guerilla advertising through the Internet and other non-traditional outlets.

"Non-traditional basically means we're not going to do your typical billboards. Our market hates to be advertised to. Once you stick something in their face they're not going to see it," Shalala said. He said the hotel's target audience is between the ages of 21 and 40.

He said that previously the Hard Rock has used various local marketing firms to perform the hotel's marketing and public relations efforts, and that the hotel will continue to do that on other projects.

Report: Design changes preceded garage collapse

ATLANTIC CITY -- The faulty installation of concrete floors done after cost- and timesaving design changes were made triggered the deadly collapse of a Tropicana Casino and Resort garage during construction, according to a published report.

Connections of prefabricated steel reinforcement rods and a beam in garage floors to six key outer columns left the structure in a sorely unstable condition, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing engineers for the contractor and others who studied the designs and debris.

The collapse killed four workers and injured 20 others when the top five floors of the 10-story, 2,700-space structure caved during an Oct. 30 concrete pour on the top floor.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is due to release its findings on the accident Friday. The Atlantic County prosecutor said a criminal inquiry of the collapse has been started.