June 2001 Image Las Vegas: Its Bad Image Isn¹t All That Bad Change isn't always good When is an image problem not a problem? When the image belongs to Las Vegas, which, after 10 years of promoting itself as a family destination, has finally embraced its popular association with sex and sin. Turns out people like that sort of thing. A new TV and print ad campaign proclaims the city’s new/old philosophy, “Rule No. 1: There are no rules.” In one commercial, a young woman in a spaghetti-strap top and translucent skirt observes the traces of a strange man who has abandoned his regular life and split for Vegas. The traces: A ringing cell phone lies abandoned in the desert, documents from a briefcase blow in the wind and a necktie dangles from the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign on the city’s outskirts. In another ad, the silhouettes of two nude, buxom woman – the sort that decorate the mud flaps of some big trucks – cavort around a desert truck stop and then hitch a ride to Vegas; the ad concludes, “What you want. When you want.” Focus on the Good Times This replaces a campaign that featured restaurateur Wolfgang Puck serving up lobster, David Cassidy in dancing shoes and images of golf courses, swimming pools and massive theme-park hotels. Belatedly, the city’s promoters realized lots of cities have good restaurants and recreation, even casinos. But none equals Las Vegas’ promise as a place to have a raunchy good time. According to The Wall Street Journal, an 18-month, $250,000 study commissioned by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority found a significant attraction to the city’s naughtiness. “What is appealing to (consumers) is the feeling of abandon they get when they arrive,” says Randy Snow, creative director at R&R Partners, the Las Vegas ad agency that developed the new campaign. Specifically, he says, they saw Las Vegas as a place where “time has no meaning. You can eat breakfast at 2 in the afternoon and dinner at 4 in the morning.” The lesson for jewelers? If you have a distinctive image that works in your market, think very hard before changing it. Maybe your customers like you just the way you are. – by Mark E. Dixon In its new ad campaign for Las Vegas, R&R Partners establishes a Web presence touting a fictional organization called the Freedom Party, based in Las Vegas. The party’s platform includes the following: “What we need is a party that shirks responsibility! A party that lets you make it up as you go along and doesn’t look at you weird. A party without rules. That’s what people find when they come to Las Vegas. “