Brand differentiation is the name of the game and this is particularly true when it comes to destination marketing. The strategic thinking behind the Las Vegas rebrand is a study in masterful marketing. And it’s something other destinations – and brands struggling to stand out – should take note of!
Why did Vegas tinker with one of the most recognizable slogans around? And has it been successful? We’ll explore this, as well as:
- Vegas’ marketing and branding evolution.
- The evolving Vegas consumer.
- The basics of rebranding.
And here are some rebranding stats to keep in mind as we go!
- 79% say user generated content influences their buying decisions.
- An Onbrand report found that 70% of brand managers feel that building their audience is more valuable than direct sales.
- The 2017 Sprout Social Index found that 51% of respondents automatically unfollow a brand that does something they don’t like.
We know the old slogan: What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. But therein lies the dilemma. If Vegas remained a secretive place where no one knows what happens there, how would they leverage that online – and potentially viral consumer generated content?
Well Vegas took that into account with its rebrand, and it is a masterful marketing approach to endear itself to the next generation.
Evolving Its Marketing & Branding to Match
The social landscape is ever evolving, and Las Vegas is tweaking its image to redefine itself. The new slogan, “What happens here, only happens here,” was launched in late January during the 2020 Grammy awards.
The new tagline seeks to further highlight the one-of-a-kind experiences that only Las Vegas has to offer. And it’s taking up a good chunk of the conversation around marketing in Las Vegas as you see below.
While the former slogan was firmly embedded in the national lexicon, the new one rings of an invitation into an exclusive experience. And anything with an air of exclusivity piques interest; as human nature dictates, we always yearn to know what’s behind closed doors.
And the Las Vegas rebrand is going all in on the #OnlyVegas idea for good reason. As with any brand, smart social listening around the consumer experience is the fastest way to build products and services that best serve your target audience. Just ask iHeartRadio.
Not only does iHeartRadio use social listening to capture fan activity and monitor sentiment around sponsorships, they were also early adopters in creatively leveraging user generated content (UGC). Their iHeartRadio Awards Show for instance enables voters to back their favorite artists and in turn generates tons of traction online – all of which they monitor in the NetBase product.
UGC is definitely something you want to cultivate whenever possible as 79% of consumers say that it influences their purchasing decisions.
These days it’s all about building a buzz around consumer experience and capturing user generated content through smart social media monitoring. By building the idea of exclusive experiences into its rebrand, Vegas is in good position to generate lots of social traction – which means lots of insight into the target audience.
The Evolving Vegas Consumer
R&R Partners, the agency behind both the original slogan and the new Las Vegas rebrand, built the new campaign on the knowledge that brand loyalty isn’t what it used to be. Millennials and Gen X’ers are digital natives and they’ll drop a brand in a heartbeat when something better comes along.
Yes, the old slogan is as iconic as the city itself, but the new one gives the younger generation a sense of experiencing something you can’t get anywhere else. And they’ll share all about it online.
That’s exactly what R&R CEO Billy Vassiliadis shared with USA TODAY saying, “with this idea of us exclusively offering a certain experience to this sharing generation, what becomes vital to any brand and destination is having peers influence peers. Your friends will believe you more than they’ll believe me telling them this is the best place to be.”
And getting a solid understanding of your target audience involves going past simple demographics and drilling down into the psychographic substrata to better understand behaviors.
But not only that – be sure to jump into the Geo Regions function as well to see where your campaign is working well and were it could use a boost. Marketing certainly isn’t a one-size-fits-all endeavor.
Rebrand Snapshot
While this is a snapshot of January 2020 right after they announced their rebrand, you can see that the Las Vegas campaign wasn’t getting traction yet with its neighbors, Utah and Idaho. It’s great information to dig into to ensure your next campaign is accurately targeting your audience where they live, work or play.
You really can go as far into the data as you need to – which is why so many top brands rely on the next generation artificial intelligence (AI) in the NetBase product to find and understand what resonates with their audience.
Rebranding Basics
Whether you are considering a rebrand, or are knee deep in your campaign right now, a solid understanding of your target audience through extensive social listening is key to your success.
People will unfollow your brand on social media with a quickness if they see you doing something they don’t like, so due diligence is crucial here.
In the process of hashing out your new logo, product line or entire brand identity, your market research should be built from not only accurate, but transparent data you can dig through. Building your campaign on accurate information is the cornerstone of a rebrand, and brands that cut corners here only invite headaches and missed targets in the future.
In the NetBase product we help you simplify this process with dashboards. The NetBase product provides dozens of purpose-built and fully customizable dashboard templates for a variety of industries and use cases to capture the data you need at the click of a button.
And here are just a few that are extremely valuable to anyone working on a rebrand:
- Category Analysis
- Content Affinities
- Cultural Affinities
- Emotion Drivers
- Food/Eating Affinities
- Passion Points
With the ability to customize and add up to 50 widgets per template, you can have the exact data you need all in one place. When you’re ready, present or share your findings to keep your decision makers in the loop.
So – whether you are in the middle of a rebrand or just engaging with your target audience, NetBase Quid has the tools that top brands use every day to build marketing campaigns based on rock solid social media analytics.
Be sure to reach out for a personalized demo – we’d be happy to help you get the most out of your social listening so you can execute your next campaign with confidence.
