Only in Vegas

“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” Does this phrase ring a bell? Yes, this popular line originally came from Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) ad campaign: “What happens here, stays here.”

In the mid – 1990’s, tourists places such as Treasure Island and MGM Grand had tried to switch into a Disney theme – park – type business by marketing their properties as family vacation destinations. Though the said hotel properties helped drive families to visit Las Vegas, it’s the misconception that LVCVA wanted to clear. The never shifted their marketing efforts to families and children. Hence, to avoid confusion, they decided to come up with series of “what happens here, stays here” commercials.

Based on the commercials, the target market of the ad campaign are travelers, specifically adults, who want to escape from their everyday life and do things that are not ordinary. Basically, the brand positioning they are using is adult freedom. The commercials market Las Vegas as the place where you do things you can’t or wouldn’t do anywhere else.

“What happens here, stays here” has encouraged the positioning of the brand as well as reflecting unique Las Vegas experience. Though I find the commercials bold and provocative, I still like the way they have presented the whole advertisement because I know that they are telling the truth. As we all know, Las Vegas has always been provocative and sexy.

In addition, the slogan has already become embedded in the vernacular. People still relate this slogan to the place where it was born. Actor Ben Affleck used to say it on the show Saturday Night Live. It’s been a clue on Wheel of Fortune. Just a year ago, the slogan was used as a movie title, though ‘here’ was replaced by ‘Vegas’, in the film “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

I must say that I very much like the uniqueness of the series of commercials. They went for a different way of presenting the main product. People from LVCVA did not settle for...