The golden nugget of Las Vegas’ entertainment strategy — John Schadler // Harkey Group

Marketing is beyond the front-facing communication of branding and campaigns. And when you're in a hyper-competitive environment, you need the Steve Wynn genius to win. It is the idea that quality attracts quality to the extent that people were so proud of the hotel brand he built they wanted to buy the hotel's sheets and shirts. How do you replicate such phenomenal marketing in your space? Listen to John Schadler, Managing Director of Harkey Group, as he discusses the golden nuggets of Las Vegas entertainment strategy.
About the speaker

John Schadler

Harkey Group

 - Harkey Group

John Schadler is Managing Director at Harkey Group

Show Notes

  • 02:53
    Why is Las Vegas the textbook case study for marketing genius?
    Vegas has always been the center of entrepreneurship. There's a wild west attitude about the place, and it's always been the new frontier where anything is possible.
  • 05:09
    Breaking free from brand stereotypes through marketing
    How do you appeal to a wider audience? How do you appeal to an audience that has expectations of being wowed? And how do you break away from the casino as Vegas's core and center attraction in the strip?
  • 09:41
    Johns favorite Vegas marketing campaigns
    The launch campaign for Bellagio was another level of quality for the marketplace and in establishing this premise of ultra-luxury and the romance associated with Bellagio and its Italian heritage theme.
  • 15:19
    Differentiating in a crowded marketplace
    Branding has to be at the forefront. And there has to be healthy budgets and the desire and ability to reach out to the best of the best in the marketing world to get things done.
  • 18:51
    How competition makes us all better
    Innovation doesnt happen in the boardroom, it happens under fire from competition.
  • 19:34
    What is the genius of Steve Wynn?
    The genius of Steve Wynn was that Steve understood the consumer mindset. He understood consumer desire, and he understood the romance of a vacation.

Quotes

  • "Vegas has always been the center of entrepreneurship. There's a wild west attitude about the place, and it's always been the new frontier where anything is possible." - John Schadler

  • "The marketplace in Vegas is so highly hyper-competitive and condensed right there on the strip that you can't survive without being extraordinary." - John Schadler

  • "The launch campaign for Bellagio was another level of quality for the marketplace and in establishing this premise of ultra-luxury and the romance associated with Bellagio and its Italian heritage theme. It brought a sophisticated urban sensibility to Vegas, introducing celebrity chefs. It introduced the beautiful water ballet and, in the front of the building, very significantly, the Bellagio collection of fine art that Steve Wynn procured and curated and the ultimate in luxury accommodations and high-end retail, again, raising the bar, communicating effectively through brand, and setting an expectation of the kind of another level of heightened entertainment and luxury." - John Schadler

  • "Steve Wynn approached making in Vegas with the idea that quality brings quality. For many, many years, Vegas was viewed as a leisure destination that, maybe wasn't, was about fun. And it was about excitement. But the quality wasn't at the highest level of consideration. Today's marketplace has been driven and continues to be driven by quality experiences." - John Schadler

  • "Brand is not just your outward-facing message, and it's not just your logo identity. The most successful brands in Las Vegas are about every touch point the consumer experiences within a facility before you arrive and once you leave." - John Schadler

  • "The genius of Steve Wynn was that Steve understood the consumer mindset. He understood consumer desire, and he understood the romance of a vacation. He understood the emotional connection one has with a hotel facility, with service, how you're treated, and how you're greeted." - John Schadler

About the speaker

John Schadler

Harkey Group

 - Harkey Group

John Schadler is Managing Director at Harkey Group

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