Las Vegas, Nevada

A Marketing Campaign

That Combines Direct Response, Interactive, Radio and Promotion

to Increase Occupancy Rates at a Leading Las Vegas Resort

The Aladdin Resort & Casino

Background

The Aladdin is the newest entry into a crowded field of major Las Vegas resorts. The 2,657 room strip property’s opening date in August, 2000 coincided with a significant addition to the market’s inventory of rooms. It preceded a precipitous decline in business following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Aladdin’s challenges, according to the “Las Vegas Review Journal,” included “…limited operating capital, a questionable design, a limited customer database, the recession-blighted economy and competition from multi-property companies.”

The Aladdin identifies midlevel properties such as Paris, Mandalay Bay and Caesars’ Palace as its primary competitors.

The Aladdin has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since September, 2001. During the post-September 11 plunge in travel the resort’s occupancy rates sank as low as 40%.

The Aladdin Resort & Casino

The Marketing Challenge and the Marketing Solution

A team of Infinity Phoenix marketing representatives met in Las Vegas with senior marketing management of the property. Specific objectives were identified. Each related to increasing occupancy rates and creating a higher level of visibility and desirability for the resort.

The team proposed a three-pronged solution that the Aladdin implemented. The solution was primarily funded by shifting funds previously earmarked for local television advertising.

The marketing campaign was developed to target the Aladdin’s Phoenix feeder market utilizing

online
radio
promotion

The Aladdin Resort & Casino

Interactive

The interactive component of the campaign utilized both a promotional website and targeted e-mail.

Website

Infinity Phoenix planned, developed and hosted the website, www.1800rublamp.com.

This site is used to direct listeners a mirrored site of the Aladdin’s main site where benefits are communicated and a booking engine functionality is available to process reservations. The site is marketed only on the radio and the URL does not appear in the resort’s advertising placed in “The Arizona Republic.” The www.1800rublamp.com site utilizes frames and allows the marketing staff at the Aladdin to source each of the three radio stations driving traffic to the site:

KZON
KMLE
KOOL

The Aladdin Resort & Casino

Interactive

Targeted e-mail

A targeted e-mail offer was launched in January, 2002. Infinity’s interactive marketing campaign had the purpose of generating a direct response for a specific lodging offer.

19,978 emails were sent to filtered members of the databases for KZON, KMLE and KOOL. 5,217 were opened. 1,935 recipients visited the www.1800rublamp.com as a result of this campaign.

The offer was a $59 midweek package. In the first eight weeks of the campaign, (January 1-February 24^th) more than 1500 $59 packages were sold.

Data is not available which reflects weekend bookings and weekday bookings made at higher rates. As the campaign progressed, weekly bookings continued in the 200+ range.

The Aladdin Resort & Casino

Radio

The radio campaign is built on the framework of a 26-week campaign which keeps the Aladdin in front of the stations’ one million plus weekly listeners throughout the year.

The scheduling strategy concentrates the advertising into one week each month.

The creative platform is direct response oriented. The benefits of the property are communicated and listeners are invited to call immediately to book reservations at attractive kid-week rates.

The sixty-second advertisements have proven effective both at creating the desired direct response for the mid-week offer, but have also generated a significant increase in business for the resort over the weekends. Reservations from the Phoenix feeder market have increased significantly as a result of the campaign.

The Aladdin Resort & Casino

Promotion

To keep the property’s name in front of active and participatory Phoenicians, the Aladdin secured sponsorship to the KMLE Country 108 Hummer.

The Hummer is one of the most recognized vehicles in the market. It enjoys ongoing presence at major events ranging from the World Series and other major sporting events to community events such as Glendale’s acclaimed Glitter and Glow, a holiday lighting event.

This extensive street visibility is augmented by consistent on-air support, including mentions of the Aladdin in the live broadcasts made from the vehicle.

In addition, live KMLE broadcasts from Las Vegas will be originating from the Aladdin.

The Aladdin Resort & Casino

The Results and Additional Initiatives

According to the “Las Vegas Review Journal” the property’s occupancy rate for February climbed to 90%. Internal data indicates the property is ahead of its projected 92% occupancy rate year to date.

In addition, as part of the bundled marketing solutions Infinity developed a new positioning statement for the resort. “Vegas Your Way” rolled out in a regional campaign in “USA Today” in March 27, 2002.

The three-pronged campaign for the Aladdin underscores the capabilities of Infinity Phoenix to design and implement executable solutions to real world marketing challenges.