Las Vegas is focused on luring the younger crowd and they're succeeding.
For any business to maintain longevity, reinvention is a necessity—even if that business happens to span a city. It is no secret that Las Vegas is in the middle of a makeover—more specifically, a makeover to attract millenials. The strategy leverages everything those born between the 1980s and 2000s love: social media, technological advances, and dance-worthy music. The story of Sin City’s reinvention goes back over a decade.
It all began in 2007 in the Nevada destination hit a record high in gambling revenue. But alas, what comes up must, eventually, come down. The town that was believed to be impervious to the economy’s highs and lows took a deep dive when the recession plagued the country in 2008. Gambling revenue dropped more than 10 percent in just a year, and while gambling had previously been a steady revenue to dependent, suddenly 60 percent of the strip’s revenues came from non-gaming.
Though the strip never ceased to exist, gaming has never quite been the same. Blame it on people being more careful with their well-earned dollars or, at least for the younger demographic, the image of a line of visor-clad elderly women pulling a levers at the slot machines.
So yes, if Vegas didn’t want to just survive the recession, but thrive, reinvention would be a must. That forward-thinking perspective is why The Las Vegas Convention Center and Visitor’s Authority (LVCVA) called on their go-to communications agency R&R Partners. In case you missed it, they are the agency who created the ultra-successful “What happens here, stays here” campaign. Now they have a new campaign pointed at millenials–it’s called HyperVegas. It’s a technology that allows Vegas businesses to utilize social media addiction and the new “influencer” obsession to their advantage. On the HyperVegas site, R&R notes that a plan to enforce the following strategy by 2020: “To effectively reach our segments, we’re going to behave more like an entertainment and lifestyle publisher of content, similar to BuzzFeed or Refinery29. That means curating peers that our audiences trust and creating or inventing dynamic work with those influencers who can authentically advocate on our behalf.”
As for the resorts’ moves to pull in newer, younger customer, Caesars LINQ Casino knew they had to appease the dollar-pinching ways by accepting that when a group of pals come to the strip for a good time, they do there best pile in as many partiers as possible into one room. So instead of continuing on with conventional hotel room options and turning a blind eye to millenials looking to save, LINQ now offer 12 bunk bedrooms so that groups of friends don’t have to curl up on the floor to save on costs. In their official statement they confirm the motive because the pivot—noting that the “hip” and “chic” new technology and décor is an “unforgettable” journey for “millennials and modern” visitors. They’re even offering yoga classes specifically for the avocado toast-loving crowd.
Down the strip, the MGM Resorts are trading traditionally swanky set ups for communal picnic tables and a beer garden that looks an industrial warehouse fit for the Arts District. Essentially, Las Vegas—unlike ever before–is looking beyond the casinos to draw people in. Another option for instant gratification upon arrival can be found at Planet Hollywood’s The Tipsy Robot. Visitors can customize an order on a self-service kiosk (a glorified tablet) before a robot, courtesy of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student, shakes and stirs the drink.
High-end and innovative businesses are no doubt what keep millennials happy when they are here, but as to what lures those in their 20s and 30s to Vegas in the first place? Our bet is on the entertainment. Aside from Tao Beach’s Playboy Fridays at the Venetian Hotel, what was once a mish-mosh of heritage artists (Cher and Celine Dion) and circus acts (Siegfried and Roy) changed forever with the addition of the Princess of Pop, Britney Spears, in 2013. Her success proved to the strip that, yes, there is life outside of the casino and when you promise millennials a chance to sing along to “Oops I Did It Again” they are willing to spend what they will no longer on gambling. As of 2017, Spears raked in $100 million in revenue—possibly the most successful residency in Vegas’ history. And after a year-long break she is moving from Planet Hollywood to the Park Theater at the Monte Carlo Resort to do it all over again in 2019.
Spears’ fellow chart toppers of yesteryear the Backstreet Boys joined in at Planet Hollywood in 2017. The boy band’s run has been so triumphant that they have extended into 2018. Also in 2017, a newer act, Lady Gaga announced a two-year residency at the MGM Park Theater. Mr. Worldwide himself, Pitbull, has his own stretch of shows at Planet Hollywood’s Zappos Theater starting in April. And now, rumor has it that Gwen Stefani is preparing to ink her very own deal in the Nevada party city. Bottom line: Whatever sort of pop music you prefer, there is likely an act that’ll have you screaming with pleasure—and that’s in addition to activities to sure to keep you amused before and after the performance.
So, when are you booking your next trip?
Once you make it to Vegas, be sure to stop by Playboy Fridays at Tao Beach, the Venetian Hotel’s 18,000-square-foot desert oasis. Dance along to the best DJ sets with bunnies in bikinis every Friday from now until Labor Day Weekend.