Marketing Lessons from Vegas

Last week, I visited Las Vegas. Competition amongst casinos is fierce - what do the most successful ones do to retain customers?

Sin city is virtually awash with lights and glitz. Each casino clamors for customers, and entices them with everything from lions to white tigers to top quality shows.

I kept a careful eye out for which casinos the crowds were flocking into, and staying in and why.

What did I notice? The overblown glitz campaigns were not working. People would walk in out of curiousity, and walk directly out after seeing the garish site!

Who kept customers? The casinos that were neither overstated nor understated in their approach. I noticed that the ones with solid presence such as Excaliber, the Bellagio, and the Venetian had the largest number of people entering and staying. They had 1) a theme 2) attractions that were enticing such as the Blue Man show or the Tournament of Kings 3) they were clean and well kept and 4) the staff was courteous.

There are lessons here for ALL of us marketers. Overblown marketing is not necessary the best way to draw customers!