The latest ‘What Happens Here, Stays Here’ Las Vegas ad campaign features a familiar musical act from, well, right here.
Indie-rock band Imagine Dragons has teamed up with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for the latest ad from the firm R&R Partners.
One is selling a destination.
The other is selling a forthcoming as-yet-unnamed album.
The creative crew for R&R tasked with keeping the ad campaign fresh, had their idea: two ads, one with a man, the other a woman, who both crisscross through Las Vegas scenes running into each other pool-side, or amid a fire-breathing variety act, at a 1920s-themed nightclub and a concert venue.
Then, about two months ago, the hometown band Imagine Dragons came along with their newest single, I Bet my Life.
The quickly conceived commercials that debut on Monday were shot on location at the SLS Las Vegas and MGM Grand casino-hotels. They cost $1.2 million (Dh4.4 million) to produce and will cost the Las Vegas tourism agency an additional $7.6 million to buy national air time on NBC, ABC, FOX, E!, Bravo, Food Network, USA, Travel Channel, Comedy Central and several other channels.
“We’re in debt to Vegas,” said Dan Reynolds, the band’s lead singer and a Las Vegas native, in interviews filmed by R&R. “We really owe everything to Vegas.”
Imagine Dragons sold more than 3.9 million copies of its 2012 debut album Night Visions, which included the Grammy-winning single Radioactive.
Rob Dondero with R&R Partners, who leads the team that sells Las Vegas to the world, said the spots’ messages are simple.
“Las Vegas is a place where anything can happen,” he said.
The destination has been relying more and more on entertainment that doesn’t involve taking an actual gamble, and the ads don’t show a single slot machine or casino floor.
Caroline Coyle, the visitor’s authority vice-president of brand strategy indicated that wasn’t on purpose and said the campaign’s goal isn’t to highlight one particular aspect of Las Vegas.
“We really like to evoke just a feeling for Vegas,” she said.
