SK+G
Home and Away
Marketing to casino and resort customers is an international language, says John Schadler, Managing Partner of Las Vegas- based SK+G Advertising. John spoke with Casino International about the company, and how they work with an international client roster thanks to their Vegas roots.
C Las Vegas? JS: I spent the first part of my career, for about 15
years, as head of advertising for Steve Wynn and Mirage Resorts. So I was on the hotel and gaming
44 JUNE 2013
ultural differences mean that usually, with international marketing, changes have to be made to brands, and even to products; McDonalds in Egypt is quite a different offering to the golden arches in
Missouri, for example. It’s perhaps an obvious example, but with casino resorts it’s not so obvious what the differences are; John Schadler sheds some light on how using Las Vegas as a microcosm, his company has learned to market to our similarities while embracing our differences.
Casino International: What does SK+G
Advertising do – is it all in the name? John Schadler: We’re a marketing and
communications company, and have a discipline ofin a 360-degree solution in the in that space. So everything from advertising, graphic design, interactive, media, public relations, broadcast – every marketing solution in the sphere. We’ve established, during almost 14 years in business, a specialty in the leisure and luxury lifestyle category. Most of our clients, as we are based in Las Vegas, are in the gaming, hospitality, luxury resort, luxury real estate, and food and beverage retail categories.
CI: Is that as a result of where you are based, in
side for a long period of time, opening the Mirage, Treasure Island and Bellagio resorts on the Strip. So my background is really on the operational and marketing side working for big hotel and gaming brands. The fact that I lived here in Vegas and grew up in that world was really the reason, when the opportunity came to form the company, I recognised there was a need for high-level marketing services for this particular sector. Being based in Vegas gives us the opportunity to –
we call it the ideal cultural testing ground, with close to 40m visitors a year turning over every 2.5 to 3 days, 120,000 hotel rooms, thousands of restaurant seats, show seats and gaming positions… It’s almost the ultimate laboratory when it comes to consumer behaviour and entertainment and lifestyle marketing. It’s the ideal place for us to be based; we took the discipline and realised there were properties and enterprises not only across the US but internationally that could benefit from our knowledge and expertise, plus our services. So we have developed a client roster that is not just locally or US focussed but which spans across to China, the Philippines, and the Bahamas, and beyond.
CI: Do you really think Vegas is representative
of an average consumer, or are you profiling the travelling consumer, the person on holiday that is a different animal to the person at home? JS: Vegas attracts a wide swathe of people and visitors. You’re right, there’s a certain mindset about
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