Media Life Magazine - For media buyers and Planners

Out of Home

Your client playing the tables in Vegas

Millions visit Sin City each year, and many are affluent.

By Diego Vasquez

October 15, 2012

Share |

Millions of tourists, many of them affluent, visit Las Vegas annually, making it a great location for out-of-home advertisers.

It's a slightly older crowd, with 70 percent of tourists age 40 or older, but they have plenty of money to spend, with nearly half making at least $80,000 per year.

One of the most popular methods of targeting Sin City visitors is having street teams hand out flyers promoting local businesses. Advertisers also employ traditional methods such as billboards, buses, taxis and the city's monorail system.

There are also new options for targeting gamblers in the casinos.

To find out how to get your client in front of tourists in Las Vegas, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What
Targeting tourists in Las Vegas.

Who
A number of vendors handle advertising, depending on the medium.

How it works
One of the best ways to reach a large number of people, including tourists, through out-of-home advertising in Las Vegas is on traditional billboards. There are also 35 digital billboards in the city, split into five separate networks based on location.

Transit is another effective way to target tourists, whether it's on city buses, the town's many taxis or on the Las Vegas monorail. Advertisers can also get more creative, such as renting and fully wrapping buses to transport convention-goers to and from the airport.

Street teams often distribute flyers on Las Vegas Boulevard, better known as the Vegas Strip. Most of these flyers are for bars, clubs, shows and restaurants, and they can include some sort of call-to-action such as a coupon.

Most of the advertising inside casinos consists of banners and signage pushing shows, bars and clubs within that particular hotel or venue, but there is a new way to reach gamblers as they play.

A network of digital video screens 8.5 inches in diameter that run a loop of ads has been placed at gaming tables in eight casinos. There is no sound, but the ads can be videos up to 30 seconds long, or they can be static or animated.

The screens also include information specific to that gaming table, such as minimum and maximum wager, giving the gamblers a reason to look at the TVs. A portion of the loop is reserved for promotions within the casino.

Because the network is digital, advertisers can target in a number of ways, including time of day and location. They can also target more affluent tourists by using tables that are more high-stakes.

Markets
Las Vegas.

Numbers
In August 3.34 million tourists visited the city, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, up from 3.29 million in August 2011. Year-to-date through August, 26.7 million people have visited, up 1.8 percent from last year.

The city has 122 casinos, according to the World Casino Directory.

And it has 150,161 hotel and motel rooms, according to the LVCVA.

How it is measured
Measurement methods depend on the media. Outdoor ads are usually measured using street traffic data, while casino advertisers use the number of visitors to estimate impressions.

What product categories work well
Recent or current Las Vegas advertisers include jewelry, auto, apparel, energy drinks, alcohol, entertainment, telecom, video games and retail.

Demographics
In 2011, 51 percent of Las Vegas visitors were male and 49 percent female, according to GLS Research data provided by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Twelve percent were ages 21-29, 18 percent were 30-39, 22 percent were 40-49, 19 percent were 50-59, 9 percent were 60-64, and 20 percent were 65 and older.

Just 1 percent have an annual household income of $20,000 or lower, with 3 percent between $20,000 and $39,999, 14 percent between $40,000 and $59,999, 24 percent between $60,000 and $79,999, 17 percent between $80,000 and $99,999 and 32 percent at $100,000 or more. The remaining 9 percent didn't know or didn't answer.

Making the buy
Lead time varies depending on the medium used. Most outdoor media such as billboards and transit have typical lead times of three to four weeks. Lead time for digital ads in casinos can be shorter, a week or less.

Pricing also varies. Billboards can range from $10,000 to $50,000 per month, taxis from $200 to $2,000 per month per cab, and buses from $150 to $4,500 per month per bus. Digital ads in casinos are sold on a CPM basis, usually mid-single-digits.

Who's already been in Las Vegas
Current or recent brands that have advertised in Las Vegas include H&M, Speck, Jack Daniels, GM, Dodge, Guess, Rockstar, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Red Bull and Sprint.

What they're saying
"You've got people who are there willing to spend money. When they're done gambling they go to clubs, restaurants, shopping, to spas–they're out actively spending money. On the branding side, for the advertisers, Vegas is a shopping Mecca." — Jay Goldstein manager of the digital out-of-home division at Vector Media

Web site info

Clear Channel Outdoor (Digital billboards)
http://www.clearchanneloutdoor.com/markets/las-vegas

Las Vegas Monorail
http://www.lvmonorail.com/corporate/advertising

Vector Media (Buses, gaming table screens)
http://vectormedia.com/markets/las-vegas

Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (Buses)
http://www.rtcsnv.com/about-the-rtc/advertise-on-transit

Las Vegas Distribution (Flyers)
http://lasvegasdistribution.com

Direct to Door Marketing (Flyers)
http://www.doorhangerswork.com/flyer-delivery-las-vegas.php

Frias Transportation Management (Taxis)
http://www.lvcabs.com/taxi_cab_advertising

VeriFone Media
http://www.verifonemedia.com

Taxi Ads Las Vegas
http://taxiadslasvegas.com/who.html

Blue Line Media
http://www.bluelinemedia.com/taxi-advertising/las-vegas-nv