Today, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) concluded a six-month ad agency RFP process with a unanimous vote by its board of directors to retain R&R Partners as its advertising and marketing agency of record and appoint Grey as its social brand agency, partnering to market and sell the destination worldwide.
R&R Partners was approved for a four-year advertising and marketing communications agreement with an optional two-year extension in an amount not to exceed $500 million, inclusive of service fees, content creation and media purchases. Grey received a two-year social marketing contract with two optional two-year extensions in an amount not to exceed $160 million, inclusive of service fees, content creation and media purchases for social platforms.
“The consumer landscape is dynamic and evolving at an unprecedented rate,” says Kate Wik (pictured left), chief marketing officer for the LVCVA. “Effectively navigating it requires a variety of resources and perspectives. For decades, R&R Partners has demonstrated its profound understanding of the Las Vegas market, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them. And we are excited to add Grey to the team with their proven creativity and expertise to navigate the vast social efforts.”
“We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the LVCVA to position Las Vegas as the premiere destination for global travel,” says Billy Vassiliadis (pictured right), chief executive officer of R&R Partners. “Together, we have marketed Las Vegas to the world through many evolutions and navigated multiple crises that deeply affected our tourism-based economy. Las Vegas is now entering one of its most exciting chapters, with world-class sports and entertainment offerings and expanded state-of-the-art convention facilities. We look forward to partnering with Grey to showcase all that Las Vegas has to offer and contributing to the destination’s continued success.”
“Las Vegas is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest cities, and we want more people to experience all it has to offer,” says Cory Berger (pictured left), global chief marketing officer for Grey. “We’re excited to partner with the teams at the LVCVA and R&R Partners to help solidify the always-on city as an always-on brand living at the center of culture, and today that starts in the social space.”
Since 1974, R&R Partners has launched, refreshed, accelerated and protected many of the world’s most successful brands, including the LVCVA, Boeing, Allegiant, Anheuser-Busch, Topgolf, Cox Business, Hyatt, and others. R&R has served as the LVCVA’s agency of record for more than 35 years. In partnership with the LVCVA, R&R created one of the most iconic travel campaigns in advertising history, “What Happens Here, Stays Here.” R&R has also assisted the LVCVA through multiple crises on behalf of the Las Vegas destination, including September 11, Great Recession, 1 October and the COVID-19 health pandemic.
Grey is one of advertising’s most recognized and awarded global creative agency networks known for creating “Famously Effective” work for many of the world’s biggest companies, including Procter & Gamble, Google, Volvo, Amazon, MassMutual, DirectTV, GlaxoSmithKline, Kellogg’s, Netflix, the NBA, Pfizer, Canon, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Nestlé, and Applebee’s. Grey is the creative jewel of WPP and recently named the industry’s #1 agency network for creative effectiveness by WARC. In recent years Grey has become an industry leader in the digital and social space and was the recipient of the Twitter Brand Bowl Interception Award three years in a row for driving the most conversation online without buying a Super Bowl TV spot.
The LVCVA conducted a competitive RFP for its marketing and advertising services, which was led by external consultant Select Resources International (SRI). The review began in January 2021 and included a broad field of world-class marketing agencies. The final stage of the RFP process concluded on May 17 when the four finalist agencies presented to the LVCVA executive team, the LVCVA Board of Director’s Marketing Committee and a variety of resort partner chief marketing officers. Finalists included globally recognized firms R&R Partners, Grey, Havas and GSD&M.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is charged with marketing Southern Nevada as a tourism and convention destination worldwide and with operating the 4.6 million square-foot Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC). With nearly 150,000 hotel rooms and 14 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space in Las Vegas alone, the LVCVA’s mission centers on attracting leisure and business visitors to the area. The LVCVA also owns the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop designed by The Boring Company and also owns the Las Vegas Monorail, an elevated 3.9-mile system with seven stops throughout the resort corridor. For more info, visit LVCVA.com or www.VegasMeansBusiness.com.
R&R Partners is an advertising, marketing, public relations, and public affairs firm based in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more info, visit www.rrpartners.com.
Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. For more info, visit www.grey.com.
