Latest / Vegas Revealed / Marketing Las Vegas, What Now? | Ep. 16

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Marketing Las Vegas, What Now? | Ep. 16 · Vegas Revealed

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Vegas Revealed episode 16.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_02: How will the new Las Vegas be marketed to visitors?
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_02: We talk to a man who escaped the city as we know it.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: An interview you don't want to miss.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Vegas Revealed is sponsored by the Blind Pig.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, Dana, during these times, the blind pig over on Dean Martin, just west of the Las Vegas Strip.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: They're open for pickup and for delivery.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, staying in is the new going out.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: So keep your family and employees close and safe with a catered lunch from the blind pig, pizza, pasta, sandwiches, or salad brought to your office by their trained and sanitized staff.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: So go ahead, save on the delivery fee, and save on the exposure.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_02: We've both eaten there, and the food is so good.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_02: They've got some really great healthy options, too.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: And go to the blindpignb.com for more information, or you can call 725-214-4474.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's 725-214-4474.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Vegas Reveal.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Sean McDowell here.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm Dana Roselli, coming to you from our homes because we are staying home.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm located just next to the Las Vegas Strip.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Sean's keeping an eye on the suburbs for us down in Henderson.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: How's it look?
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, the suburbs are looking good today, Dana.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta get out and mow my lawn pretty soon, but that's all right.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: I can put it off until after our conversation with our guests today.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we're looking forward to this one.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of insight shared here about uh Las Vegas and what the future looks like.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and we're not gonna waste any time and just get right to it today.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: We're excited to have with us Nami Abu Zaid, who is the founder and president of Launch Vegas, and he has a long resume.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: We have so much to talk to him about today.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: Hey Nami.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hi guys, thanks for having me.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, before I go into your your experience, why don't why don't you tell everyone?
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I know that you were chief marketing officer of the Golden Knights when they launched.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: You've worked for The Wynn.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Talk a little bit about your experience and introduce yourself to our audience.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, uh I'm a lot like you guys, I think.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: I came here 18 years ago and trans uh northeasterner and and really um you know Vegas had become my home and I've adapted and grown with the city.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, I spent nine years with with Venetian Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: I was very fortunate to come and enter the casino business at at a time where it was becoming a global industry.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um back then, very few people had heard of Macau, um, and there were really no Las Vegas style casinos in Macau at the time.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I spent nine years opening properties for them and and uh you know doing headliner deals on the Las Vegas Strip for entertainment for them.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I was also lucky enough later to go run brand marketing for Win Las Vegas for four years, um, which which I really think is the top luxury brand in the industry, um, Vegas and and globally.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I feel it still is, and so that was tremendous uh work experience.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then I got recruited by Bill Foley, owner of the Golden Knights, to to go uh be his first chief marketing officer of what I really felt was a historic um you know pro sports team that ushered in the the new era in Las Vegas.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: So that was that was a really a big privilege for me and a big thrill.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: And and I was there when we unveiled the brand and the logo and sold the first t-shirts and caps.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that was that was an amazing experience.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I I've gotta ask you, just on the the Golden Knights uh uh front, um were you there when there were discussions going on about chance, the mascot?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I was there, we did the early drafts of what's it gonna look like, what's the animal, what's the creative, you know.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: Look, yeah, I was in sketches basically.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then chance, chance came a little after I left, but it was an iterative process.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: So we considered a lot of different animals, and uh, you know, the the you need a furry mascot and you need a sharp-edged mascot.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why they kind of have two.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you gotta have uh something huggable for the kids.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's just it's part of sports.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: And and so we went around from arena to arena, team to team.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: We did all our due diligence.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you know, but but the people after me, uh, you have them to thank for chance, whether you love them or hate them.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's funny.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's keep with the golden knights because uh, you know, obviously this was a huge thing for Las Vegas.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: And launching something like this, everyone said that, you know, sports was not going to work in Las Vegas.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I won't say everyone, but a lot of people, big bulk.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they didn't know if it would work.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sure it was a challenge for you.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Then, of course, uh, we have the one October shooting that happens right before the season's about to kick off.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, all these challenges that you faced, but yet the team just soared, and everyone came out to watch this team.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: What was it like kind of kicking off the marketing for this?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, it was funny because I I spent four years at Wynn, and Wynn is so pristine and you know, the furniture's never out of place and there's never anything on the carpet.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's like so perfect that um I wanted to work in a startup environment and and I wanted to do something historic.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: So when I had the opportunity to go over to the team, I was the only local exec they hired.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, most everyone was a sports exec from a different city, from a different team or a different sport, and they really didn't know Henderson from Summerlin.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: They really didn't have a lot of that, you know, knowledge of how the casino industry works, how business partnerships and sponsorships work in the city.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I added value there.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: But it was for me, it was like I knew that transplants like us really feel like Vegas has some culture, it has a sense of community, and we just needed a galvanizing element.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: And the and a pro sports team is that galvanizing element, and a homegrown one is even better than a relocated one because it's it's something that's authentic.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, we worked on ad campaigns and creative, and I wrote the first style guide for the brand, and and we said, what do the golden nights stand for?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and it was a lot of the the lore of of the military days of Bill Foley and and all, you know, service and valor and all that stuff.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it was fun putting all that together because it truly was a startup.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: And I I know you're from from Boston, Dana and I both from the Northeast in Rochester, New York.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: So growing up around around hockey was just something that was part of part of growing up.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: So finally having it be here as a part of you know our new home was really exciting.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_02: Did you find a lot of people having that same sentiment?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can't swing a dead cat in Vegas without seeing a Golden Knights billboard or t-shirt or license plate.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember, you know, putting all that strategy together with the with the sales team and the with the operations team of like, here is the blueprint for an NHL team.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, we were the 31st franchise, so there was somewhat of a blueprint, but then we had to adapt that remaining 20% for the uniqueness of Las Vegas.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the tourists are highly concentrated on the strip, the residents were all spread out across town.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: So um, I'll remember we did learn to skate programs at Desert Breeze Park and other parks in 115-degree weather.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: We were giving away street hockey sticks and street hockey balls, and I'm showing the owner, I said, Bill, 3,000 kids in 115-degree weather.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, do you know how amazing and transformative this is?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Because we're not a cold weather town.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: You couldn't even buy street hockey equipment at Dick Sporting Goods or Big Five.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so it really was transformative.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: But unless you have grassroots support, you'll never have ticket support.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, uh, and and we built that grassroots support.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: And it was it was just a fun ride and amazing to be a part of.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, with all your experience, I mean, you've done so much in entertainment and branding and marketing and sports.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: And now you have um founded your own company, uh Launch Vegas.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I know you're doing a lot of consulting and you're doing um some consulting with the Madison Square Garden sphere, too.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I know right now, in this time that we are in, so many people wondering if some of these projects are gonna keep going.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: What do you know about that?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And and tell us a little bit about the sphere because we always love to know more.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: We we see all the renderings and we're all in awe of it.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I can't say much on the um proprietary side, but it is gonna be a transformative project.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: I really believe that.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I'm helping them on the strategy side and and the marketing and such, and and sort of the launch, the launch plan uh for it itself.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, people need to remember about Vegas, it's it's 80% are repeat visitors.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: So repeat visitation thrives on new product.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, maybe a new restaurant, maybe a new nightclub isn't as transformative.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: But when you have a building that is gonna be almost a new medium unto itself with the the tech that's gonna be inside the building, it's gonna be uh over 150,000 square foot round screen that'll be above you to the sides of you.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be a sensory experience.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: You'll be able to hear, feel, smell, uh, you know, the entertainment that's that's uh or business that's being done in there.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it's gonna take really, it's gonna be an experience.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's so immersive.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I know immersive is an overused word these days, but um, there'll be nothing like it in the world.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's it's ripe for Vegas because Vegas thrives on you know iconic era-defining projects that that that at one time people said that's the craziest idea I've ever heard.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I mean, look at the landscape of Las Vegas.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's all full of crazy ideas.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: People say, you know, that that'll never work.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: But but I think this is gonna be one of the most transformative projects in a long time.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: And it's actually the most fun project I've been a part of, um, only because it's it's very light on details right now, but but once it's built and once it's open, uh people are gonna be like, oh my god, this fits in with Las Vegas and how entrepreneurial and risk-taking people are here.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, um, you know, that gets rewarded in Vegas.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_02: And the sphere uh construction is I mean, the plans are still moving forward, right?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, if you read the papers, they they're formally on a construction pause right now, but related to COVID-19, but but uh, you know, it's still very much um, you know, one of the the major uh multi-bil you know billion dollar uh projects uh that that's gonna happen.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, it's it's exciting to be a part of.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um if you if you drive on Cobell and Sands Avenue, you'll see it right there.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it's really impressive the design, the footprint, and the the technology that's gonna be in the building.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: And and it's funny because a few years ago people said, oh, there's no there's not enough arenas in Vegas, and now people are saying, are there too many arenas in Vegas?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: So we always tend to overcorrect, but I truly feel like Sphere is is adding something tremendously new to Las Vegas and allowing us to compete on with you know and bring trade shows here that that may not have that may have gone elsewhere, but now they have a building like the Sphere where they can do a general session or a major product launch.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that you know puts us over the edge even more.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: So uh it's exciting and it's it's a couple years away, but but it's still very much going here.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and it's exciting right now because I think you know, talking about this kind of stuff seems normal, you know.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: But in this time that we're in, everyone's talking about the challenge of first of all getting Vegas back opened and then getting people to come here.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: So how do you see things going?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, just in your perspective.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know there's gotta be phases and there there needs to be a plan, but once we start getting people back, do you think Vegas will be back to normal in a couple of years, a year, three years?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, I certainly hope so.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: It really depends on whether there's a vaccine and then people feel like they can resume their old lives and and then this, you know, gets to be something like the flu where they just live with, you know, seasonal thing outbreaks that happen.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: But but certainly if it becomes a permanent part of the new normal, then everybody's gonna have to come up with protocol.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the the integrated resort experience will be vastly different.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, can you imagine uh Encore Beach Club on a Saturday with 3,000 people and a DJ?
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: And can you imagine that with social distancing?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's uh it it really the value proposition of Las Vegas is the sum of the parts.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: And if you start to strip away those parts, then all of a sudden, you know, the the switching costs of going to a San Diego casino that you know it becomes an easier decision to somebody.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it's really about business with like, you know, what are your barriers to entry and your switching costs?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Can a consumer get a similar experience closer to their homes?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, but I truly think Vegas will be back.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think in part um the the spirit of Americans will be like, you know, let me go back to Vegas because it signals that things are back to some normalcy.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: And I I I think it'll come back.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: I I severely hope so.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: The question is, you know, we'll be able to do the the business at scale that we normally did, or is it going to be a smaller, more curated experience?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and speaking of of smaller experiences, that's obviously not what Vegas was built on.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: Vegas was built on large-scale experiences.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_02: And when you add uh something like social distancing into the mix, what does that do to the plans and really the infrastructure that's already in place on the Las Vegas Strip?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, the you gotta think of you got 42 million people highly concentrated on the four mile strip for the most part, and then you have this high overhead cost of these hotels, you know, 7,000 rooms at the Venetian, 2 million square feet of meeting space.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they are built for mass tourism, and and they're the the return on investment is only there if you're you know if you can meet your overhead demands.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: So the overhead is extremely high.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I remember in 08-09, people were cutting room rates like sub$100 a night because they said we need occupancy.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, a lot of the the people who are really mindful of their brand was like, think about the psychological factor of room rates below$100, right?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: How do you sell it?
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: How do you sell a show ticket for$150 and then have room nights for$99?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so when you're a luxury brand, that psychology of that, you know, comes into mind because it's hard to kind of raise them up again uh if people in their mind think, oh, that's a hundred dollar hotel.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it it it's really, you know, there has to be a significant enough amount of traffic.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then think about what the Raiders were gonna bring.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I heard a briefing that Raiders had over 30% of season ticket sales were out of market, uh, whereas the Golden Knights were more like only 10% were out of market.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: So the Raiders were truly gonna bring 20,000, 30,000 visitors from out of state every Sunday.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, that that was gonna feed the hotels.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: That was gonna have a tremendous multiplier effect to everybody.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and all of a sudden, if that's a smaller uh event, you know, it has repercussions for all the investment that we made the last two or three years.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, well, and yeah, and to dive into that, I mean, when when you talk marketing and everything, um, like Sean mentioned, you know, and you mentioned pool parties, uh, you know, bottle service, nightclubs, all that we're built on.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: So when you're marketing right now and you're sitting down to the table, is this something that you think folks are thinking, okay, what are we gonna do to just change all that?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe come up with a completely different idea?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you take what you had and try and make it fit?
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or are we gonna see some maybe major changes in the types of experiences that we see here in a city like Las Vegas?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it really with this new protocol, there'll be kind of immediate, you know, kind of low-hanging fruit changes that are made, but then we're gonna build it into the consumer experience, you know, in the next six to 18 months, I would say.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Whether that means, you know, more virtual events and Vegas is, you know, Vegas is the uh sort of location, but only maybe 100 or 200 people attend, but then it's broadcast to 50,000 people around the world, uh, you know, virtual events or or um, you know, more kind of customized experience.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, personalization was really the key to Las Vegas is making a guest feel like they're in a 300-room property, even though they're in a 3,000-room property.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really hard to do at scale, but like Wynn was excellent at it, Venetian, Aria, Bellagio.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's some really great players that that are really excellent at doing personalization at scale and really making you feel like you're a VIP um, you know, during your three three night stay in Vegas.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's really the key.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, eventually in the medium term, we'd have to innovate our product.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, think about what we did in the 90s, where gaming was 60% of revenues of these hotels, and then there was this year-by-year um transformation and evolution.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: Where now when I left Wynn the last year, it's like gaming was 30% of revenues and non-gaming was 70%.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: So, and that really goes across most of the city, like 60-40 non-gaming to gaming.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that's because of the new products.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: But in the 80s, though those were gourmet rooms, were discounted, they're all comp.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: You'd not everything was a revenue center or a profit center.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: And now in Las Vegas, every division kind of has to stand on their own and turn a profit.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and and you there was a word in there that that I think is is really important for this time, and it's innovate.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_02: On the surface, you know, we we hear news reports about how there's a potential, you know, second great depression coming.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_02: And there's uh a lot of doom and gloom in in the headlines that we're reading and seeing on TV.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_02: But below the surface, is that innovation aspect of this time kind of uh an exciting thing to watch?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, the circumstances surrounding it aren't exciting and and and happy, but but is that process something that that we should really be looking out for and kind of seeing as a bright spot?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it's it's it's it's amazing how technology has has allowed people to pivot really quickly.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: People like yourself, content producers, even consumer brands.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're starting to pivot, they're starting to deliver product virtually very quickly.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it hasn't taken months, people have responded in days and weeks, and and people have become uh acclimated to that.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think consumers are gonna understand that anything that affects Vegas is affecting the tourism industry on a macro level, and that Vegas will emerge as a leader in delivering guest service.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: And traditionally that's been very high-touch guest service, but maybe that'll become high-tech guest service, and maybe you know, we'll migrate to areas that that we were kind of COVID-19 nudged us to get to, but we were gonna get there in two or three years, but maybe we get there in six months instead.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it is, you know, for you know, everyone thrives on differentiation be because of the strip, because of how concentrated the four miles are, because there's 150,000 plus hotel rooms.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_01: Differentiation is key.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: When you go to Excalibur, it's a totally different experience than walking through the lobby of Bellagio.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: And people that come in back to Vegas over and over, they appreciate that differentiation.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think what you're gonna see is the operators on the strip and in downtown, they're really gonna innovate and they're really gonna put their thinking caps on.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: And you'll start to see people compete on cleanliness, compete on you know, public health scores.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Though there'll be all these new metrics that come about, um, and that people are gonna start to make their purchase decision based on that.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and we were built on shows too.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I know you've launched things like La Rev, and I mean, we're built on live music, spectacular.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Theaters, uh, is do you think that will survive through it and just got to find a different way to make it work?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, so I guess so.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: My big question off that would be just because so many people wonder, and you can give your opinion or not, but do you think we will bounce back and be as strong?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: I do.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: I I think there'll be some creative destruction.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think some things will fail, some business models will fail, but I think uh um, you know, we'll bounce back as a city.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and what that final footprint looks like, I don't know.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: But but I think shows were ticketed entertainment was already going through um, you know, some growing pains because you had you know the headliner area era, the Sinatras giving way to the Circs, but then you had the Circs giving way to the DJs, and then now we're kind of at this, you know, arms race of like what do consumers want?
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, back in the the early 2000s, you would build an 1800-seat theater because you'd expect a broad a Broadway show to come and sit down.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now people are building nothing less than a 5,000-seater because that's what you have to build to make a Lady Gaga pencil out in terms of economics.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, so there's always this, you know, uh maturation process where things will will fail and start to uh peter out.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: But but you know, now you know those A-list headliners in a 5,000 C theater is popular, as are the bigger arenas with sports and and um, you know, so um so it's just naturally gonna evolve.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, esports is gonna take shape and and just the consumer tastes are gonna change naturally, and this probably is a catalyst to to have things change, you know, a little bit faster.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because I don't know who's gonna mount the$30 million show and take a risk on you know one set of content when consumer tastes are just changing rapidly.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_02: And and speaking of esports, this is an arena where where Las Vegas has kind of just dipped its toe in the water.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: Do you do you think that that's gonna be something that really does start to to take off in a big way in the next in the coming months and and years?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: It'll become the hub of grand events, product launches, competitions, uh, because you have basically you have the ability to potentially bet in real time on esports, and you have the ability to have venues like Sphere, which would have this technology and the ability to host thousands.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, and you have 150,000 hotel rooms seven minutes from an airport.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: No city has that.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's really unmatched.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's really a tremendous opportunity.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you are local, you've lived here uh a long time, and I know you have a lot of experience on the board uh with after school all-stars and Nevada Public Radio, and you're also right now looking to help local businesses, right?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: You're doing something that's really cool, offering some free services.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I I pledged a few weeks ago to help the 25% of my billable consulting hours between now and the end of the year to help a main street business locally that I normally wouldn't work with because I tend to work with larger companies.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but basically strategy, marketing, operations, expertise just on a pro bono basis, just to help them, you know, pivot their business, get through this this COVID crisis.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they have government money that they need to deploy uh in order to kind of uh determine what the new normal is.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, totally pro bono business.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, just want to help.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I have one business I'm meeting with today that I'm that I've pledged to help uh that has locations in Henderson and Summerlin.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I have uh bandwidth to help one or two more.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, but I just really want to help, and maybe some strategy advice, some marketing advice will allow a business to deploy, you know, uh capital in the right way or deploy their resources in the right way and really get through it and come out better on the other side.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: And and Name, I know that um an offer like that is probably something that where where you could be flooded with uh with interest, but is there a good way if somebody thinks that they are a good uh candidate to to link up with you and um you know take advantage of this amazing opportunity?
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Is there a best way to get in touch and um at least start a conversation?
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they can go to my website, launchlv.com, and they can uh use the form on my website, launchlv.com, and just uh that'll get right to me.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh I'll follow up with a phone call.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see if we're a good fit.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, sometimes people are so busy running the business, trying to keep the lights on, they don't really take a step back and they think about, you know, what what image am I putting forth to the market?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: Which products are the most successful?
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, does this marketing spend actually have a return on investment?
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, are there any partnerships I can strike that will help me take take me to the next level?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I've been doing that for publicly traded companies for my whole career.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: And now, you know, to do it, help a Main Street business um just get through, I'd love to do that.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: My wife's a kids dentist, so she's dealing with this whole thing of going back to seeing patients and and um you know I I like the macro, but I also like the micro, so I I definitely want to help.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, before we let you go, speaking of that, how can people, because I think a lot of people I even see on social media saying, Oh, I miss Vegas, I want to come back.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: Then we've got the locals and we have, like you said, small businesses, and we have some restaurants that have been here a long time that have already had to close their doors.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: What can we all do to support Las Vegas?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_00: Because people are also struggling with their own money right now.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, look, I think Vegas will always be a value-based destination.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_01: The, the, the cost benefit of Vegas is so much higher than other cities because of the weather, the luxury, the size of the hotel rooms.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Your dollar is gonna go further, even you know, now, and it's gonna go further later.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_01: But I think the best thing to do, keep tabs on Vegas, you know, keep in touch with these companies, get on their email list, they'll let you know when there's an offer.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: The casinos are gonna extend offers locally, regionally, and to their database.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: And they're gonna say, come back to us.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you may be able to get a luxury hotel at a significantly reduced price and you realize the value of that, you should seize on it and you should help Vegas get back on its feet.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, Vegas is gonna lead the way in cleanliness, it's gonna lead the way in guest service, it's gonna continue to lead the way coming out of this crisis.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so it's just like any luxury good.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: If you see a Louis Vuitton handbag on sale with they never have sales, you're gonna jump on it.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_01: If you see a luxury resort on the strip that never has sales and all of a sudden you're able to get it half off, you know, take a chance and seize on it.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_01: And that'll keep a lot of people employed, and that'll get a lot of uh, you know, data to help the casinos adapt their product down the road.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I I think people are gonna, you know, have a flight to quality, and Vegas offers quality, relative safety versus going abroad for American traveler.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I think uh I think people are gonna dip their toe in the water pretty quickly back in Vegas.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, we got the Raiders, we got the Golden Knights.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: If things return to normal, you know, Vegas has a product mix that really no city can match.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: Well, as we as we move through uh reopening, we'll we'll stay in touch because I know that there's gonna be uh a lot to talk about in regard to reopening, but specifically um with the sphere and other projects that that you're working on as well.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: We do appreciate you taking the time to talk with us about everything Vegas.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_01: I love this city, it's become my home.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: I I love the the entrepreneurial nature of it.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_01: I love the fact it's really just a small town, um, you know, and and meeting people like yourselves over the years that have come out and supported, you know, my launches on the strip through the news pro news gathering process.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate all the the coverage you've given us over the years.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, I'm happy to help.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I heard that heated pickleball discussion you had the other day.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: I I want to weigh in.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: I want to weigh in because I'm a tennis player and everybody's asking me to start to play pickleball, and I'm a little bit torn uh because my knees are still good enough to run around a tennis court, but pickleball is like kind of like the retirement community of tennis playing.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's true, it's true.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: I've never played, I still got to get out there and do it, but it's it's it's a hot commodity right now, apparently.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: So well, we'll all have to play.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's fun.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: It looks fun, it looks fun.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, listen, I appreciate you listening to Vegas Revealed.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you coming on and great insight for us today.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Nami, thank you so much.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, guys.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Nami.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we learned a lot today, as always, Sean.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we did.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's a really interesting insight about you know what the future of Las Vegas might look like and how we'll get people to come back here and get it back up and running as a premier tourist destination.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: And just so everyone knows, we are going to post a video version of this interview on our website.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: And we've got a lot of other stuff on there too.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's Vegas-revealed.com.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: And we do want to thank our sponsors once again, the Blind Pig.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: It's on Dean Martin, just west of the Las Vegas Strip.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_02: They're still open for pickup and delivery.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_02: Your next meal, think about the blind pig.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_02: All you have to do is give them a call.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_02: The number is 725-214-4474.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: Again, 725-214-4474.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's the blind pig.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_02: Also, a thank you to Offthestrip.com, your source for everything off the strip.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining us, everyone.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: We hope you have a great week.