R&R Partners will be sharing the lucrative Las Vegas tourism account with Grey Global LLC under a new arrangement with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
R&R Partners has handled the Authority’s tourism account for 40 years, but the Authority felt it wanted a social media expert, WPP’s Grey, to handle that aspect.
The new arrangement, reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal was spelled out in the four-year agreement approved by the Authority’s board of directors July 20. R&R Partners will be paid “an amount not to exceed $500 million, inclusive of R&R’s services fees (agency compensation), content creation costs, and media purchases.”
Grey was given a two-year contract with an option for a two-year extension as the Authority’s “social brand agency” for $160 million.
The Review Journal quoted LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill: “Our destination is complex and multifaceted, with both business and leisure travelers playing critical roles in filling rooms and venues. Our agencies need to understand what moves these travelers anticipate what is around the corner, and market our destination to incredibly diverse audiences around the globe. R&R continues to demonstrate their unparalleled ability to do just that, and the addition of Grey will complement our existing partnership and bring additional world-class talent to our team.”
The change in R&R’s longtime hold on the contract was brought about by the authority’s new Chief Marketing Officer Kate Wik, who reviewed the old arrangement earlier in the year.
R&R invented the city’s tagline, “What Happens Here Stays Here,” which in recent years was changed to “What Happens Here, Only Happens Here.”
Job one for both contractors will be to help the city reemerge from the darkness of the Covid pandemic—a process that has already begun.
