Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino
The Challenge
Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino enlisted KDC to lead the public relations efforts for the grand opening of its brand-new Gallery Tower. There’s an inherent challenge of needing to break through the noise of a market already saturated with hotel rooms, but that challenge is amplified when introducing an eight-story hotel tower with 495 new rooms in the middle of a pandemic that has caused tourism to reach record lows. This campaign was our opportunity to use the property’s expansion as a symbol for Las Vegas’ determination to persevere and welcome guests back to the city. We knew that it was going to be important to establish trust with consumers by showcasing the property’s wealth of health safety efforts as well as its plentiful offerings that make the hotel a destination in itself. The centerpiece of the Gallery Tower is an interactive, augmented reality-based art installation exclusively available to guests staying in rooms in the Virtual Pad collection. This experience is the first of its kind for a Las Vegas hotel. Through strategic storytelling, it was crucial that consumers knew that Gallery Tower was going to be a well-rounded destination for art and a comfortable place to lay your head.
Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino
The Challenge
Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino enlisted KDC to lead the public relations efforts for the grand opening of its brand-new Gallery Tower. There’s an inherent challenge of needing to break through the noise of a market already saturated with hotel rooms, but that challenge is amplified when introducing an eight-story hotel tower with 495 new rooms in the middle of a pandemic that has caused tourism to reach record lows. This campaign was our opportunity to use the property’s expansion as a symbol for Las Vegas’ determination to persevere and welcome guests back to the city. We knew that it was going to be important to establish trust with consumers by showcasing the property’s wealth of health safety efforts as well as its plentiful offerings that make the hotel a destination in itself. The centerpiece of the Gallery Tower is an interactive, augmented reality-based art installation exclusively available to guests staying in rooms in the Virtual Pad collection. This experience is the first of its kind for a Las Vegas hotel. Through strategic storytelling, it was crucial that consumers knew that Gallery Tower was going to be a well-rounded destination for art and a comfortable place to lay your head.
Our Approach
Kirvin Doak Communications executed an aggressive, proactive and COVID-19-conscious public relations campaign to increase awareness surrounding Downtown Grand’s new Gallery Tower through impactful and meaningful media placements, further establishing the property as one of Las Vegas’ must-visit hotel-casinos. Leading up to the tower’s opening, KDC PR focused on a combination of media segments including consumer, travel, lifestyle, art, technology, business and more, resulting in effective communication to audiences on the local, tourist, regional, national and international levels. To celebrate its grand opening on Sept. 22, 2020, we organized and executed a media event for local press with well-known city dignitaries. A variety of health safety protocols were deployed to make the event and its attendees as safe as possible including physically distanced seating, interchangeable microphone covers, small group tours of room types and demonstrations of the AR-based art program, and more. Additional strategies deployed to meet the property’s public relations goals included:
- Securing a local exclusive with the Las Vegas Review-Journal to announce the name of the property’s new tower, along with information about amenities not previously released
- Strategically timed press release announcing details of the art program woven throughout the Gallery Tower and property
- Executed an opening day media event featuring art installation demonstrations, hotel room tours and interviews with property representatives and participating artists
- Worked closely with media/influencers to coordinate meaningful visits and stays
Results
The Gallery Tower’s public relations campaign earned more than 3.48 billion organic media impressions over the course of two months, leading up to and through grand opening day. The momentum behind the Gallery Tower opening increased after its doors opened, creating a buzz throughout Las Vegas and beyond. Highlights include:
- “Ready to return to Vegas? Here’s what’s new” – OC Register
- “A look inside Downtown Las Vegas’ newest hotel tower” – Reno Gazette Journal
- “New Downtown Grand tower has focus on art” – Las Vegas Review-Journal
- “Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino opens with Augmented Reality Art Gallery” – MSN.com
- “Vegas’ Downtown Grand accepting bookings for its new Gallery Tower” – Travel Weekly
- “Las Vegas Advisor Column – The other downtown tower” – Honolulu Star Advertiser
Phone: 702.737.3100
Email: info@kirvindoak.com