Casino execs talk up social media (LV Sun)

Local casino executives along with area tourism experts talked up social media during a session of today's PubCon 2009 conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The Las Vegas Sun reports area casino and tourism executives are forming a strategy to ensure their representative companies are not left out of the social media shuffle.

Sun:

With social media taking hold as a valuable marketing tool around the globe, Las Vegas tourism businesses are developing techniques to ensure they aren’t left behind.

Casino and tourism marketing executives talked Wednesday about their social media beginnings, what strategies work best for their companies and social media’s future during the PubCon 2009 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

While some adopted social media practices later than others, executives from the Luxor, Planet Hollywood, MGM Grand, Las Vegas Hilton and Vegas.com agreed they were drawn to interactive media to communicate with customers in a format that allowed for instant feedback.

“It was a way to introduce a personality or a voice for our property. It was a way of trying to develop a better relationship, a different kind of relationship with potential customers,” said Brad Goldberg, vice president of marketing for Luxor. “We didn’t know what the result would be but we knew that we had to be there.”

Luxor, which has more than 11,000 followers on Twitter (@LuxorLV), has designed a specific personality to speak on behalf of the property. The character was developed by Brandie Feuer, who now is the director of interactive marketing at Planet Hollywood.

Feuer carried the technique to Planet Hollywood (@phVegas) after leaving the Luxor. She said she recently used Planet Hollywood’s 7,000-plus Twitter followers for feedback on a room promotion idea — the Phanatic pass -- and within two days the promotion became the most successful in the resort’s history.

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E.C. :)