Marketing with heart, leading with resolve, standing as partners.
The story of 1 October.
The Situation
Just after 10 p.m., on Sunday night October 1, 2017, a gunman opened fire on a crowd of 22,000 Las Vegas concert-goers, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500.
It was a tragedy no one was prepared for – not even the highly trained local authorities and first responders.
What happened next…
The magnitude of the events that unfolded October 1st pushed R&R Partners’ crisis team to the limit. But we had a brand to protect and a city to help heal. So, we banded together to manage the media message and help guide Las Vegas through this senseless tragedy.
Along the way, we achieved new levels of cooperation and coordination, redefining what a crisis management team is and how integral it is to effective marketing.
The Response
At 10:17 p.m., just minutes after the shooting started, R&R Partners was alerted of an active shooter on the strip. Police confirmed the situation and our crisis team was activated.
The first priority was to make sure all of our employees at R&R Partners and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor’s Authority (LVCVA) were safe. Next we immediately pulled all messaging and cancelled all paid media to ensure the right messages were going out to visitors and residents at this critical time.
By 11:15 p.m., more than a dozen crisis team members were in the office, monitoring the news, social media and everything in-between. Our team became an extension of the LVCVA’s public affairs to lead the task of managing communications and preparing the city’s response. And before sunrise, messaging was out to social media channels, call center representations, PR teams and the head of the LVCVA.
Daily communication briefings were held with resort partners and others in the community, including government officials, metro and the airport to ensure messaging was appropriate and timely. Because of our deep relationship with the LVCVA team, we were able to move quickly – not just in developing messaging, but in correcting misinformation with media outlets.
Early Monday, just hours after the attack, the creative team started crafting a public message – a video shining a light on the heroic efforts of first responders, resort staff and event attendees.
By Wednesday, the finished video was sent to local and national media outlets. Media partners agreed to donate ad space and, for the first time ever, the NFL agreed to air a Las Vegas spot nationally during a game. By Thursday evening, the Vegas Strong message was seen by millions.
The video was paired with print messaging that resort partners used across their channels, including hotel marquees. Images of the Strip and the community coming together were picked up by both broadcast and digital news sources.
“We’re trying to be as truthful and emotional as we can. One of the things we realized was the outpouring of support from everywhere. All we could think of was: These are all the people who visit us. These are the people that we’ve shown a good time to. They’ve seen us at our absolute best. And look what they gave us back.”
— Arnie DiGeorge — Executive Creative Director
A second series of videos was released at the end of the week, turning our brand message into a show of strength and highlighting the outpouring of global support on social media.
Then Sunday, one week after the shooting, our resort partners on the Strip turned off their marquees at 10:05 p.m., the moment the first shot was fired. Their marquees stayed dark until 10:17. They then raised their lights with a new message of hope, “When things get dark, Las Vegas shines.”
The Impact
1 October was a global news story. Our immediate response efforts delivered over 400 Million impressions and generated over $40 Million in earned media value.
In the weeks following, we conducted a national research study to measure travel intent and sentiment. Through our work, Las Vegas stayed in the hearts and minds of people around the world. The majority of respondents said they believed Las Vegas was safe and does all it can to help keep tourists safe while brand health measures all remained extremely strong throughout the month of October.
But, by far, our most important measure: our convention and trade show schedules and rotation cycles generated strong attendance versus the previous year.
Despite the profound tragedy that happened, Las Vegas remained a premiere travel destination with 3.6 million people choosing to visit the city in October.