Cosmopolitan’s quirky ads get buzz

What's that you're seeing on your TV?

It's a woman, licking a plate in a dining-room scene that looks like it's out of "The Shining." No, wait -- it's someone else, shoving a stiletto heel into a model's back to tighten a black corset.

Er, ack! There's a really old lady patting a really young dude's butt! OK, now it's a pants-less porter, and a fully clothed waiter in a pool, and fluffy white puppies and kittens and bunnies and baby chicks and even sweet, precious, innocent BAMBI! And that music! The buzzing guitars and those doop-dee-doops!

Aaaaargh! What's it all mean??

Considering you're in Las Vegas, such a bonanza of surrealism can mean only one thing: A new resort is on the way.

As the last Strip hotel-casino set to open for some time, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas has drawn plenty of attention. And its advertising campaign -- which is a bit, shall we say, unusual -- lies behind a good share of that buzz.

From that crazy-busy TV spot to post-modern billboards to print ads featuring plastic-covered people, the property's campaign has raised plenty of eyebrows.

And that's just the idea, said Lisa Marchese, senior vice president of brand marketing for The Cosmopolitan.

"People are always going to have an opinion, but I think what's great is that people are talking about it," Marchese said. "The worst outcome would be if no one cared. It's important for us to have a point of view, so we're going to try out some interesting things. We want everyone to embrace us, but it's a busy market with a lot of competition, and we want to stand out."

Stand out they have.

After the TV commercial first aired, during October's season finale of the AMC advertising-industry drama "Mad Men," hospitality marketing executive Stewart Colovin fielded several phone calls from friends and associates asking him if he'd caught the spot. Colovin, senior vice president and chief creative officer for Kansas City hotel-advertising agency MMG Worldwide, said he couldn't recall any other property spot generating that kind of response.

"I thought it was nice that, at the time, I had no idea what the ad was for," he said. "It was a breath of fresh air when I saw it was for a hotel."

The Cosmopolitan's marketing campaign isn't unusual for its ads alone.

Most new properties pursue a specific demographic carefully outlined by established age and income parameters. At The Cosmopolitan, strategy talks revolve instead around "psychographics," Marchese said. The resort wants to appeal to certain types of people, regardless of their background or identifying details.

"The people we're targeting have a shared sensibility: They're adventurous, they're creative, they like to travel and they like to try new food," she said. "They're open to new ideas and new experiences, and they seek them out. It doesn't matter if you're 28 and you live in Los Angeles, or you're 65 and you live in Cincinnati. If you relate to life with an open mind and a sense of curiosity, you're our customer."

Judging by public response, The Cosmopolitan's ads -- which all feature the motto "Just the right amount of wrong" -- will both attract and repel prospective patrons.

Out of nearly 130 comments on the TV spot at YouTube.com, roughly 30 people loved it. Another 20 or so didn't like it. The rest included a mix of folks either wanting to know who wrote the music or offering up snark about "petting zoos" and the like.

For those who appreciated the ad, "brilliant" was how they most often described it. Among people who gave it a thumbs down, the word "creepy" came up a lot.

Take YouTube user AlexRocky, who wrote: "Brilliant ad. This is a master class in branding. You either love it and it's for you ... or you hate it and it's not ... defining the target clientele succinctly. Kudos and good luck."

On the other hand, there's this, from a user who goes by petitetoile: "Personally this commercial really turned me off from whatever they're trying to sell. Despite the beautiful women, I found it more depressing than sexy. This is Hotel California, except it is in Vegas. The future is bleak, come here to kill time by engaging in multisomes with geriatric dominatrices as we all await our deaths."

The print ads have proven just as attention-snagging. The Los Angeles Times ran a half-page ad on Dec. 5 featuring a glammed-up model with each arm draped languorously around a male twin, and a tag line that says, "I'll try anything twice." An Architectural Digest ad centers on a tuxedo-clad man sitting on a chaise lounge in a pool, with a swimsuit-sporting model draped across his lap and holding his martini. It says, "I love hard labor. I could watch it all day."

And then there's the series of ads featuring waxy models and mannequins wrapped in plastic. Colovin said he takes the ads to mean that the resort is prepping for its opening, with workers ready to yank the construction tarpaulins for an opening celebration, but the pictures also evoke a horror movie where the bad guy keeps his trophies in the attic.

There's even a cheeky -- or lazy, depending on whom you ask -- billboard outside McCarran International Airport that simply says, "Clever ad copy goes here."

The entire campaign is designed to mimic the guest experience, Marchese said.

"It's a narrative. Everybody finds something that works for them or inspires them," she said. "It's a sophisticated campaign for a sophisticated customer. We want them to be intrigued and feel like we have a story that they want to be part of."

Opinions reflected in blog postings regarding the print and billboard ads are just as split as the YouTube TV-spot comments.

Colovin isn't ambivalent about the campaign, though.

"They're doing a very effective job of selling the lifestyle and the experience. The ads are more about the feeling and the vibe you're going to get, rather than, 'Here are our rooms,' " said Colovin, whose company has handled ad campaigns for the Fremont Street Experience and Mandalay Bay, but hasn't worked with The Cosmopolitan.

"I honestly think the people they're going after will gravitate toward that. It's a sea of sameness out there. A lot of people tend to follow the pack. I commend them for trying to be different. I want to see the property and experience it, because I hope it lives up to that image."

Local industry observers gave the campaign mixed reviews.

Bill Thompson, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor who studies gambling, said the TV spot will certainly draw notice, but he pointed to a building "Sin City" image fatigue, and he said he doesn't think the commercial has targeted the right customer for The Cosmopolitan.

"It's going to be an attention-grabber, but a lot of people will go, 'Oh, my God, more 'sin' in Vegas,' " Thompson said. "We've had our campaign of 'What happens here, stays here.' It's played out. I don't see (the TV ad) as a negative, but I also don't see it as a big positive."

Plus, the ad is likely to appeal more to 25-year-old singles "who want to bar hop and look for sexual escapades," and less to the solid, affluent high rollers that The Cosmopolitan needs to fill its $300-per-night rooms, Thompson said.

But David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV, said he thinks the ads are "different, in a good way."

The only misstep Schwartz said he's seen? That "clever ad copy" billboard, which he called "too self-referential."

Otherwise, the resort has maintained a strong social-media effort, and its ads should hit the spot among the group Marchese said the resort is after, Schwartz said.

"I think it's a little bit quirky, and I think the market's going to be receptive to something that approaches selling hotel rooms from a little bit of a different angle," he said. "It's definitely better than having pictures of the buffet."

Marchese declined to say how much the property is spending on its campaign, which focuses on major Las Vegas feeder markets including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Miami and San Francisco.

Minneapolis ad agency Fallon is the creative group behind the campaign.

Contact reporter Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512.