Northern Nevada advertising agencies continue to capitalize on their expertise in the gaming industry to capture contracts with casinos across the country important work as the local economy remains slow.
The Glenn Group of Reno, for instance, beat seven national and regional ad agencies that specialize in gaming and hospitality this month to win a contract to produce television and radio ads for the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel/Casinos in south Florida.
The Glenn Group, as well as other ad agencies in Reno, have long histories of following the gaming industry as it's spread into new markets in the last decade.
But Jim Bauserman, owner of The Bauserman Group, says out-of-town work has become more important as the gaming industry battles weakness in Nevada.
"It's tough to find gaming work in this marketplace," he says.
The Bauserman Group has been busy in recent months with marketing work at The Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino, a property near Ruidoso, N.M., that's owned by the Mescalero Apache Tribe.
The Reno agency is handling an extensive rebranding of the property everything from its Web site to its players club after it was invited to bid on the work by a consultant last summer.
The Bauserman Group in the past has worked with northern Nevada gaming properties such as Baldini's Sports Casino in Sparks and the Eldorado Hotel Casino in Reno.
"Any time you can talk about your experience in a major gaming destination, there is an inherent credibility," Bauserman says.
Relationships within the gaming industry also are important, says Dan Morgan, president and chief executive officer of Innerwest Advertising and Public Relations in Reno.
Casinos in new markets often turn to Nevada companies for experienced executives, and those executives turn to marketing experts from Nevada when they arrive in their new jobs.
Innerwest has handled work for Native America gaming properties in western markets including Washington and Arizona and has worked for non-Native American casinos in Colorado.
"For the past eight years, it's been a key part of our business," Morgan says.
The Glenn Group and its predecessor companies have a long history of working for Reno-area casinos including names such as Harold's Club and Fitzgerald's.
Valerie Glenn, president and chief executive officer of the company, says the company has taken that expertise into other markets such as Elgin, Ill., and Fresno as they've opened to Native American gaming.
"It's always been incredibly important to us," Glenn says. "In this economy, it's extra especially incredibly important to us."
