Saving the Monte Carlo

In a prior blog posting, I predicted that the Monte Carlo hotel on the Las Vegas strip is headed for tough times because it doesn't deliver on its brand promise.

In a nutshell, they promise a high-rollin' hotel on the strip; a TRAY SHEEK venue for 20-somethings to engage in DUH BOTCH OR EE (click the image to see the ads), but deliver a fairly ordinary Las Vegas hotel experience.

I'd like them to succeed. The hotel is affordable, and the room was clean and comfortable. Much of its service was excellent.

As social media shines a spotlight on the lie that is their advertising, they're either going to have to change strategy or lose more money than they already are.

Why not embrace Monte Carlo as their brand? Make it real! Reject being just another hotel on the strip!

At its core, the new brand strategy would be to make the experience of being at the hotel as close to being at Monte Carlo, Monaco as possible.

Here are some practical suggestions for making it happen:

• Replace the existing, generic artwork around the hotel with images of and from Monte Carlo.
  
• Replace the way-finding signage with one that has international style illustrations, plus text in French and English.
• Update the retail stores' inventory to include a few things that might be found in Monte Carlo.
  
• Replace one of the fast food offerings in the food court (currently the likes of Rubio's, McDonald's, Subway, etc.) with La Boulange Bakery or something similar.
• Wouldn't it be great if the roulette wheel had just one 0 instead of 0 and 00, just like they do in Monte Carlo? Betcha they'd pack the roulette tables!
  
• Dump Magician Lance Burton. It's not that he's a bad act: he just doesn't belong at a Monte Carlo that's actually branding itself as "The Monte Carlo." Replace the "Lance Burton Theatre" with a top Jazz club or even a Flamenco show (both popular in Monaco). If six other Las Vegas hotels can offer versions of Cirque du Soleil, it seems to me that the Monte Carlo can get closer to Monaco than a magician, yes? And hey, they can always see if they can get Les Folies Bergere from the Tropicana.
• Replace the generally empty, yet spacious Brand Steak House (click here to see the floor plan) with a tribute to the Monte Carlo Grand Prix. This could be an attraction in and of itself, if done right: wrap-around imagery of the race, a real Formula One car, perhaps a simulation that gives guests the experience of racing the famous course, and finally, a Las Vegas style "Pit Crew" running the location.
  

The competition in travel and tourism is intense. Without a strategy that differentiates them in a meaningful way, they can only compete on price.

On the other hand, if the marketing folks choose to make a visit to the Monte Carlo... a VISIT TO MONTE CARLO, no place else will be able to compete with them.

Better yet, they'll be capitalizing on who they truly are, to a target audience with a desire for what they're selling.