SLS Las Vegas, the lifestyle-driven resort and casino from SBE, on Tuesday unveiled its fully-integrated “Be Legendary” brand campaign in select markets nationwide. Leading up to SLS Las Vegas’ August 23 opening, “Be Legendary” features iconic images of characters from the Sixties sharing a moment with their modern counterparts through four original campaign executions that unite “legendary” stories of the past with those of the present.
To bring the “Be Legendary” aesthetic to life, SLS Hotels partnered with iconic British photographer Terry O’Neill and acclaimed fashion and lifestyle photographer Anna Wolf. O’Neill, who’s best known for his decades of work shooting legends the likes of the Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Sean Connery, provided a historic image of Sammy Davis Jr. from the archives to achieve the look of the campaign. Wolf, who embraced the challenge of shooting both vintage and modern scenes in the same image, channeled her years of working with global brands such as Levi’s and Microsoft and publications such as Glamour and T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
To deploy “Be Legendary,” SLS Hotels has launched a multi-million dollar campaign leveraging out-of-home, print, digital and social media buys targeting key Las Vegas feeder markets nationwide. Elevating the reach of the campaign, SBE, SLS Hotels parent company, is also harnessing its over 60 hospitality-related properties worldwide along with its database of over two million customers to extend the “Be Legendary” message.
Additional components of the campaign include a series of social media activations that will allow aspiring DJ, culinary and mixology talent to enter to win an opportunity to showcase their skills at SLS Las Vegas in 2015. The campaign will also be extended in an experiential fashion through strategically placed SLS Las Vegas property touch points where Terry O’Neill’s imagery and vintage Sahara branding reinforce the “Be Legendary” message in the carpeting and through prints displayed in rooms and suites.
“The intent of ‘Be Legendary’ is to honor the sense of place and heritage of the once iconic Sahara, while connecting with audiences both young and old with imagery that creates a strong emotional resonance,” said Veronica Smiley, SBE chief marketing officer. “Our guests are our partners and our most powerful marketers and they crave something unique and original that speaks to them authentically. By delivering upon that notion we can utilize our global hospitality platform to generate powerful word of mouth in the markets where we already have an established presence.”