Agencies Ante Up For Hilton Gambling By Robin Meyerowit

LAS VEGAS - Hoping to stack the deck in its favor, Hilton Hotels has launched a review for an agency to handle its estimated $5-6 million gaming division ad

The division, which consists of five hotels in Nevada, is growing – Hilton has two riverboats designed for gambling under construction in New Orleans and Kansas City.
Sources said the review is down to three or four finalists. Contenders are believed to include two L.A. shops, Dailey & Associates and CGRW, a spin-off of the former AC&R, and two other, possibly out-of-state, agencies. Dailey currently has the Hilton corporate account.
A source close to the review said that Hilton is looking for a shop with extensive retail experience to create newspaper ads to build traffic for the casinos. However, it’s believed that the chain also contacted Wieden & Kennedy/Portland, Ore., which would indicate that there’s at least some interest in an image-building campaign. Sources said W&K declined to participate.
Ogilvy & Mather/L.A. handled advertising for the Las Vegas Hilton until about a year ago, but the budget dried up and Hilton took the account, mostly direct marketing, in house.
More recently, as cities and states have begun to look for alternate ways to raise revenue, they’ve begun to encourage casino owners to build properties in their regions.
A Hilton spokesperson refused comment. It is believed that a decision will be made by the end of the month.
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