The Almagest

Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Philip Sledge Randy Snow discusses the history behind the "What happens here, stays here" advertising campaign with students and faculty Wednesday afternoon.

The man behind the "What Happens Here, Stays Here" advertising campaign spoke with students and faculty about the creation of the campaign on Wednesday.

Corporate creative director of R&R Partners Advertising, Randy Snow, gave a lecture on the history of the campaign and its significance during his visit to the Shreveport-Bossier Area.

Snow began the lecture by telling the history of the campaign and how it came into fruition.

In 1999, R&R proposed to their client, the Las Vegas Conventions and Visitors Authority, that their ad campaign at the time was failing and that they had a better idea.

Everyone had already seen the casinos, glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and, in Snow's words, "needed to tap into something deeper."

R&R then conducted an 18 month survey, asking Americans what they thought of when they thought about Las Vegas. The agency found the common answer referenced freedom.

In response, R&R produced short stories about people enjoying the freedom of Vegas.

This was over a decade and countless advertisements ago when the public first heard the "What Happens Here, Stays Here" slogan.

"We have never run a campaign that has had the life that this has," said Snow on the success of the ads.

R&R is constantly researching their customers and finding new ways to appeal to their emotions.

"We're always taking the temperature of the customers," said Snow. "[We're] trying to find what resonates, what they remember, what they connect with."

Snow believes that eventually the campaign will stop connecting with people, and the firm will be forced to move on.

Before giving his afternoon lecture on campus, Snow spoke at the Attractions Authority and will conclude his visit with a speaking arrangement with the Advertisers Federation before leaving tomorrow afternoon.

Director of the Teaching, Learning & Technology Center, Allen Garcie, said that he is always keeping his eyes open for interesting speakers and couldn't pass up the opportunity to have Snow speak on campus.

"I try to bridge the gap between the real world and academia," Garcie told the audience before introducing Snow.

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