The Fountains at Bellagio have always been a marketing tool for Bellagio. They’ve been a piece of serenity, beauty and class that represented Bellagio perfectly. They were an attraction created to bring your eyes and mind into a beautiful hotel and casino. The overall experience would leave you with a memory that would last forever.
Bellagio wasn’t just another hotel and casino on the Vegas Strip. The Bellagio was a true luxury property. Few properties on the strip could match its elegance. Bellagio is still a luxury property but it’s elegance will no longer be quite the same.
The Big Baccarat game at Bellagio is still something out of a James Bond movie. This game attracts the highest of High Rollers. These are men in suits and women in fancy dresses or gowns playing a high limits card game. You don’t see this much in Vegas anymore.
Last night was the beginning of a new era for the Fountains at Bellagio
Last night Tiesto, one of the most popular DJ’s in the world, debuted a set of music that he scored for the Fountains. Regardless of how you feel about Tiesto’s music this was the beginning of the transformation of Bellagio. This transformation won’t happen overnight but it’s now underway.
Before last night the Fountain Show was a marketing device for a single hotel. Last night the Fountain Show became a marketing tool for MGM Grand and all MGM Resorts properties. Tiesto is a resident DJ at Hakkasan and Wet Republic at MGM Grand. This is classic cross property marketing by MGM. They’re just using a new and unique platform.
The Bellagio Fountains are now marketing collateral for MGM Resorts.
This marriage of Tiesto and the Bellagio fountains is corporate synergy at its worst finest. This marriage is more like an affair as it will burn out when the next pretty thing comes along. It won’t be long before MGM Resorts begins using the Fountains at Bellagio to promote other MGM properties and events.
The marketing of the Bellagio Fountains will remain tame for a little while. They can promote Cirque Du Soleil shows with music from the Beatles, Michael Jackson and other Cirque shows. Once people become used to the fountains being a marketing tool for all MGM properties, instead of something unique and different that represents Bellagio, the marketing efforts from the Fountain Shows will expand.
Traditional musicians you hear now may be shunned for playlists that include resident DJ’s or bands performing at different MGM properties. Next may be the addition of MGM Resorts commercials in between songs.
“Hey bruh, come pound some beer at TAP Sports Bar!” Silence? MGM can’t monetize silence!
Eventually MGM may just use the Fountain Shows with music exclusively as advertising. This is the way marketing is going. Nothing is sacred. Every inch of land must be monetized by casino operators.
It’s not fine to me but that’s life and this is just the beginning of the Bellagio Fountains becoming a marketing tool.
On the other hand if Caesars Entertainment owned Bellagio they’d probably fill in the lake with concrete and put some rides, games and kiosks like a state fair in front of the hotel. Zeppoles are Italian like Bellagio, right?
Tiesto’s Fountain Show at Bellagio isn’t all that bad. It could be a lot worse and it will be. Thinking about the changes coming makes me a little nostalgic for the Bellagio I grew up with. Ahhhh, the memories of the good ole days. Now, get off my lawn.
Photo: Vimeo
