Client: Park MGM
Agency: Virtue
Project Name: ‘If It’s Meant To Be’
THE TEAM
Chief Creative Officer: Cameron Farrelly
Group Creative Director: Heather Pieske, Trent Rohner
Creative Director: Andy Verderosa, Jean Morrow
Art Directors: Sophia Moore, Paul Raffaele
Copywriters: Alanna Watson, Madeline Leary
Head of Strategy: RG Logan
Strategy Director: Quay Fox
Communications Strategy Director: Justin Schneider
Senior Communications Strategist: Taylor Delbridge
Head of Production: Jill Rothman
Producer: Leyla Rosario
Music Supervisor: Charlotte Von Kotze
Client Partner: Ray Kang
Associate Account Director: Carli Nicholas
Account Supervisor: Hagan Rushton
Published: October 2018
Synopsis:
Las Vegas is the ultimate destination for taking chances, chalking it up to fate, and embracing the unknown.
For its launch campaign, entitled “If It’s Meant to Be,” Park MGM, the new Las Vegas resort from MGM Resorts and Sydell Group, and its creative agency Virtue, took to the iconic online destination where thousands of people take a shot in the dark every day, all in the name of romance: missed connections.
"With Park MGM Las Vegas we tried to conceive of a place that fosters spontaneous human connections - even romance," said Andrew Zobler, Founder & CEO, The Sydell Group.
In the hero film of “If It’s Meant to Be,” we see a series of sweeping aerial shots capturing hundreds of human interactions at play in the outside world, while a sequence of real missed connections are read by their respective author’s:
“To the girl drinking the peach tea in the lobby”
“To the guy with the nice arms in the elevator”
“You: blue jeans and boots.”
“Me: stocky with a burgundy and gold sweater.”
“If It’s Meant to Be” continues with a series of 15-second films giving a more intimate look into individual missed connections. From the woman searching for the one who flashed her a big smile; to the man looking for his perfect match of the curly-haired woman with glasses, these quick spots transport viewers into the exact moment that left an impression in each authors mind; leading them to take a chance at love.
“We zoomed in on the most intimate moments a human can experience and connected it to a city where everything is larger than life,” said Cameron Farrelly, Chief Creative Officer, Virtue. “As Park MGM attracts visitors seeking a different kind of Las Vegas, we wanted to embrace the subtleties that exist behind the bright lights of the city. With some of the most important literature of the modern age being born on the pages of missed connections, it was the perfect place to capture a truth otherwise overlooked.”
To support this notion that Vegas is truly a place for romance and chance, Virtue spoke with millennial Vegas-goers to hear their thoughts on fate, true love and soul mates. In this study, Virtue found that 75% of Vegas goers believe in fate, while 9 out of 10 believe true love is out there.
The fate-filled campaign comes on the heels of Park MGM’s 8.2-second film series, “Las Vegas Love Stories,” depicting whimsical and surreal romance, created in partnership with Virtue and directed by Michel & Olivier Gondry.