Analyst sees national possibilities for R&R

As R&R Advertising laid its plans to go from Nevada power to regional heavyweight, executives decided a name change was in order.

"We've always preached to our clients how to deliver your message ... we thought, 'maybe we should change our message,' " said Billy Vassiliadis, chief executive and partner of the powerful marketing firm.

On Wednesday, that message led to a name change for the 25-year-old firm to R&R Partners.

Vassiliadis said the term "Advertising" was archaic for a company that now offers far more services than just that, including research, planning, public relations, event planning and marketing, lobbying and Internet marketing. The term "partners," he said, appeals to many marketing executives in the West, who view their agency as a full partner in their marketing campaigns.

"If we want to have a strong sense of partnerships, that should be in our name," Vassiliadis said. "The name, in and of itself, isn't going to attract any business. It will underscore what we're going to be telling people as we venture out of our three western states."

Nevada has been R&R's meal ticket for the first 25 years of existence, though the company has branched out to establish itself elsewhere, with offices in Reno, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. That expansion has propelled R&R's size to more than 200 employees, with $90 million to $100 million in annual billings.

R&R's client list includes Mandalay Resort Group, Del Webb Corp., Sierra Pacific Resources, Nevada Power Co., Starbucks, Procter & Gamble and Sunrise Hospital.

But continued growth won't be possible for long if R&R continues to focus on Nevada, Arizona and Utah alone, Vassiliadis said. That will necessitate a campaign to start winning regional and national accounts, and that expansion will become a key focus of the firm in the coming year.

That's not to say it will be easy.

"Part of the problem is, most large ad agencies are in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, so there's a slight disadvantage operating out of Las Vegas," said Jack Shibrowsky, chair of the department of marketing at UNLV. "It's certainly much different from being the largest ad agency in Las Vegas, to be competing with the number of national firms larger than they are. That's pretty tough competition."

R&R took the first step in that direction when it recently opened an office in Denver. But an even bigger step, Vassiliadis believes, was R&R's successful defense of its $27 million-a-year contract with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Late last year, amid criticism that it was about to win a no-bid contract, R & R volunteered to put up its largest contract for bids, and successfully held off eight suitors to win an extension of the 18-year-old pact. Two competitors it defeated were regional powers: Colby, Effler & Partners of Santa Monica, Calif. and Young & Rubicam of San Francisco, which partnered with local firm the Merica Agency in its LVCVA bid.

"We beat their pants," Vassiliadis said. "LVCVA crystallized what we thought about who we were, and gave us real energy, momentum and a sense of courage. Some of us suffered from some insecurity ... but with LVCVA, we beat two large agencies."

The campaign didn't come without a price. The LVCVA bidding process brought out a number of local R&R critics, particularly the Committee for Fairness, a citizens group funded by Venetian resort boss Sheldon Adelson. Adelson criticized R&R and the LVCVA, saying they weren't doing a good job of promoting the city's growing base of upscale nongaming activities. The company was also criticized for its tight ties to LVCVA officials.

R&R currently has no plans to establish other branch offices, but would consider establishing offices in new cities if a new client requested it, Vassiliadis said.

One strategy for eventual success, Schibrowsky said, may be to focus on the tourism business.

"R&R may have an advantage there ... they're perhaps the resort destination experts across the country," he said. "And tourism is a big product."

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