Venetian ad agency resigns to focus on entertainment

Las Vegas-based Heftel Media said Thursday it will resign as the Venetian's advertising agency to focus on new ventures, including development of Heftel's C2K entertainment complex at the Strip resort.

"We've had a great two-year relationship with the Venetian, but it's a very time-consuming account and we have too much on our plate right now," Heftel spokesman Dave Plunkett said.

"We've got a 30-year lease with the Venetian for C2K and we want to make it an internationally recognized production facility."

C2K is a three-story, 85,000-square-foot operation inside the Venetian that cost nearly $26 million to develop.

From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, C2K serves as a digital television studio. From 6 p.m. to 12 p.m., it's a showroom anchored by impressionist Andre-Philippe Gagnon. At 11 p.m. each night, it houses the C2K nightclub.

"We currently have plans to fill a 24-hour facility schedule with numerous entertainment-based productions," said Heftel creative director Sterling Martell.

"We hope to have everything from Broadway plays to headliner acts to popular television shows. It's our goal to offer Las Vegas and its tourists the best in world-class entertainment."

Future plans will include a 9 p.m. show featuring headliner acts and an off-Broadway theatrical production, while during the day the venue will function as a studio for popular television productions.

The resignation of the Venetian account is effective Jan. 31 and the resort is interviewing firms interested in picking up the account.

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