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Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Sassy Isleta Casino Ad Irks Tribal Competitors

By Jeff Jones
Journal Staff Writer
    An Albuquerque-area Indian casino has zinged other tribal casinos in a new ad that surprised and angered the competition.
    The tribal casinos traditionally have presented a unified front. But the fight to attract and keep Albuquerque-area casino-goers in an increasingly competitive market has amped up in recent months.
    The language in Isleta Casino & Resort's three-fourths-page advertisement that appeared in Friday's Albuquerque Journal lined up the slogans of several local competitors, then commented on each of them.
    "Santa Ana Star— 'No talk, just winners!' We think 'All Talk' is more like it!" the ad quipped. For San Felipe Pueblo's Casino Hollywood and its "Let us entertain you" slogan, the ad simply asked: "How?"
    The ad— done in bold, capital letters— marks the first time that a local Indian casino has taken a public shot at other tribal casinos, casino operators said.
    Four established Indian casinos— Isleta to the south and Sandia, Santa Ana and San Felipe to the north— were joined this fall by a new kid on the block, Laguna Pueblo's $60 million Route 66 casino on Albuquerque's west edge.
    One of the managers whose casino was targeted by Isleta's new ad said Isleta broke an unspoken rule.
    "This has never happened before. ... It's certainly not the Native American way of doing things in New Mexico," said Santa Ana Star casino manager and interim marketing director Phil Gonzales. He called the Isleta ad "rude and disrespectful."
    Isleta casino marketing director Clyde Callicott said his casino isn't planning any other similar ads. But he said Isleta, already one of the state's busiest casinos, is serious about wanting a bigger share of the gambling pie.
    "We're very aggressive," Callicott said. "I'm not going to sit on my hands and say we're going to accept being run over by everybody."
    Indian casinos have snapped up billboard space and newspaper real estate at a brisk pace in recent months to trumpet their virtues.
    Carol Henderson, a partner with the McKee Wallwork Henderson advertising firm in Albuquerque, said Monday that attack ads can signify one of two things. Either a "hot dog" in a given industry is losing a share of its business and wants to get it back, or the advertiser is simply hungry— not satisfied with its current share of business and wanting more.
    "Thanks to the Isleta ad, I'm now quite aware of the (slogans) of the other casinos. That may or may not be a good thing," said Henderson, whose firm does not have any casino accounts.
    Friday's ad from Isleta was a teaser for another large advertisement that appeared in Sunday's Journal. In that ad, Isleta boasts that Strictly Slots magazine, which has offices in both Las Vegas, Nev., and Atlantic City, "has certified the loosest slots in Albuquerque." The ad says those slots are at Isleta.
    The magazine said Monday it has certified that Isleta's slots, some of which the casino touts as paying back up to 99 percent of what is pumped into them, do in fact pay out as much as Isleta claims. However, the magazine doesn't compare Isleta's slots with those at other local Indian casinos.
    Sandia Casino assistant marketing manager Anne-Marie Collins said Monday that her casino, like most of the New Mexico Indian casinos, also offers some 99 percent machines.
    "Attack advertising is like shouting— and shouting either makes people listen or tells you to shut up," Henderson said. "I would hope it wouldn't turn into a mudslinging match."
    But as for casino ads in general, New Mexicans had "better get used to it. It is going to get more competitive," Henderson said.
    Sandia, Santa Ana and San Felipe all said Monday they aren't planning any attack salvos of their own.
    "I'm not going to stoop to that level," said Jim Kofakis, Casino Hollywood's marketing director.