St. Louis, MO-IL (1888PressRelease)
June 23, 2009 - Supporting the promotion of Harrah’s Entertainment St. Louis’ annual live stage show talent competition at their on-site Blackjack bar venue, iBAR, Earthbound Media Group (EMG) recently launched a full-scale, cross-channel marketing campaign on June 1, 2009. With a lead generation landing page www.nextiBARstar.com and corresponding interactive widget, EMG partnered with Harrah’s St. Louis to create buzz and drive users nationwide to submit talent videos to the site using tactics involving search engine marketing, social media promotion and viral marketing.
Harrah’s Entertainment St. Louis and venue iBAR sought to find an innovative way to get the word out surrounding its nationwide search for the “Next iBAR Star” – a call for submissions seeking talent acts and performers of all types. Amid the current economic downturn, Harrah’s St. Louis also sought to drive people to its property whilst increasing sales and email opt-ins for exclusive online offers.
“In this challenging economy, a weak website could be the difference between the failure or success of a campaign,” explained EMG Vice President of Entertainment and Senior Social Media Consultant Jayson Oertel. “By closely working alongside with Harrah’s St. Louis, EMG successfully built an attractive website and effectively managed a strategic cross-marketing campaign comprised of search, viral and social media surrounding the ‘Next iBAR Star’ promotion. Ultimately, Harrah’s St. Louis achieved their goals and benefited from our expertise.”
With the understanding of Harrah’s St. Louis’ business objectives, EMG stepped in to develop and create a user-friendly online platform that would enable potential participants to submit their unique talents via video for all of America to see. Built from the ground up and integrated with flash, the robust and visually-appealing landing page www.nextiBARstar.com contains an interactive widget component, video gallery with filtering capabilities, email sign-up, official rules and an online video submission form. There, talented hopefuls from around the country including singers, dancers, actors, comedians and ventriloquists are able to submit their acts by July 20th, 2009, to show America what they’re made of. At stake are $10,000 cash and a potential performance contract to perform live at Harrah’s iBAR.
Starting July 21st, 2009, online viewing audiences everywhere will help decide which contestants from the talent pool will advance to the live show through an online rating system. Acts selected among the crowd favorites as well those hand-picked by a Harrah’s panel of judges will be invited to compete in one of the 12 live performances onsite. All vying for the crown of Next iBAR Star, the highest rated performers from each round will progress to the grand finale set for October 3rd, 2009.
Don’t miss the opportunity of lifetime to be discovered, and submit your talent today at www.nextiBARStar.com to enter yourself as a contestant in one the hottest talent searches around. Or be among the many to help decide which acts are worthy of making it to the next round!
About EMG (www.earthboundmediagroup.com)
EMG is a one-of-a-kind, technology-driven strategic marketing agency. Our singular goal is to evolve the digital and visual landscapes of business for corporations, brands and non-profits worldwide.
As a leader in the marketplace, EMG has single-handedly set a benchmark for complexity, creativity and vitality in the solutions we have provided for both our partners and clients alike.
About Harrah’s Entertainment (www.harrahs.com)
Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. is the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment through operating subsidiaries including Harrah’s, Caesars, and Horseshoe. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, more than 70 years ago, Harrah's has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now operates casinos on four continents. Focused on building loyalty and value to its customers, Harrah’s Entertainment provides a combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership.
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