Arizona Cardinals go all-in on branded hospitality within Gila River Casinos
As a long-term partnership continues to grow, both sides look to benefit from new implementations and a renewed focus on a strategic shared vision. Such was the case with the Arizona Cardinals. As the dawn of the season neared, the team was brainstorming ideas to reinvigorate their 15+ year partnership with Gila River Casinos.
“Being one of our larger and longer-tenured partners, we have always collaborated well on coming up with ideas to maximize exposure,” said Elizabeth Yeast, Senior Manager of Partner Service and Activation of the team. “Before this season, the partnership was very community driven and focused on the hotel properties exposure as opposed to the casino/gambling side of things.”
That focus shifted this past summer when the NFL discussed changing their rules in order to allow teams to begin accepting advertising and marketing deals from casino properties. With the limitations officially lifted in August, Yeast and her team worked quickly to implement a unique co-branded campaign that would truly bring out the best of both organizations.
The concept the team acted on were team-themed hotel rooms inside two of the casino’s hotel properties. Embarking on such an intricate detailed endeavor was no easy feat.
“The idea was conceptualized rather quickly,” said Yeast. “While we may have abstractly thought about this idea in the past, once the rules got lifted, the idea was quickly put into action. We wanted to come up with the concept that was very clean and true to our brand.”
Gila River Casinos, now bearing the designation as the “Official Hotel and Casino Partner of the Arizona Cardinals”, immediately began collaboration with incorporating the Cardinals’ marks and brand standards. First, the hotel/casino entity linked up with the Cardinals’ in-house graphic designer.
“Our designer worked with them on each detail. From wall art to branded designs to selecting photos to frame, we worked together to truly give these rooms an authentic Cardinals feel to them.”
Additionally, the team helped connect Gila River to other team partners throughout the valley to help further enhance the rooms. The hotel/casino, who already partners with Anheuser-Busch, tapped the beer conglomerate’s locally owned Four Peaks Brewing Company to give guests a welcomed surprise upon checking-in: each guest will receive a four-pack of “Red Bird Lager” that will be waiting for them inside the team customized room.
The new rooms have been a hit with local fans as the rooms have been completely booked out since they were officially unveiled on September 16th. But the partnership hasn’t stopped at just the branded hotel rooms. The two organizations are continuing to capitalize on maximizing the new freedom from the league rule changes.
“We want to complete leverage our partnership with Gila River Casinos,” said Yeast. “With continued activations inside the stadium (including a stadium-wide giveaway for a two night stay at a recent game), we will also look to continuing branding within their property such as poker chips branded with the Arizona Cardinals logo.”
All in all, the partnership enhancements have been a success for both sides. Growth is a constant variable as new ideas are expounded upon week over week as the league continues to adapt their policy towards casino-based advertising. Teams like the Cardinals will continue to capitalize on newfound partnership opportunities. The authenticity of a partnership will continue to be leveraged, further solidifying relationships with long-term partners. For the Cardinals team, this latest partnership installment was one that took an entire team effort to pull off.
“Coming together with a longtime partner to do this in such a short time was great since it was a shared vision,” said Yeast. “It was an equal brainstorming process from both sides and a very talented job by our team designer. It’s been one of the cooler activations I’ve been a part of.”
