SANDS

Turning a Casino Into a Cultural Escape—and Unlocking Untapped Revenue

Summary: By shifting focus from gambling to entertainment, cuisine, and belonging, we captured high-value Asian audiences overlooked by the category and drove record engagement.

Services Provided For This Project:

Multicultural Consultation
Target Audience Assessment
Consumer Insights
Strategy
Media Planning & Buying
Digital Media Planning & Buying
Creative
Social Content
Production
Ad Operations
Consumer Promotions

Sands Bethlehem Casino Resort sought growth from one of the most powerful yet overlooked audiences in gaming: Asian Indian and Korean guests—affluent, experience-driven travelers largely ignored by regional competitors. Our task wasn’t just to advertise, but to reframe what a casino could mean to them. Rather than sell gambling, we sold something far more resonant: entertainment, cuisine, celebration, nightlife, pride. We repositioned Sands Bethlehem from a place to play to a place to feed your spirit.

We built cultural relevance through precision media—South Asian and Korean print, digital platforms, and outdoor in densely populated communities across Northern New Jersey and within a 100-mile radius. Messaging focused on elegance, group experiences, and social identity over promotions or jackpots. This wasn’t about “come gamble.” It was about “come belong.”

The results far surpassed expectations. The campaign delivered 73.8 million impressions—49% above plan—with South Asian audiences exceeding goals by 44% and Korean audiences by 67%. Outdoor surged 55% over plan, digital by 13%, and print delivered exactly as projected.

Most importantly, MY SANDS registrations confirmed real trial and visitation, proving that when you respect an audience’s values, they respond with loyalty.

For Sands Bethlehem, cultural marketing wasn’t a checkbox—it became a growth engine. And it all started by asking a different question: what if a casino could nourish identity, not stereotype it?