Las Vegas has been offering the same clichés for ages.

Sin City. The Strip. Elvis. What happens in Vegas... is a sea of stereotypes, with waves of monotony. The same kind of service, with the same kind of slogans, in the same kind of venues. The result is the world’s capital of tourist traps – a city grounded in unoriginal themes, inauthentic culture and questionable identity.

With the intention of changing the local zeitgeist, the newly renovated Palms was designed to defy expectations. Championing the original work of some of the world’s most influential artists—including Damien Hirst, Cardi B and Chef Michael Symon— this is a destination bristling with culture, buzz and vibrancy that detests the status quo and rejects any convention.

Our objective was to stand out from the homogenous Vegas landscape and bring the Palms brand back from the grave.

Forget old Vegas. What happens here resonates everywhere.

In order to prove that Palms is different from any other destination in town, we literally coined a new phrase. Unstatus Quo is a powerful motto for the bold mindset that fuels the rise of a new Las Vegas. Rallying under this original notion, we teamed up with a motley crew of Palms resident partners—all known for breaking conventions (and the Internet)—to bring a feast of different to the Vegas routine.

Together, we created a collection of culture-jamming artifacts, content and experiences—ranging from original music, to coveted fashion collaborations, to unique art shows and private performances. We then showcased all these initiatives across a series of over 40 films, each pushed through our influencers’ social channels. Turning our crew into media, Unstatus Quo took over the feeds.

Launch like a culture brand, not a hospitality brand.

Our research showed that the current scenario in Las Vegas was characterized by an oversaturation of similar resorts. We saw an opportunity to challenge the local status quo and proclaim Palms as the agent of progress in a city that had forgotten how to reinvent itself. In order to achieve that, we decided to shift the brand positioning away from the hospitality sector, and elevate it to become a multi-faceted cultural powerhouse. Knowing that connecting a brand to culture meant first making it resonate with those who have the power to shift it, our strategy was to partner with a number of Palms partners—artists, musicians, chefs, athletes and pop-icons—and turn their influence into social currency to drive interest in, and business for, the new property.

An #UnstatusQuo crew of influence.

Leveraging our talent’s personalities and their authentic connection to Palms, we created a collection of original artifacts and experiences. A secret Cardi B concert, a Dapper Dan Gucci jacket, an original REVOK painting, an impromptu Ken Block stunt, even a brand-new soundtrack featuring James Brown, which topped the first five positions of the Anti-pop Playlist on Spotify. These are just a few of the initiatives created to authenticate the Unstatus Quo message and tell the Palms brand story. On March 28, we tapped into our crew’s social reach and flooded the feeds with a series of over 40 films. We then hacked the YouTube Cards functionality to make some of these priceless products and experiences available only to those watching the film. The initiative organically permeated culture across various categories and interests – from music, to fashion, to art, food and sport.

Unstatus Quo transcended traditional advertising and made a dent in culture.

Since its launch on March 28, 2019, it has already collected over 75 million views across all of its films. Over 500 million earned media impressions. A collection of culture-jamming artifacts that overshadowed even the most coveted sneaker drops. Uncontainable media coverage across various publications and categories—including Forbes, NBC, Billboard, Paper, Grammys, People, Hypebeast and Vibe among others. All the media hype translated into a 360% increase in traffic to palms.com, driving revenue up 130%. Above all, we brought the Palms back from the grave and created a powerful new mantra to help usher in a new era for Las Vegas.