As Atlantic City’s “Do AC” campaign enters its second year, the Atlantic City Alliance, a casino-funded marketing group, is refocusing its message.
It will be promoting specific events it hopes will pull in more tourists rather than emphasising Atlantic City as a clean and safe place to visit. The location is still struggling to find its feet. Entertainment and food revenue levelled off in 2013, according to the ACA’s 2014 report, after increasing for the previous four years.
Casinos continued to lose money, although at a slower rate. And 2013 revenue was flat, or at least posted a very modest gain, which Liza Cartmell, president of the ACA, blamed partly on Hurricane Sandy.
Clean-up from the storm, which hit the city at the end of 2012, lasted well into 2013. A bitterly cold, snowy winter also kept potential visitors at home. “It’s been a tough year for the region,” Cartmell said, and for Atlantic City.
The ACA spent $20m on its 2013 "Do AC" campaign and will spend another $20m this year, trying to sell tourists - especially a younger crowd - on the idea that there's more to Atlantic City than gambling. The campaign will bring well-known DJs to the city's clubs and put together foodie events, like the Boardwalk Wine Promenade.
Given the audience that it's trying to appeal to, it's not surprising that the tweaked "Do AC" campaign features more online and social media events, such as the one that allows users on Facebook and Twitter to select the music for the city’s annual July 4 fireworks show, and a redesigned website optimised for mobile devices that lists events more prominently on the homepage.
