SunRay Park and
Casino:

SunRay Park and Casino closed for 355 days starting in March of 2020 and was forced to lay off 150 employees due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Vanessa DeSoto, who oversees marketing and events, said the organization is a strong one. 

As a result of how thoughtfully the organization handled the shutdown with its employees and customers, and despite having a smaller than usual marketing budget, SunRay Park and Casino came back better than ever and reported a banner year in 2021 being open just 9 months compared with the last 4 years.

Because SunRay doesn’t have a hotel, a golf course, or a resort-type feel, they are not a destination property most of the year. That means that they cater almost exclusively to their local community. The large majority of their customers are in the Southwest Four Corners. 

When the casino re-opened in March 2021, DeSoto and her team were challenged to be creative with a scaled-back marketing budget. Prior to the pandemic, SunRay had engaged in a wide variety of advertising opportunities. But in 2021, they had to cut back or completely do away with a lot of them. How could
they make the most of diminished funds and still reach their target audience? They looked at what worked in previous years and decided what marketing options they wanted to continue, stop, and start.

When DeSoto’s team got creative, the one new advertising channel they decided to add to their plan was the Local NEWS NetworkTM (LNN). They decided to both host the Local NEWS Network digital displays at various locations at the casino and event center and advertise across LNN’s Four Corners network. 

Even though they had never worked with Local NEWS Network prior to 2021, DeSoto felt strongly when presented with the opportunity, that it was a really good fit. That’s what prompted her to move forward with it. She says she’s definitely thankful she made that choice. DeSoto is happy that they brought Local NEWS Network on board and that it was an overwhelming success, 

“What Local NEWS Network did for SunRay was to pinpoint our specific target market,” said DeSoto. “We were able to create customizable ads, featuring different events going on here, and not only show them in our location, but in other locations in San Juan County, New Mexico, which meant a lot to us, because that’s our audience.”

SunRay partnered with Local NEWS Network as a digital display “host” and advertiser across the network. DeSoto was attracted to the Local NEWS Network’s ability to pinpoint locals specifically. When she was looking at the locations where LNN had digital display presence, she was very interested. She saw that it could be very beneficial to use the Local NEWS Network to grab the. attention of the correct audience who are eating, shopping, and playing locally. 

“San Juan County, New Mexico is huge. People who are part of this community come into SunRay all the time. Having our advertisements on the Local NEWS Network in a variety of locations means our marketing dollars are being wisely spent, and that we are getting a good return on the net that we were throwing.”