In Las Vegas a few weeks back meeting with my new client, Big Stick Media, it dawned on me that Las Vegas is probably the poster city for Never Stop Marketing.

If you go there with the eye of a marketer (and I did because I was working) instead of a tourist, the city is a foot-by-foot case study of marketing. Probably more marketing per sq. foot there than any other city in the world.

Some good, some bad, but at every single turn (these slot machines are right at the end of the walkway when you de-plane) this city is trying to give you a reason to tell yourself “hey, I want to spend money on that.”

And it’s not just advertising and billboards, it’s the stories they tell about the shows, the buffets, the “high-roller” rooms. It’s clear that the city thinks of itself as an enterprise and it focuses, as Peter Drucker says, on the only two responsibilities of the firm:

Marketing and Innovation.

I think maybe one day, we’ll have a Never Stop Marketing client and fan marketing retreat to Vegas and look at the operations of the city (not just the gaming industry) through those eyes.

While I don’t necessarily love every aspect of Vegas, I do have to admire its NSM moxie.