Prior to joining Nucleus Marketing Lab, I was a road warrior, or perhaps “flight path warrior” is more apt. As anyone who relentlessly travels for business can attest, you find coping mechanisms—reasons to get excited about that inevitable next trip. Perhaps it’s racking up those airline rewards or having a kid-free good night’s sleep. In my case, I became drawn to dining my way through all-local food halls and markets. In Copenhagen—Reffen. In Paris—Marché d’ Aligre. In Chicago—Revival. You get the picture.
When I heard about Famous Foods, a new food hall at Resorts World Las Vegas, the first ground-up resort built on the Las Vegas strip in over a decade, I felt the familiar pangs of an obsession too long denied. Here’s the highlights: casino-adjacent, 24,000 square feet of curated food stalls featuring Pan-Asian authentic recipes.
You’ll see hot and spicy fried chicken from James Beard award-winning Chef Marcus Samuelsson next to the ‘Lechon Diva’ of Manila and Penang hawker-stall charred noodles from Chef Au Guan, wearing trademark goggles. We’re talking seventeen curated food stalls with unique stories and iconic regional dishes housed under one roof. How is a customer supposed to make sense of it all?
This got me thinking about the massive branding and marketing effort behind pulling together these varied hyper-local foods and brands into one cohesive dining experience. The first time you walk through, you probably are going to be thinking about the food and the logistics of your order. The second time, you may be reflecting on the delicious dishes from your first visit and thinking about what you missed. But perhaps by your third visit, you will notice the unassuming signage next to every booth and the owner/chef video interviews running on loop.
Let me suggest visiting Famous Foods for the first time when you aren’t hungry. Stroll the “streets,” peruse the signage, watch the videos, and let yourself be inspired by their significant efforts to preserve local food culture.
Grab a hard-to-find table and make your family and friends listen to your travel stories (again). Listen to theirs (again). Too often, we bury our stories and experiences thinking that everyone has already heard them or that no one will be interested. Content marketers do the same thing. Those closest to the brand have heard those same brand stories hundreds of times, but those stories and experiences may just be new and fresh to others who are discovering your brand or product for the first time.
And when you finally get hungry, order a few dishes. Then, a few more. Repeat as often as necessary.
