• by Tanya Gazdik , September 16, 2014

Las Vegas’ namesake Web site is rebranding and unveiling a redesigned Web site.

Seeking to deliver on its new tagline, “Vegas from the inside,” Vegas.com launches its new look today.

The online travel agency services up both deals and tips on all there is to do in the Nevada city. It is not affiliated with lasvegas.com, which is owned by the city's convention bureau.

Vegas.com seeks to be the “insider” that can provide the best tips on where to go and what to do.

The redesigned Web site seeks to be clean, intuitive, hip and modern (and a big improvement over the circa 2004 site it’s replacing). It features the same money-saving deals and broad selection of hotels, shows, travel packages, tours and attractions as before, but now with real, conversational copy and insider tips integrated throughout.

With the refreshed look also comes a new logo. The old logo, an old-school neon sign in the shape of a red arrow pointing off to the right, said to customers: “go there.” The new logo, an orange V that reveals an arrow pointing inward, now says, “come here,” and “this is where you want to be.” That fits. The new brand is built on the understanding that “come here” beats “go there” every time.

The rebrand brings with it the launch of Drop Watch, a new rate-tracking perk for Vegas.com customers. Book a hotel on the site and insiders will notify you if the price drops before you stay, allowing users to cancel and rebook at the lower rate to lock in the new price.

If you want to monitor the scene before committing, you can select up to five hotels to track, save the dates you’re headed there, and the site will let you know if the rates go down before you book. You’ll have all the info you need to book smart and within your budget.

“Vegas.com is the only travel service for Vegas that is exclusively based in Las Vegas,” John Kieselhorst, chief design officer at Made, which designed the new logo and Web site, tells Marketing Daily. “The new identity was designed with that single idea in mind: that Vegas.com truly gives you unparalleled insider access to America's most popular travel destination.”

In the past, the Vegas.com mark was designed to convey Vegas as a destination. The old mark said "go there.” The new mark strategically evolved that meaning to place you at the center of all that Vegas has to offer. The prominent "Insider V" mark expresses what the tagline spells out: Vegas from the inside, he says.

Focusing the brand on the one idea of “Vegas From the Inside” makes sense for a number of reasons, says Dustin Robertson, chief marketing officer of Vegas.com.

"We had big challenges we needed to solve,” Robertson says in a release. “Our branding was all over the place; we had too many taglines; we owned no one concept in customers’ minds; and we had no real discernible voice or POV,” Robertson says. “We were just confusing.”