Cosmopolitan Hotel of
Las Vegas

Agency: R/GA Chicago
Role: Concepts, Copywriting

Once in a creative’s wildest dreams, there comes a brand so fun, so fierce — they let you do stuff like show two naked men in an ad and write “How to Make the Blank Page Your B*tch” in their marketing style guide. Enter the Cosmopolitan Hotel of Las Vegas, home of Just the Right Amount of Wrong. Here’s a smattering of my faves, created by Yours Truly and my team at R/GA.

Below are selected pages from an 80-page brand style guide we created for the Cosmopolitan.

The Manifesto (click to expand)

Slide titled "The 11 Commandments" with the subtitle "to writing in the Cosmopolitan voice", on a white marble background.
A webpage with a marble background featuring a bold quote: 'If it doesn't have a hook, no one's buying it.' followed by a paragraph about telling a story through ads and posts.
A webpage with a white marble background displaying bold black text that reads "UNLOCK JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF WRONG" and additional smaller text about storytelling, along with a list of phrases at the bottom.
A white marble textured background page with black text in the center reading 'Suggestion Sparks Intrigue' and a paragraph below it.
A webpage with a white marble background displays the text: 'LITERAL IS PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE' in large bold font, with smaller text underneath explaining the context about The Cosmopolitan advertisement and marketing strategy.
Slide with the title 'Art + Copy Make Great Bedfellows' on a marble background, part of a social toolkit presentation.
Text on a marble background that reads, "6 If you have to say you're cool... well, you're not. Don’t explain what we stand for (i.e., 'Luxury and intrigue await' or 'Escape into glamour'). Everyone makes these blanket-statement claims, and they don’t
A webpage with a white marble background displaying the title 'EDIT. EDIT. EDIT.' and a paragraph of text about the effectiveness of concise headlines.
Text overlay on marble background reads: 'If you sound like a British butler, you've gone too far.' Below, smaller text discusses conveying luxury subtly without highbrow language, suggesting saying 'Complimentary pool swag with 2-night stay' instead
A webpage with a white marble background featuring a motivational phrase in large bold text: 'TURN ORDINARY ON ITS HEAD', and additional smaller text underneath reading: 'Twists on common phrases can be great, when used sparingly. But let’s not use s
Slide from a presentation with the title 'The devil is in the details.' and three calls to action: 'Sleep with us (vs. book a room)', 'Come on in and play awhile (vs. explore now)', and 'Wine me + dine me (vs. get offer)'.
Page with a marble background and large bold text saying, 'Get out of the bargain basement,' with instructions about writing offer copy, above header text indicating this is section 11, from a social toolkit document.

And these are some online ads I concepted and wrote.

A promotional image with a person wearing a lion mask and holding a sheep mask, standing in tall grass. The text says: "Spring is in the dare. Get 20% off a 2-3 night stay. Come out + play. The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas."
A woman in a long, purple velvet gown walking past a teal door in a hallway, promoting a book sale with the text 'Mischief Ahead. Book early, get 20% off your stay.' from The Cosmopolitan hotel.
A woman at a party holding a drink, seated with a disco ball nearby, with a promotional message about New Year's resolutions and nightlife offer from the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas.
Advertisement for a dining event featuring a woman in a green dress and a man in a gray checkered suit, promoting breakfast in bed, with the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas logo.
A woman with curly hair and pink lipstick covering one eye with her hand. The background features black and white horizontal stripes. Text overlay reads, 'WINK AND YOU'LL MISS IT. THRU MON ONLY. BOOK 1 NIGHT, GET 1 ON US' and 'SEIZE THE STAY' from The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas.
Advertisement for The Cosmopolitan hotel with a woman making a wave reflection face, promoting a pool bag and a 2-night stay, with the slogan 'Make Waves and Steal Glances'.