Joan Named Creative AOR for Mohegan Sun

Mohegan Sun, a Connecticut casino and resort, has named Joan as its new creative agency of record following a competitive pitch involving four agencies, ADWEEK has learned. Canadian agency Taxi was its agency of record for nearly a decade prior.

Joan’s appointment marks a new creative direction for Mohegan Sun that aims to unify its physical and digital offerings under a cohesive voice. The goal is to blend the resort’s physical properties with its growing interactive gaming division, Mohegan Digital.

In the pitch, which lasted nearly three months, Mohegan Sun appreciated that Joan “completely disagreed with what we were thinking,” said David Fausel, director of advertising.

“It takes a lot of guts to tell a client they’re wrong,” he said. “But it made me feel like it’s going to be a good relationship when you know they’re not afraid to push you in the ways you need to be pushed.”

Mohegan Sun’s 10,000-seat arena in Uncasville, CT has hosted talent including Bruce Springsteen, Prince, Beyoncé, and Harry Styles. The resort has 2,000 hotel rooms, a spa, a golf course, and 50 restaurants and shops.

Mohegan Sun struggles with brand awareness, according to George Galinsky, senior vice president of marketing. “We’ve been around for a long time. We’ve had some great campaigns over the years,” he said. “Our biggest challenge is that people don’t really understand the magnitude of our destination.”

He added that Joan’s team understood the brief: “In the pitch, they showed us [work] that felt like what we’ve been trying to do for decades.”

Lisa Clunie, co-founder and CEO of Joan, said the agency team loved the idea of “helping an iconic brand go into the future.”

“For the first time in Mohegan’s history, we’re trying to build this big idea that encompasses all of the different things that Mohegan does,” she said. “All of that together needs a big, cohesive comms plan connecting it all.”

One of the main goals of the partnership is to reposition Mohegan Sun as more than just a gambling destination. Clunie sees the opportunity to attract younger online gamers.