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The Las Vegas Sphere has become an entertainment fixture in Sin City. And it seems that the gigantic orb’s novelty doesn’t wear off after more than a year of operations. The ad campaigns of Las Vegas Sphere are still impressive and brands find awesome creative ways to promote their products in the most original way using the LED capabilities of the structure. Let’s see the 6 best ad campaigns of Las Vegas Sphere.
Is Las Vegas Sphere still relevant?
The LED extravaganza isn’t just relevant, it has earned its place among Las Vegas’ top entertainment venues. And it seems it just starting.
Sure, the beginnings of 2024 were bumpy. The venue announced the US$193.9m losses and many wondered if the format could survive the ever-changing Las Vegas landscape. But it did and with smart artist residency picks, high-quality creative collaborations with well-known directors (such as Darren Aronofsky), and immense technological potential. Las Vegas Sphere just went up and up.
“The gimmick that worked,” wrote Architectural Digest in an October feature on the venue and it’s a perfect way to describe The Sphere’s position among other venues in Las Vegas.
580,000-square-foot LED Exosphere with 1 billion colors and 160,000 speakers in the main hall, these numbers are unparalleled in the world. And they are used to the full force delivering visual shows that seem ideal for our social media-obsessed era.
Also, The Sphere’s case proves that digital signage is the future. Basically, the venue is a testament to the engaging power of the screens.
Its exosphere is the gargantuan outdoor billboard displaying ads. The interior features a large-scale screen that does the same job as the regular entertainment screens, albeit in a mind-blowing way.
Las Vegas Sphere is a triumph of digital signage technology, both inside and outside. And its star keeps on shining.
Let’s review the top ad campaigns at Las Vegas Sphere in 2024.
1. Anyma – The End of Genesys
Why: it’s hard to think of an artist that better aligns with Sphere’s futuristic tech-filled vision than Anyma (aka Matteo Milleri). His shows involving lots of VR and XR elements have become a new norm for what an electronic music performance can look like. You’ve probably seen the footage of huge humanoids interacting with the audience to the bass and synth of Milleri through the huge screen.
The ad campaign to announce the additional dates of Anyma’s residency at Sphere took the same turn. A creature tries to open the metal doors. Once it does, the light beam goes into the dark Las Vegas sky. It’s a kind of “wow” advertising that makes Las Vegas Sphere content stand out from the rest.
2. Penacony descends upon the Sphere in Las Vegas
Why: Honkai: Star Rail is among the most popular games in the world. To promote the launch of the Penacony area within the game, miHoYo resorted to one of the most exciting screens on the planet. The ad itself isn’t Anyma-level epic. But that’s the whole point.
This Sphere activation was mostly focused on the game’s devoted fans (aka Trailblazers) and featured minimalist footage with visuals from Penacony. The game area itself was inspired by Vegas, so using Sphere seems like a clever marketing move too.
3. Google Cloud in Las Vegas
Why: Alphabet Inc. decided to use the fantastic color capabilities of Sphere’s outdoor exosphere to the max. The ad campaign starts with the simple text “Ready to cloud with the new (y/n)” and then the display bursts into a million colors. This color show looks amazing juxtapositioned to the surrounding darkness.
And it’s also an example of a great approach to advertising a product that may come off as “boring.” Who thought that something like the cloud server could have such a magnificent ad presentation as it did on Las Vegas Sphere? Well done, Google.
4. DeWalt
Why: who thought that one of the best Las Vegas Sphere activations would come from a power tools company? American brand DeWalt decides to go big to celebrate its centennial anniversary. It turned Sphere into a branded yellow and black hard hat to honor all the construction professionals.
The activation ran alongside the World of Concrete annual trade show for the commercial construction industry. It wasn’t just the digital ad, but DeWalt’s campaign also included a January 23 proclamation as “Concrete Heroes Day.” Now this is conceptual advertising at its best.
5. V-U2 An Immersive Concert Film
Why: when something works, capitalize on it. Las Vegas Sphere extends its partnership with the Irish band U2 (who opened the venue with a series of residency concerts in 2023). The rockers are coming back to the futuristic 18,600-seat auditorium, however, this time in the form of a concert movie. Immersive concert movie it is.
To promote the premiere of the new Sphere event, the venue used its exosphere in quite a different way than usual. Instead of exploding with myriad colors or featuring gigantic monsters descending to Las Vegas, it just has text. And this is what makes all the difference. Multicolored words from U2 songs appear with a quick pace sparking attention and adding some provocation to the mix.
It’s a very attention-grabbing approach and we’re excited to see more text-based Las Vegas Sphere advertising.
6. Sphere – Earth Day
Why: Earth Day is there to “diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.” Las Vegas Sphere decided to help the cause by using its 580,000-square-foot display to broadcast work from multi-GRAMMY Award-winning Grateful Dead and Dead & Company percussionist Mickey Hart, and filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg.
The 11-minute show ran three times on Earth Day promoting the initiative’s values and delivering visually stunning content in the process.
Here’s our previous list of the best ad campaigns of Las Vegas Sphere
Who hasn’t heard about Las Vegas Sphere so far? MSG Sphere has become a fixture of digital entertainment, kicking off with the fanfare of an immersive U2 show and instantly invading the social media landscape with mind-blowing visuals. And for a good reason, it’s truly spectacular. It’s time to have a list of the best MSG Sphere ads. Discover the best activations that graced this gigantic Las Vegas construction.
What is Las Vegas Sphere?
Officially opening its doors on September 29, 2023, MSG Sphere is a brand-new music and entertainment arena east of the Las Vegas Strip.
The stats are nothing short of impressive.
It measures 366 feet (112 m) high and 516 feet (157 m) wide.
It cost $2.3 billion to construct.
875,000 square feet of area make it the largest spherical building in the world.
18,600 people can be seated inside with 20,000 people standing capacity.
But it’s the technological side of MSG Sphere that really makes it stand out as a one-of-a-kind digital signage.
The Sphere in Las Vegas boasts an interior 16K resolution wraparound LED screen measuring 160,000 square feet and an exterior 580,000 square feet of LED display space. We’ll focus on the latter for the sake of this article.
Although young, MSG Sphere has already been a much-coveted advertising space. Looking at the scale of construction and the creative liberty you can have with the spherical form it’s easy to understand why. Moreover, advertising here means advertising in the whole of Las Vegas at once, Madison Square Garden Sphere is seen from multiple points around the desert city and from the air too.
Oh, and we’ve almost forgotten the advertising costs. Per KSNV, a one-week campaign is about $650,000 and a one-day one is $450,000.
Let’s get right to the best Las Vegas Sphere ads.
1. Xbox Series X|S – Sphere – Power Your Dreams
Why: Xbox took MSG Sphere as a canvas and showed what their marketing is capable of in the latest “ Power Your Dreams” activation. It’s a campaign that you want to be fully immersed in. The show starts with an Xbox iconic “X” overtaking the Madison Square Garden Sphere. Afterward, the ad goes on to introduce viewers to the world of games that can be played on the console with anamorphic 3D footage from such hits as Starfield, Forza Motorsport, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, and Cyberpunk 2077. The whole thing looks amazing combined with the well-recognized casino-dotted landscape.
2. Sphere Vegas x 2023 NBA Summer League
Why: less is more in the case of the NBA’s campaign that uses the gigantic LED screen of the Las Vegas Sphere to announce the coming of the summer league. The spherical structure is perfect for a basketball. That’s exactly what we see here. And it looks great. Having the ball as the campaign’s centerpoint allows the NBA to instantly capture the attention of the whole city and make an effective statement. Let’s see how the soccer and American football leagues will respond to that with their Sphere activations.
3. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Sphere Las Vegas Takeover
Why: Marvel and PlayStation go epic for their Sphere takeover. Las Vegas shines in red and black, the colors of Spidey and Venom. Imagine what seeing that kind of spectacle would be in real life driving down the road and witnessing the gigantic Spiderman logo above you followed by the menacing face full of spikey teeth of Venom. That’s an ultimate attention-grabbing ad and one of the coolest activations of Las Vegas Sphere. The commercial is promoting the new Spider-Man 2 game for PlayStation and turns heads.
4. Sphere | Hello World | A July 4th Event Like No Other
Why: before Las Vegas Sphere opened in September with that U2 concert, it had to light up people’s expectations with a showcase of its visual capabilities. And so it did, on July, 4 the structure lit up with myriads of lights and colors. There were various shapes, psychedelic patterns, Earth-like installations, fireworks, and Tron-reminiscent visuals. It all looked very futuristic and mind-blowing. And it has kept everyone talking ahead of September. Basically, it was one big ad for The Sphere itself and we absolutely loved it.
5. MINI USA | Spike and the New All-Electric MINI Countryman Visit Sphere
Why: 3D billboards are not always the best when it comes to storytelling. In MINI’s case, they have successfully combined an anamorphic impressive part with easy-to-follow promotional storytelling for their 2025 MINI Countryman Electric. All thanks to cute Spike, a cute unofficial mascot of the company which is a blue-and-white digital doggo with funny ears and a vibrant personality.
According to Rob Lambrechts, MINI’s Chief Creative Officer, the company strived to “think of this campaign as an art piece, not as an ad. People are coming to Sphere to have fun and be entertained, so we needed to integrate MINI in the least intrusive way possible.” Now that’s something defining for advertising in 2023 when brands no longer treat commercials as merely selling vehicles but look at them as some kind of visual art. Digital signage is perfect to host such artistic endeavors and bring all the attention.
6. Meta Quest 3 | Sphere | Expand your world
Why: Meta has approached their Sphere takeover with creativity. The campaign is devoted to Meta Quest 3 and promotes Ghost Busters and Stranger Things VR by immersing viewers into the worlds of both. In the case of Ghost Busters, it’s the goofy Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man that invades the Sphere. Stranger Things chooses a darker approach opening the portal into The Upside Down in the middle of busy Las Vegas. In both cases, the results look incredible combined with the visual capabilities of Las Vegas Sphere.
