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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Marketing Committee 12/05/2017CC ACC- � PALM DESERT PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, December 5, 2017 — 3:00 p.m. Clubhouse Boardroom at Bighorn Golf Club 255 Palowet Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260 I. CALL TO ORDER Rolf Hoehn called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Arlene Amick Franchesca Forrer Rolf Hoehn, Chair Theresa Maggio, Vice -Chair Jerry Martin Bruce Nation Jeffrey Norman Ray Rodriguez Barb Wagner Members Absent: Erin Scott Staff /Others Present: Gina Nestande, Councilmember Thomas Soule, Tourism & Marketing Manager David Hermann, Senior Management Analyst Barbara Blythe, Tourism & Marketing Specialist Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary Chelsea Edwards, H & L Partners Rachel Barbieri, H & L Partners Dawn Petrick, The Living Desert III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 5, 2017 Jeffrey Norman moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the September 5, 2017, meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Theresa Maggio and carried by an 8-0- APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE December 5, 2017 1-1 vote. (AYES: Amick, Forrer, Maggio, Martin, Nation, Norman, Rodriguez, and Wagner; NOES: None; ABSENT: Scott; ABSTAIN: Hoehn) V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. REVIEW OF CURRENT AD CAMPAIGN Thomas Soule introduced Rachel Barbieri and Chelsea Edwards from the H&L Partners office in St. Louis. Ms. Edwards gave an overview of the creative in - market for the past few months. As a reminder, 64% of the budget is in digital, 19% is outdoors, and 17% is print ads in four magazines. The four areas we are focusing on are hiking, shopping, relaxation and golf. Some takeaways are that the Los Angeles market is the strongest DMA (Designated Market Area). The second half of the week drives the most activity. Hiking, golf and vacations are the top Google search words. Seasonal -specific events performed the best on Nativo. Facebook is the strongest driver of email signups. They will try to optimize these based on the findings. Ms. Barbieri went on to say that the first use of the campaign creative was in January of 2017. Rights for talent use were for one year. Looking at the different options for on -camera talent assets, H&L recommends renewing those assets for one year. These are 11 talents at $300 per year, plus one voice-over talent for $1,200, for a total of $4,500. These would be used for any type of ad. Mr. Hoehn thought that the subject matter photos in the airport display were too generic. He commented that the photos should be more Palm Desert specific; images unique to Palm Desert. Jerry Martin asked about digital magazines. Mr. Soule replied that all print ads come with value-added digital ads. A portion of the market we are trying to reach still read print magazines, and others focus on mobile and digital. Little by little we are decreasing the print buy. Ms. Barbieri noted that print ads have a longer shelf life. Franchesca Forrer moved, by Minute Motion, to recommend approval of talent renewal for a one year term. The motion was seconded by Barb Wagner and carried by a 9-0-1 vote. (AYES: Amick, Forrer, Maggio, Martin, Nation, Norman, Rodriguez, Wagner and Hoehn; NOES: None; ABSENT: Scott) B. PROPOSAL FOR AD CAMPAIGN REFRESH IN FY 2018/2019 Ms. Barbieri began by saying this would still be the "So Worth It" campaign, not a new concept. Over time, results from the same ads repeated over and over would start to fall off, so there is a need to refresh creative within the K APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE December 5, 2017 overarching concept. Native content is already created for each application. New creative is done for out -of -home mall environments. Social media creative has a quick turnover shelf life. There are ways to use different images from the library, and change the copy or layout. The discussion today is what other interest categories are there that we might want to expand into in terms of brand assets. Mr. Norman articulated that Palm Desert is the cultural hub of the Valley. The assets of the McCallum Theatre, Palm Springs Art Museum, and The Living Desert are not utilized enough. The McCallum is in the midst of its 30th season. Dawn Petrick added that the 50th anniversary of The Living Desert is coming up, and they will be celebrating for an entire year starting the fall of 2019. Ray Rodriguez wanted to reassert that most of us have done a lot of work in the community, and nothing sells like the unique opportunity, which we are hearing today. For such a small area, the McCallum is an elegant, first-rate theater experience and we should pay attention to what we offer here. Theresa Maggio noted that with Hotel Paseo opening in close proximity to shopping and dining, it's something we haven't had before. Mr. Rodriguez commented that the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is unique as well. Franchesca Forrer sees that Palm Springs is somewhat successful with the budget that they have, leveraging the brand equity of larger events. Because Palm Desert is the heart of the valley, we can get to events in the other cities. The week in-between Coachella weekends, people are looking for things to do, so she would like to see us leveraging that better. The BNP Paribas is another example of an event that is international. She realizes we are already doing that, but she would like to see it amplified. Ms. Barbieri responded by saying that is the area they are going to as well. There has been discussion to have the display advertising show relevant images, and have them geo-located, so there would be a lot of versions. Mr. Rodriguez stated that people in urban centers are used to mad races between locations. Once here for a while, they are "desert-ized" and only want about 8 minutes of travel time. There is a message about our accessibility and our lifestyle being far superior to anything they have ever experienced. If we can translate that, we have a big message. Ms. Barbieri explained that this is not something you can communicate in a line or two. It would be a great opportunity for native content; to explore an article about experiencing life in Palm Desert, or some video content. 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE December 5, 2017 Mr. Rodriguez suggested we shouldn't complicate 'ease.' The best messaging is to easily communicate this powerful message. Mr. Hoehn further related that when asked about lifestyle, residents say they enjoy the laid-back quality of life here. Ms. Forrer reiterated that it's important to get perspective of the shift that happens when someone leaves the craziness and comes here. Ms. Barbieri noted that Thomas and Heather have been working on PR and sponsored trips to try to capture that. Ms. Maggio continued by saying that Presidents Day Weekend is huge at Bighorn, more for couples than families. Mr. Soule said the next step is for H&L to take the input provided and put together a proposal for next fiscal year's budget. Ruth Ann Moore suggested that since this will go into 2019, to look into Desert X again. Arlene Amick agreed that convenience is something to talk about, but we need to be careful. We have a specialty in the caliber of what we have to offer that the other cities don't. That needs to be the underlying message. Jeffrey Norman moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the direction H&L Partners has taken regarding the campaign refresh for FY 2018/2019 as presented. The motion was seconded by Bruce Nation and carried by a 9-0-1 vote. (AYES: Amick, Forrer, Martin, Maggio, Nation, Norman, Rodriguez, Wagner and Hoehn; NOES: None; ABSENT: Scott) C. UPDATE ON RESEARCH PROPOSALS BY H&L PARTNERS Ms. Barbieri pointed out that research is important and H&L measures ad effectiveness with most of their clients. Are we reaching the right targets and are they hearing the message we want them to hear? It also validates all the efforts done. Mr. Soule explained that this is a follow-up to what Mark Schaeffer spoke about at the June meeting, so he asked H&L to come up with some proposals. Ms. Barbieri spoke with a number of companies, which she has boiled down to 3 options: SMARI, Market Lens and W5. The research objectives are: measure the campaign's ability to drive awareness to the destination; evaluate creative in terms of impact in driving preference; evaluate effectiveness of informing target events and activities; and analyze visit data. SMARI specializes in the travel industry and does research for the CVB. H&L has experience with SMARI as well. Market Lens is very affordable and their deliverables are smaller in scale. W5 is based in Chicago and is very focused on finding the right solution to fit 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE December 5, 2017 your objectives. All would be based on quantitative surveys in the L.A. and San Diego markets. There was discussion regarding the current issue of short-term rentals and its effect on tourism. If Airbnb were not available, would people still come to Palm Desert? Ms. Barbieri noted that this would be a different kind of research than ad effectiveness. Theresa Maggio questioned when the research would be done and how it would be helpful. Mr. Soule noted this is for next fiscal year's budget, to establish a benchmark for data comparison. Ms. Barbieri explained that the research would be done in May of 2019 unless funds were available to do an initial wave. Ms. Maggio stated it doesn't seem that important because it won't be done for a long time. It won't help us in the next year. Mr. Soule said we would need to start at some point. Ms. Barbieri added they could do smaller surveys to address specific questions. Ms. Barbieri recommends using W5. They are very transparent in what they can do from an economic scoring standpoint. They are also honest with giving insights, back end data, and things that will help us problem solve. They have more of a partner approach than a research vendor. There is a greater expense but more output. Their reports are highly visual in telling the data story. She thinks the incremental difference based on our total budget for the output would be a worthwhile spend. However, we can get what we need from any of these partners. Mr. Soule is asking for direction from the Committee about moving forward so it can be put in the budget, or not. Dawn Petrick thought that 120 people is a pretty small survey, and may not be accurate or diverse enough. Mr. Hoehn asked for clarification. Is Mr. Soule asking a recommendation of a company or for overall direction? The Committee could recommend a not -to - exceed budget level and leave the selection of the company to Mr. Soule and perhaps a subset of the Committee. He believes research is important and once you go into cross tabulations and start a breakdown, you will get into a smaller sample, and the answers may not be meaningful. All of that needs to be vetted in that process. We can't decide that here, except to give direction on yes, we want to do this, and a framework. Ms. Petrick asked if subsequent waves after the initial wave are needed. Ms. Barbieri responded that there is a learning curve in the initial wave, which is customized for the next time. Mr. Nation agreed that a 120 person sample is too small. 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE December 5, 2017 Ms. Forrer related that she has had experience with incentivizing potential respondents and asked how they would be found. There are right and wrong ways to reward someone. Mr. Norman remarked that since Mr. Soule is working on the budget, if this is something he can put in without impacting something else, and since H&L recommends W5, he would be inclined to see if that could be accommodated. Ms. Forrer thinks the research is invaluable, and perhaps worth sacrificing to get the data. She doesn't think the research should be short-changed to keep an ad that we may or may not know is as effective as it needs to be. Responding to a question of how negotiable the proposals are, Ms. Barbieri said they know how much effort it takes to get a certain number of respondents, and we may have to give up something to get a larger amount. Rolf Hoehn moved, by Minute Motion, to move forward with the development of the research program within the acceptable parameters of the budget. Proposals will come back to the Marketing Committee for review. The Motion was seconded by Jeffrey Norman and carried by a 9-0-1 vote. (AYES: Amick, Forrer, Maggio, Martin, Nation, Norman, Rodriguez, Wagner and Hoehn; NOES: None; ABSENT: Scott) VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None Vill. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS A. City Council Councilmember Gina Nestande reported on the short-term rental issue that is currently being decided by the City Council. This issue has been very contentious on both sides. There was discussion regarding possible loss of revenue once the proposed ordinance goes into effect. Ms. Forrer strongly suggested that Mr. Soule get some data on this. From the outside, it appears that that the City is stepping back in time by not participating in short-term rentals. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Mr. Hoehn conveyed that the BNP Paribas has the greatest direct economic impact of any event in the Valley. From their study, the combined direct and Co APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE December 5, 2017 indirect economic impact is $416M. Factoring in the construction last year, the impact increases to $460M. He was also very proud to report that for the third year running, which has never happened before, both men and women tennis players have voted it the best tournament in the world. There is also a beautification project now at the Tennis Gardens where a lot of cement is being replaced by pavers. An area near the exhibitor tents is being replaced by 60+ palm trees, grass and a fountain. This will be done by the end of the month and setup for the tournament will begin. A challenger tournament will be added to the roster and will be held the week before the tournament. Participants are entry level players on the men's and women's tours that are ranked 150 and higher. Preference will be given to American players for wild cards as part of the effort to grow professional tennis. Last Friday the Palm Desert Chamber had their annual Business Expo at the Tennis Gardens. They are looking forward to expanding that event over the next couple of years. October was another good month at the Palm Springs Airport; travel increased 4% year -over -year. B. Committee Members Barb Wagner stated that the Marriott is having a strong December with a convention now and another coming in right afterwards. The hotel owners are planning on renovating all the guest rooms next year. Franchesca Forrer reported that on November 3rd, "Street" was an incredible party. She thanked the City and Thomas in particular for being a sponsor. Over 5,000 people attended compared with just under 4,000 last year. Traffic was up at the center 10% that day. The center has a new GM, Jennifer Gordon, who is very excited to be here. It was a surprisingly good Black Friday, with mixed retail numbers. Santa will, of course, be at the center. Family YMCA of the Desert is partnering in 2018 and will be heading up the lounge with a series of different programming. Tomorrow night is family movie night at the cinema; free admission with a toy donation. Ray Rodriguez conveyed that Cork Tree is having an unexpected off -the -charts fall. Casuelas Cafe will hopefully reopen late January upon completion of its patio renovation. Theresa Maggio thanked everyone for coming to Bighorn's new clubhouse today and touring the facility. Their November was up by 40%. The restaurant averages 300 people per night. A Miracle on El Paseo was a huge success; up 30% and over 3,000 people attending. Dawn Petrick said that WildLights is going very well. Attendance is up about 26% year -over -year, even though the event was cut from 42 to 16 days. Construction is on time and on budget. The new entrance and gift shop could be done as early as next summer. There are many upcoming events, including a New Year's Eve event, which will be on New York time. 7 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE December 5, 2017 Jerry Martin distributed flyers for the Dr. George Charity Car Show, which will be hosted at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens, and the annual Classic Cars Under the Stars at Desert Willow. The Dr. George Car Show raises funds for the Desert Cancer Foundation, and last year they were given over $80,000. Eight to ten thousand visitors are expected this year. Cruise Night numbers are way up, both attendance and website hits. Arlene Amick related that Galen First Fridays started up again in November. Last Friday they partnered with the Opera Guild, which was very well received. A new exhibition from a local artist, Bob Van Breda, uses found objects and is called "Lost and Found." This year they want to focus on marketing the sculpture garden. The annual "Meet the Galen" event was postponed to spring because of numerous events going on at the museum. They are still investigating how to participate in Fashion Week. Bruce Nation was happy to report that the clubhouse has been spruced up with new carpet, and the lobby chairs will be reupholstered. Both the November and December "Dining Under the Stars" events sold out. At the request of Mayor Jonathan, a sold out "Scotch and Cigars" event was held that included three cigars, three shots, and a meal paired with a whiskey taster. On Thanksgiving Day they served a record 578 people; 120 people were on the waiting list. Last month, golf was up 20% over last year. This was the 4th year for a Black Friday online sale in which over 1,200 rounds of golf were pre -paid. Rounds need to be used by January 22nd, and over 90% are redeemed. A lot of the marketing for that sale was done with social media. Last month was the biggest November ever in food and golf. Jeffrey Norman announced the McCallum Theatre's most successful annual gala ever was held November 30th and raised $1.7M. That kicked off the Theatre's 30th anniversary season, as well as the 20th anniversary of the education division. Barry Manilow's five upcoming "A Gift of Love" concerts will benefit 25 charities. C. Staff Ruth Ann Moore provided an update on Fashion Week. Trina Turk and Michael Costello with his Project Runway crew are returning. Thanks to Saks Fifth Avenue, Carolina Herrera's couture will be featured. A week-long display will feature fashions created with natural materials into one -of -a -kind art pieces. More celebrity chefs will attend the Food & Wine event. The facility will be expanded to have two demonstration kitchens. Hotel Paseo and the JW Marriott are selling amazing fashion and food packages this year that include hotel, restaurants, the James Beard luncheon, and tickets for evening events. Hotel Paseo is also including a $1,000 gift certificate to El Paseo Jewelers. The Marriott package offers a suite, robes and spa treatment. In Economic Development, staff and the steering committee have been working on the five- year strategic plan. This will be presented to the City Council in a Study Session on February 8th. Areas addressed include changes in retail, working with E3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE December 5, 2017 developers, hotels, living wage jobs, business retention program and business attraction program. She and Mr. Soule have been discussing a Native campaign to talk about the quality of life issues, not unlike what was discussed at today's meeting. Hotel Paseo's opening has been delayed again, this time because of new state elevator regulations. After 21 years with the City, Ruth Ann will be retiring in February and said it has been a pleasure working with everyone. Mr. Soule added that opening night of Fashion Week will be a slate of California designers, which will be called "California Dreamin'." He has reached out to Visit California through the CVB to be involved, because one of their initiatives is also called "California Dreamin'." Because the City has made a major investment in the events, Mr. Soule has been working hard the last year and a half to challenge Palm Springs Life. D. Social Media Activity Report Mr. Hoehn had a question regarding the huge jump in the Facebook reach numbers for October and November, from 18,000 to 347,000. Barbara Blythe responded that this correlates with the paid advertising placed by H&L Partners. The engagement rate went down, but there are a lot of eyes on the messaging. There is also a 25% increase in the number of visitors coming in to the visitor services counter. Additionally, people reached at special events is up over 50%. XI. NEXT MEETING DATE— MARCH 6, 2018 Mr. Hoehn stated that he will probably not be at the March 6th meeting because of the BNP Paribas Tournament. He offered to host the June 5th meeting at the Tennis Garden's board room. Mr. Soule said that in 2018 we have to go out to RFP for the marketing firm, so he will probably schedule a special meeting between March and June to address that. XII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 4:57 p.m. ne Stanley, Re ording Secretary E