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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Marketing Committee 04/19/201603 PALM DESERT PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, April 19, 2016 — 4:00 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Rolf Hoehn called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Rolf Hoehn, Chair Mahasti Islami Theresa Maggio, Vice -Chair Bruce Nation Jeffrey Norman Ray Rodriguez Members Absent: Arlene Amick Emily Bird-Hrivnak Franchesca Forrer Staff /Others Present: Thomas Soule, Tourism & Marketing Manager Martin Alvarez, Economic Development Director David Hermann, Management Analyst Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary Amy Smith, Chartwell Properties David Fletcher, Chartwell Properties Erin Scott, The Living Desert Christina Walters, C&M Communique III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF FEBRUARY 16, 2016 Ray Rodriguez moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the February 16, 2016, meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Bruce Nation and carried by a 5-0-4 vote. (AYES: Maggio, Nation, Norman, Rodriguez and Hoehn; NOES: None; ABSENT: Amick, Bird-Hrivnak, Forrer and Islami) APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE April 19, 2016 ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. UPDATE ON PUBLIC RELATIONS Thomas Soule provided results from the February FAM Tour. The tour included 10 journalists selected by H&L Partners that toured Palm Desert February 3-7. There are 9 short -lead articles to -date. Long -lead items are still expected. Editorial coverage has already reached over 40M potential visitors. An outside agency estimated the advertising equivalency at nearly $140,000. The city's investment was $28,000; $5.12 ROI for each dollar spent. In addition to what the City spent, there were outside contributions and in -kind services. At this point in the meeting Mahasti Islami arrived. The City has received a nice variety of online coverage. Further updates will be provided as print articles come out. Mr. Soule is pleased with the results so far and asked for the Committee's thoughts on doing this again next fiscal year and the suggested timing. Jeffrey Norman said that February is the best time because there are fewer people here. Theresa Maggio disagreed and indicated that November is the target month for Bighorn. Bruce Nation said November would be challenging as far as golf is concerned because of overseeding. Early January or early December would be better. Rolf Hoehn said it would also depend if you wanted to expose the writers to the events in March, such as Fashion Week, since the desire is to grow events. Mr. Soule suggested breaking it up into two groups; perhaps a print group early and a social media group later. Mr. Nation added that February is okay to see what needs to be seen. But to get marketing out early that would be different. If you do this every year there could be residual results. Mr. Norman added that The McCallum has a fairly robust November, so the tour could be accommodated. Mr. Hoehn asked if this should have a larger place in the overall marketing plan in terms of budget support, putting more value on the exposure obtained by 2 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING April 19, 2016 these means as opposed to print ads or other comparisons. Perhaps we should analyze where we are getting more back for the money spent if it is determined that this is valuable for the exposure we get because of so many things we have to offer in the city. Mr. Soule then reported on inviting fashion blogger and social influencer Claire Sulmers to Fashion Week. As part of the Strategic Plan, one of the goals is to reach new audiences — multicultural, fashion enthusiasts, Gen X-ers and millennials. The city contracted with Claire and brought her out for $2,500, partnering with the CVB for the airfare, JW Marriott for accommodations and some meals, and some restaurants on El Paseo. Her contract was to do 1 post on each of her channels, which would be 4 posts. However, she exceeded expectations by producing 3 posts on her fashion blog, Fashion BombDaily, 9 on her personal blog account as well as posts on snapchat and her website. She said she received more than the normal amount of likes. Her fans are really engaged. The estimated value for the posts is $20,000, not including about 25,000 views from her website post. Claire brought a photographer with her and they chose their posted photos very carefully. Claire tagged the JW Marriott, Palm Desert, El Paseo and Fashion Week with special thanks. The comments show new kinds of interaction with actionable people. Mr. Soule said he is pleased with the experiment with this one blogger in getting social media influencers here during an event. He had wanted her here for Food & Wine but could not get a hotel room. If this is done next year, we can plan ahead for that. The JW Marriott went above and beyond and Claire felt like a VIP. Based upon these results, we are considering doing this again next year for Fashion Week and possibly other events. With Committee concurrence, the Update on Public Relations was received and filed. B. UPDATE ON INITIAL AD CAMPAIGN CONCEPT Mr. Soule has been working with H&L Partners for some concepts for a new ad campaign, which is in the initial stage. Past campaigns were about escaping from where you are to come to Palm Desert. This time he wants to focus to be on the benefits and positive elements about what people are coming to. There was 1 idea that resonated, "Palm Desert — It's So Worth It." There will be a video and still images to show the experiences instead of the talent. He asked the Committee's input for Palm Desert images and experiences that would speak to "It's So Worth It." Ray Rodriguez reminded the Committee that the Envision Palm Desert marketing team spent a year and agreed that the focus should be Palm Desert's assets; the weather, sense of ease and the quality and variety of activities at your fingertips. He suggested that the ads not speak to anything about the work or effort to get here or a sense of giving something up but getting a value for it. We have a discerning clientele here and have developed really great products for them. He also thought the slogan has too much slang. 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING April 19, 2016 Mr. Hoehn said ads should focus on what it's like when you get here, not the effort someone goes through to get here, such as airports or traffic. Ms. Maggio said previous slogans did not come across very well on social media. She also likes groups of people in the photos. Mr. Norman said we can never go wrong by using the mountains as a background. Perhaps there could be a shot of the mountains from indoors. Mr. Rodriguez agreed and said the mountains are a defining element of where we live. The mountains could be used as a thread in all the shots. C. PALM DESERT "SUMMER CHILL" CAMPAIGN CONCEPTS Mr. Soule reminded the Committee of the City's involvement in the CVB's "Summer Chill" program. El Paseo and the JW Marriott each partnered with the City in a co-op where 30- and 60-second commercials were produced and are shown in the L.A. area during the summer. He asked for the Committee's input about capitalizing on that marketing and to create a landing page for "Palm Desert Summer Chill." He asked if it's a useful idea and if so, what could be put on the page. There was discussion regarding the shoppers in the El Paseo video who had their dog with them. The CVB is developing a brand for the Coachella Valley and Mr. Soule would like to divert some of that to Palm Desert with digital ads. Suggested images for the landing would be hotel pools, air-conditioned restaurants, sunrise golf, spa, early morning and evening. Mr. Hoehn noted that the CVB campaign is built around summer deals. We wouldn't want to duplicate the efforts of the JW Marriott and El Paseo. Why couldn't we work together under one umbrella? Mr. Rodriguez discussed that the higher end restaurants are closed in the summer. Martin Alvarez added that there are marketing dollars for co-ops. Ms. Islami suggested that since the CVB has already done the leg work, we could build a Palm Desert specific itinerary pulling in the deals. Mr. Nation said there could also be a chill pass that could be downloaded with a portfolio of different deals in Palm Desert if booked through the chill program. However, they might find us and come anyway without the discounts. 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING April 19, 2016 Mr. Soule liked the idea of curating some Palm Desert experiences that have a chill theme involving the mornings and evenings. D. MARKETING COMMITTEE MEETING TIME Mr. Soule asked the Committee if they would prefer to meet at 4:00 p.m. rather than 2:00 p.m. If so, the By -Laws would need to be changed to confirm that. Mr. Alvarez said there should be a set time because there are posting requirements for the agendas, and meeting times and dates are posted for the public's information. Jeffrey Norman moved, by Minute Motion, to change the Marketing Committee By -Laws for meetings to be "held the third Tuesday of each month at 4:00 p.m." The motion was seconded by Bruce Nation and carried by a 6-0-3 vote. (AYES: Islami, Maggio, Nation, Norman, Rodriguez and Hoehn; NOES: None; ABSENT: Amick, Bird-Hrivnak and Forrer) VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None Vill. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS A. City Council Martin Alvarez reported that the City Council had the first Budget Study Session this morning that included Police and Fire and Public Works. A second Study Session will be on Thursday to cover the rest of the departments. Also, Justin McCarthy was appointed as Interim City Manager at the April 14th City Council meeting. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Rolf Hoehn said they are already working on next year's BNP Paribas tournament. This year's event was great even though attendance was down. Hotel occupancy was at the max. It is becoming critical during that period for the Valley to have additional hotels. Overall airport numbers are up; 5% total traffic in February. The effect of fewer Canadian visitors was felt at the tournament and in the Valley. Construction of stadium 3 is being delayed in order to have renovations of the outside of stadium 1. 61 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE April 19, 2016 ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING B. Committee Members Mahasti Islami said the Fashion Week and Food & Wine events ran smoothly and were extraordinary. The new location was received well. Parking and shuttles were also effective. Ray Rodriguez noted that his contacts in the Valley report the result of Canadians not being here has been felt in the areas of real estate, restaurants and golf. Mr. Hoehn said hopefully things will change, but we may have to revisit where our marketing dollars are spent. Jeffrey Norman was happy to report that the season that ended a few weeks ago was the most successful year in the McCallum's history in terms of ticket sales and philanthropy. The new season's subscriptions are already on sale. He then distributed the theatre's recently created image piece. As part of the educational division, Open Call was held last weekend with 4 sellout performances. There were 143 participants and 23 acts ranging in ages from 9 to 91. Responding to question, they have tried to make coming to the McCallum a special and joyful experience. Theresa Maggio said the first Bighorn BAM Tennis Tournament sold out. She thanked Mr. Hoehn and his team for contributing to a successful event. Bighorn has been getting a lot of PR because of the Vault and the Weintraub estate that is for sale. The Clubhouse will be coming down and there will be temporary facilities until November of 2017 when the new Clubhouse is scheduled to be complete. The 4 penthouses on top of the new Clubhouse have already sold. Bruce Nation said Desert Willow had the best February ever. February and March were two of the biggest food and beverage months ever. Five Music and Dining events were held in March with average 140 per night. The summer VIP card will be available again. The bunkers on the Firecliff course will be renovated under the direction of the original course architect. Overall, Desert Willow had a decent season in spite of less Canadian visitors. C. Staff Martin Alvarez reported that two hotels are under construction: the 156 room Hotel Paseo to open fall of 2017, and Fairfield Extended Stay on Cook by the freeway, 115 rooms, 3-story and could open next year. The burned Fairfield Inn still has insurance issues. He expressed thanks to all involved for a successful Fashion Week, especially The Gardens for the location. 0 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE April 19, 2016 ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Services Reports The Visitor Center numbers are steady. Way -finding signs will be re -designed and relocated. With Committee concurrence, the Visitor Services Reports were received and filed. XII. NEXT MEETING DATE —MAY 17, 2016 XII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m. /uI,V-d-k. ('. c 4� J ne Stanley, Recording Secretary 7