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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarketing Cmte - 06-16-2015PALM DESERT PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, June 16, 2015 — 2 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Theresa Maggio called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Franchesca Forrer Kerry Graves Theresa Maggio, Vice -Chair Bruce Nation Jeffrey Norman Ray Rodriguez Members Absent: Arlene Amick Emily Bird-Hrivnak Rolf Hoehn, Chair Diane Williams Staff /Others Present: Bob Spiegel, Mayor Pro Tern Donna Gomez, Tourism & Marketing Manager Rudy Acosta, Assistant City Manager Martin Alvarez, Economic Development Director Ruth Ann Moore, Economic Development Manager David Hermann, Management Analyst Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary Michael Mathews, Palm Springs Life III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF MAY 19, 2015. Bruce Nation moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the May 19, 2015, meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Ray Rodriguez and carried by a 6-0-4 vote. (AYES: Forrer, Graves, Maggio, Nation, Norman, and Rodriguez; NOES: None; ABSENT: Amick, Bird-Hrivnak, Hoehn, and Williams.) PRELIMINARY MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER I rem VI. NEW BUSINESS A. RECAP OF FASHION WEEK 2015 JUNE 16, 2015 Michael Mathews distributed reports for Fashion Week El Paseo and Food & Wine Festival Palm Desert. This year marked the 10th year of Fashion Week and the event has grown to 8 nights. Overall feedback from attendees was really positive. For the first time, a survey has been distributed to all attendees with enticement for responding of free tickets for next year. Referring to the recap reports, Mr. Mathews highlighted some statistics for Fashion Week: • Nearly 13,000 attendees; 56% came from out -of -market • $3.1 M economic impact • 44 stores participated • 75 in-store events • 32 sponsors and 6 partners • $62,000 was raised for local charities • Total media and marketing coverage value almost $4.5M Organizers are challenged each year to come up with creative ways in order to get the stores more engaged. Mr. Mathews reminded the Committee that the name of the event is Fashion Week El Paseo in Palm Desert, pushing the city's name all over the world. Saxony and Desert European Motors will sponsor in 2016 for a 3rd year, and many of the other sponsors will return. Responding to question, Mr. Mathews said the live band after the shows was received incredibly well. After -parties were cut back in order to have more control and enhance the experience. He then went on to describe how charities participate to raise funds. According to some rules, any charity can purchase tickets at half-price and sell them at full price. The dates for 2016 are March 28th to April 2"d, and the location has not been determined yet. The frontrunner for a potential 2016 location is the parking structure at The Gardens. Still to be decided is how the tents would be secured and the final cost to use the structure. Discussion ensued regarding the calculation for the amount of economic impact dollars. Mr. Mathews uses formulas from 2 studies and he errs on 2 PRELIMINARY MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 16, 2015 the lower side for the dollar value. Ray Rodriguez commented that he thinks the numbers are modest for the efforts. Ruth Ann Moore added that The Gardens is able to quantify additional sales during Fashion Week. Mayor Pro Tern Spiegel asked Rudy Acosta to find out about adding a charge to each ticket, such as an event tax. Moving on to the Food & Wine report, Mr. Mathews thanked the City for the additional funding to add tents and air conditioning. The enhanced events made a very big difference. Some highlights from the report: • 28 celebrity chefs • 8 wine seminars • 107 participating wineries • 9 premium beers and spirits • 45 participating restaurants • 71 % of attendees were from out -of -market The benefiting charity was The Friends of the James Beard Foundation, who now recognizes this event as a major sponsor. Agua Caliente will probably be the presenting sponsor again. Having Cat Cora as the celebrity chef made a very big difference. Ray Rodriguez discussed the celebrity chef events. He thought it would be an easy sell to have more Palm Desert chefs involved and suggested reserving half of the spots for Palm Desert restaurants next year. Mr. Mathews reviewed the challenges with the 2016 event, since a location and dates have not yet been determined. Possible locations are: The Living Desert, Marriott Desert Springs, Desert Willow, the deck of Westfield Mall parking structure, or a park in Palm Desert. With Committee concurrence, the reports were received and filed. B. 2015 MODERNISM WEEK RESULTS Referring to the report included in the agenda packet, Donna Gomez began by saying 2015 was the second year that the City has sponsored Modernism Week. The City typically sponsors events and activities that are held within the city limits. Several of this year's events were in Palm Desert, and the sponsorship level was $2,500. Within Palm Desert were double-decker bus tours, a mod party at Marrakesh Country Club, a home tour in Sandpiper, and a party hosted by Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert. Almost 60,000 people attended the 10 days of events this past February; a 30% increase over the prior year. Because of the great results this year, an amount of $5,000 is budgeted for next year if events are held again in Palm Desert. A sponsorship request for next year would 3 PRELIMINARY MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 16, 2015 be reviewed by the Marketing Committee. A fall preview is held in October for 2016 events. Theresa Maggio suggested including a shopping experience in Palm Desert. Ruth Ann Moore added that a few years ago parking was made available at The Gardens with buses to the events at Marrakesh; so that when folks returned they could shop and eat on El Paseo. Next year's event dates are February 12 — 22, 2016. With Committee concurrence, the reports were received and filed. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None. VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. CONSIDERATION OF ADVERTISING AGENCY RECOMMENDATION This item has been continued from the May 1 gth meeting. Ms. Gomez distributed a document with 3 reference checks for H&L Partners. She had contacted the Directors of the Missouri Division of Tourism, Oakland Museum of California, and the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission. All three clients were very impressed with H&L's work and gave rave reviews. They noted that H&L is very strong in digital and media buying. Ms. Gomez then showed some videos that H&L had produced and noted that the work pulls the viewer into the experience, displays personal relationships, and makes a connection with feelings. Ms. Maggio commented that the visuals are beautiful. Responding to question, H&L indicated they want to get to know us first with some brainstorming sessions and will assign an account representative that is the best match for our community. H&L has already commented that the current marketing efforts are spread too thin and would identify the strongest markets to focus on. All three references were impressed with H&L's strategic planning, their intelligence, and said they were very personable. Bruce Nation mentioned he has seen their commercials because he has a sports package for St. Louis. 4 PRELIMINARY MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 16, 2015 Ray Rodriguez moved, by Minute Motion, to recommend to City Council to contract with H&L Partners for fiscal year 2015-2016. The motion was seconded by Jeffrey Norman and carried by 6-0-4 vote. (AYES: Forrer, Graves, Maggio, Nation, Norman, and Rodriguez; NOES: None; ABSENT: Amick, Bird-Hrivnak, Hoehn, and Williams.) Ms. Gomez added that this recommendation will go before the City Council on July 91h. She will ask Off Madison Ave. for a month -to -month extension until H&L Partners comes on board. She will be asking some of the Committee members to be part of the initial brainstorming with H&L, probably around the end of July. IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS Mayor Pro Tern Spiegel reported that the Council voted 4-1 to close the Visitor Center and move their activities to City Hall. He didn't think it is a good idea and was the dissenting vote. The fiscal year 2015-2016 budget will be before the Council this coming Thursday for their consideration. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Ms. Maggio was happy to report that 22 properties have closed this year at Bighorn. In October a new member club called the "Car Vault" will open. Members can join this new club to store their vehicles in a fabulous facility and be involved in various car -related activities. The welcome home weekend is November 5-8. Last year 1,500 people were on site for that weekend. Bighorn will be building a new clubhouse. The current one will come down the end of the 2016 season. B. Committee Members Franchesca Forrer reported that Forever 21's new concept, F21 red, will open a 22,000 square foot store in August on the upper level near JC Penney and Richie's Diner. Shoe Palace just opened. The new modernism inspired furniture discussed at previous Committee meetings will be coming to Westfield in September. The mall is utilizing the 3rd level of the middle parking structure as a 90,000 square foot event area and it will be called "The Deck." Their first event, called "Street", will include art, music, fashion and food, and will occur the evening of November 7th in concert with the first 1 st Weekend. Ms. Moore added that the goal is to have a signature event within the first 1st Weekend. Southern California Westfield malls will be promoting 5 PRELIMINARY MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 16, 2015 "Street." The event will appeal to followers of certain music groups and graffiti artists. The event area will be at the roof level of Macy's and has 360 degree views. Sponsorship funding will be requested from the City Council on July gtn Bruce Nation noted that the International Association of Golf Tour Operators will be having a dinner at Desert Willow tonight and a tournament tomorrow. A survey was sent out to gauge interest in having a summer league. A fair number responded that they were interested, so they will give it a shot. An 18-hole FootGolf course has been set up to be played on certain days in order to increase play during the summer. Three other locations in the Coachella Valley have FootGolf. Kerry Graves stated that this is the second consecutive record year for The Living Desert. The butterfly aviary will be coming back next season. There have been several staffing changes in recent months. Jeffrey Norman said this week there are over 200 teachers participating in the McCallum Theatre Institute's 5-day summer session. Barry Manilow will perform 5 concerts in December with proceeds to benefit valley charities, and he will perform at no cost. Ticket sales for next season are about half million dollars ahead of the end of the subscription sales period. Ray Rodriguez reiterated that the City needs to take more ownership of the Food & Wine Festival by ensuring Palm Desert restaurants are represented at the celebrity chef events. He added that his impression of H&L Partners was that they were heads and tails above the others. C. Staff Donna Gomez distributed the new Palm Desert Dining Guide that was just produced. She then showed the Committee the 30- and 60-second videos that were produced for the KTLA summer promotion in co-op partnership with the CVB, JW Marriott and El Paseo at a cost of $25,000. The videos will be shown in the LA market for 8 weeks in prime time. Responding to question, she said the City will own the assets, which could be useful for social media. She then went on to expand on the Visitor Center transition as reported by Mayor Pro Tern Spiegel. Visitor services will be moved to City Hall. The Visitor Center's last day of operation will be September 301n as the lease expires in November. Some of the Visitor Center staff will be moving over to City Hall and will assist Donna in the marketing efforts. This is in line with the goals of the Strategic Plan for Tourism and Marketing. 0 PRELIMINARY MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 16, 2015 Ms. Moore reported that the El Paseo Hotel will now be called Hotel Paseo. The 152-room project will be considered this week by the Planning Commission and the City Council. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Report No report. XII. NEXT MEETING DATE — JULY 21, 2015 XIII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:48 p.m. s� Jan tanley, Recording Secreta ✓V S_p Cat p� 7