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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarketing Cmte - 09-15-2015PALM DESERT PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, September 15, 2015 — 2 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Rolf Hoehn called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Rolf Hoehn, Chair Kerry Graves Theresa Maggio, Vice -Chair Bruce Nation Jeffrey Norman Ray Rodriguez Mahasti Islami Members Absent: Arlene Amick Emily Bird-Hrivnak Franchesca Forrer Staff /Others Present: Jan Harnik, Councilmember 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 Wilma Michelson, Recording Secretary Mary Jensen, representing Modernism Week III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Chairman Hoehn introduced new member Mahasti Islami. She stated she is the Marketing and Sponsorship Director at The Gardens on El Paseo and represents 50 stores and restaurants. She has worked for Taubman for four years, with her previous job being at the City Creek Center in Salt Lake City. She is excited to be part of the committee. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JUNE 16, 2015. SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 Jeffrey Norman moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the June 16, 2015, meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Theresa Maggio and carried by a 6-0-3-1 vote. (AYES: Graves, Maggio, Nation, Norman, Islami and Rodriguez; NOES: None; ABSENT: Amick, Bird-Hrivnak, and Forrer): ABSTAIN: Hoehn V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VI. NEW BUSINESS A. REQUEST FOR SPONSORSHIP SUPPORT FOR MODERNISM WEEK Donna Gomez conveyed that for the past couple of years, the City has supported Modernism Week. The reason that Palm Desert was originally approached is that they were expanding their programming to include some Palm Desert properties. In the past few years we have seen Sandpiper, Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert, and Marrakesh embrace Modernism Week and host activities. Palm Desert has sponsored this event a few times including three years ago with a $5,000 sponsorship and last year with $2,500. Mary Jensen, representing Modernism Week, gave a presentation to the Committee. She explained it was formerly known as Palm Springs Modernism Week. In 2013 they dropped the Palm Springs name because they wanted to be more inclusive of other cities in the Coachella Valley. She remarked that Modernism Week has been expanding over the last two years, not only programming in Palm Desert, but in Rancho Mirage; the library, Sunnylands, and they are adding a garden tour this year. Last year was the first year of participation from Indian Wells, who produced their first ever modem home tour during Modernism Week. The City of Palm Springs is the presenting sponsor, and participation includes Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert and Indian Wells. La Quinta was considering participation, but it didn't work out for this year. The funding has helped to develop more programs and bring more people to Palm Desert. There has been interest from the Silver Spur neighborhood to participate. K APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 Ms. Jensen commented that UCSB is opening an exhibition on Walter White, an architect who was very prolific in Palm Desert. The cover of the exhibition catalog pictures a home owned by Wayne Conner in south Palm Desert. It's not on the program yet but hopefully can be added by the time the tickets go on sale around November 1st. They will be working on lectures at The Galen about Walter White. She explained that over the past 5 years, there has been a 30 percent growth in attendance. Last year's attendance was almost 60,000 people. It was a big year being the 10th anniversary, and they received a lot of media from that, but they anticipate those numbers coming back this year. They will be repeating some of the same programming they have done each year and adding some new ones. It is 11 days in February; tours, lectures, films, bus tours which extend to Palm Desert, and cocktail parties around the pool. Upon question by Ms. Gomez as to what is specific to Palm Desert in 2016, Ms. Jensen responded that they will have the double decker buses again this year; two days of four tours per day. They get the tour buses from L.A. that will carry up to 400 people, and they will do a custom wrap on them. There will be a home tour at Marrakesh and an exhibit about architect John Elgin Woolf, who designed the clubhouse and the condos. In addition, there will be a tour of College of the Desert. There were several Board Members from COD who joined the tour last year, as well as the President of COD. They will renew a sponsorship with Westfield, Palm Desert, which did a display and social media marketing program and gave people a chance to win tickets. They got retailers to put together a "look" for Modernism Week. Mahasti Islami asked if they had any hotel partnerships. Ms. Jensen responded that they have them mainly in Palm Springs, but she has a hotel sponsor program and anyone can enroll. Hotels have been approaching them for years to put together packages, but they are limited because of the way they do their ticketing system. She foresees that they can now go to Palm Desert hotels and let them know about Modernism Week and the bus tour in Palm Desert, which leaves from The Galen. Ms. Jensen added that the tours and tickets sell out early. Ms. Gomez stated they are asking for a $5,000 sponsorship. She explained that the City included this in the budget; therefore it would not come out of the Marketing budget but from Special Events. Ray Rodriguez moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the request for a $5,000 sponsorship. The motion was seconded by Bruce Nation. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 Theresa Maggio suggested having a Modernism Week yard sale and thought it would be well attended even if it was at College of the Desert in one of the prime spots. Ray Rodriguez responded that the Chamber of Commerce had been having an annual Garage Sale but decided not to do one this year, and suggested the parking lot at the Chamber would be a great spot. He said he could have someone at the Chamber contact Mary Jensen and possibly coordinate it. Ms. Jensen stated the second Sunday is when they do the Modernism Yard Sale in Palm Springs. The Paul Kaplan Group has hosted this in their parking lot in the past, and vintage retailers apply. Since it's on a Sunday in Palm Springs perhaps it could be on a Saturday in Palm Desert. Ruth Ann Moore added that the applicants must have a resale number, so not just anyone can apply. Ms. Jensen related that they have a Mini -Modernism Week, October 9-12, and they will have a Modernism Yard Sale on Sunday, October 11. Chairman Hoehn called for the vote. Motion carried by a 7-0-3 vote. (AYES: Hoehn, Maggio, Graves, Nation, Norman, Rodriguez, and Islami; NOES: None; ABSENT: Amick, Bird-Hrivnak and Forrer.) B. REQUEST FOR SPONSORSHIP SUPPORT FOR FASHION WEEK EL PASEO AND FOOD & WINE EVENT Ruth Ann Moore reported she had to pull this item off the agenda. The contract is being negotiated but not yet signed for the location on top of the parking structure at The Gardens on El Paseo. Upon question by Chairman Hoehn, Ruth Ann Moore responded that the engineering for the new location is being completed. C. UPDATE OF MARKETING PROGRAM DIRECTION WITH H & L PARTNERS Ms. Gomez reminded the Committee that H & L Partners has been hired for the City's Marketing and Advertising Program. She presented a handout as well as a slide presentation to the Committee. She remarked that H & L Partners had been looking diligently at the existing programming and partnerships. When they were visiting they met with the Committee Chair and Co -Chair, as well as the CVB and several staff members in regard to what we are looking for from them. A lot of research has been done, and they have been provided a lot of analytical statistics and former ad campaigns so they can accurately evaluate the program as well as goals and objectives. What she is presenting today is what H & L Partners are proposing for the next 6 months or so. 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 Ms. Gomez commented the City Council had approved developing a new ad campaign and to develop some video. To avoid missing out on the new advertising season coming up they are considering staying with the Feel the Warmth campaign with a few tweaks. When the time comes for media buys further into the season, they will start on the bigger projects like the ad campaign and video production. She presented the Committee with the Media Strategy Outline (on file with the agenda of this meeting) and discussed the outline in more detail. She pointed out that H & L Partners thought the marketing efforts were spread a little too thin geographically and suggested focusing on a narrower geographic area to get the most for the dollar spent. H & L suggested maximizing the partnerships that currently exist with Desert Willow, El Paseo, and The McCallum Theatre. The goal is to figure out how to expand on those, not only existing partners but specifically the CVB. They went through a period of time when they didn't really provide co-op advertising opportunities, but they are starting to grow those again. In the past fiscal year, we were really able to take advantage of the KTLA co-op with the Marriott and El Paseo as partners. In the past few weeks the CVB has presented 3 co-op opportunities which are very exciting. If we target the budget with the local geographic area and partner with the CVB, we can strengthen our marketing dollars. Ms. Gomez further related that there are 3 geographic markets we need to look at seriously; the in -valley, the drive market and the fly market, and determine who those people are. The in -valley is both residents and visitors to the area; the drive market is potential visitors who may be aware of Palm Springs but a little less aware of Palm Desert. The fly market would be more or less the same. The challenge is how to get them to come to Palm Desert and how to get the message out. Even though they may be staying in Palm Springs or Indian Wells, Palm Desert will offer deals to attract them. The fly market requires looking at the bigger picture of the Palm Springs area, and how to first get visitors to the valley and once they are here, feed them information on Palm Desert through their smart phones. Some of the media outlets H & L is talking about using are the in -hotel channels, digital, local entertainment publications such as Palm Springs Life, Desert Guide, and Travel Host, as well as looking at outdoor opportunities that have not been explored in the past. Palm Springs Airport has an opportunity for some visibility. The drive market will be much the same with life style publications, local cable and digital. Ms. Gomez further explained that at times cities and the CVB are trying to outbid each other for search engine optimization or key words. By doing so it is driving up the price. In meeting with the CVB it was decided that it 61 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 would be beneficial for both agencies to share information on what their key words are to avoid duplicating and driving up the price and by doing so, strengthening the partnership. The CVB has given Palm Desert full access to their videography and photography files. Their budget is much larger and they do high quality work. She added that a study done by VISA credit card showed there is a much larger return on investment from the drive market proving that it would be wise to invest advertising dollars in that market. Upon question, Ms. Gomez responded that there is a 10-1 ratio for dollars spent on drive market compared to fly market. Ms. Gomez stated that in creating a distinct position for Palm Desert, we have to be true to who we are as a community but need to take a creative approach for growing our demographic. In the past the target age has been 40+; however, in order to grow for the future, we need to start looking at the late twenty- and thirty -year -olds. The Marriott is targeting that age group, and they have resources. We also need to keep focusing on what have been our strengths — shopping, dining, golf, and other outdoor activities. In regard to contact approach she conveyed that we know for the most part that it is the female head of household who is making the travel decisions, and we will be looking at lifestyle print and online publications to reach that demographic. Digital programming is very important in reaching them in their trip planning process. Ms. Gomez went on to explain that they are looking at Southern California magazines in print, search engine marketing (Google, Bing), mobile banners both for the in -valley and drive market, and social media campaigns. She added that she and David Hermann just returned from a Communication & Marketing Conference for Cities and Counties. About 75% of the sessions were on Social Media. H & L places a strong emphasis on tracking the results of the program. They will be looking at traffic to the website, interactions within the site, the e-newsletter, and physical visitor behavior to follow these people throughout the process and actually know when they arrive in Palm Desert and continue to feed them information. Ms. Gomez remarked that she has a conference call with H & L on September 30. At that time they will be presenting a media plan and what their recommendations are on media buys for the next 6 months. Upon question, Ms. Gomez responded that capitalizing on current events was in the future but they haven't presented any concepts on it yet. On September 30 they will present specific concepts. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 Ray Rodriquez pointed out that although they listed "growing tax revenue" as one of the goals and objectives, he would definitely apply that to metrics. He would also like to see it compared to other valley resort cities in addition to comparing to previous years' figures. If there was a huge recession, we may not see any growth but rather just retain the market. Mr. Rodriguez then asked for the Committee's input as to the definition of 66ownable." Chairman Hoehn suggested that it meant "singular to you — cannot be duplicated." Council Member Harnik remarked that to her it means something unique to Palm Desert, not to be confused with Palm Springs. Ms. Gomez will ask for a more definite explanation and how they plan to measure it. Chairman Hoehn commented that there is no way to measure the response to print media, and due to limited resources, he would rather see us be heavy on the digital side since the print media is so expensive. It is his understanding that we are focusing on in -valley and drive markets so the print media could be limited. Council Member Hamik remarked that although it's easier to quantify digital results, we have to look at our community. We attract a lot of the 50+ demographic who still want to see print. They are a great source of revenue to us. Theresa Maggio offered that whenever they do just an evite blast directly to their members at Bighorn, they get a much lower response compared to mailing a print invitation. Their average age is 54. Terry Graves responded that they had seen the same experience at The Living Desert. They tried to go 100% digital with their newsletter and had a huge pushback. The Committee discussed using billboards in the colder climates to attract visitors. Mr. Rodriguez remarked that he feels strongly about using community partnerships, and he would have no problem with billboards as long as Palm Desert gets top billing. Ms. Maggio added that we might consider doing our own billboard on City owned property and come up with something unique to Palm Desert such as what The Living Desert has done with Zoorassic Park. Chairman Hoehn suggested to Donna Gomez that she really look at the airport. They have created new dioramas in back of the baggage area. Ruth Ann Moore remarked that El Paseo has an advertisement at the airport. Mahasti Islami added that there are about 10 ads for El Paseo that are rotated so it is not always the same. The Update on Marketing Program Direction with H & L Partners was received and filed. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None 7 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS Council Member Harnik commented that the Starwood timeshare had 92% occupancy through the summer which she thought was remarkable. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair None B. Committee Members Kerry Graves announced that they have a couple of new faces at The Living Desert. Jan Hawkins, the new development director, came from COD, and has been there about a week. Just starting this week is Aaron Scott, the new marketing manager, and comes from Integrated Wealth. They are in the process of building the new Butterfly Aviary which should open by the November deadline. October 3 is La Gran Fiesta, which is their second Hispanic Heritage Festival. Last year's festival resulted in a huge increase in their Hispanic market. They just published a new Master Plan, which is a 10+ year plan. The first phase will be moving the front entrance and opening a new entry plaza and the lion exhibit. Jeffrey Norman reported there were a lot of people at The McCallum Theatre today as it was the first day single performance tickets went on sale. They added six new shows since the first brochure went out. They set a record for subscription sales in the history of the Theatre. The sales were $800,000 over the previous highest season. This has resulted in fewer products for single tickets. The season will kick off with Daniel Tosh on October 1, and Family Fun Day is October 18. After that the season will be in high gear. Bruce Nation reported they have almost wrapped up the first quarter and golf is up, however, food and beverage is a little flat compared to last year. They had some big catering events in August of last year that didn't return this year. Overall projections for this year are well ahead of last year for groups. They had the first year of foot golf this year. They have an 18 hole foot golf course set up on the Mountain View Course. There have been a lot of kids coming out to play as well as a few of the professional foot golf players. They are considering having one of the national events at Desert Willow. Currently Desert Willow is having a promotion on Instagram to get people involved by tagging Kemper Sport or Desert 0 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 Willow. Each week they have a drawing for different prizes. He added that Club Intrawest is still building and has plans to add 4 or 5 more buildings. They have brought in more lenders and are trying to get more investors. Mahasti Islami remarked that there was quite a bit of activity at The Gardens with a lot of barricades up for build out. A skin care company opened this week which had previously been with them three months ago, closed down about a month ago and just reopened at a new location. Gail Jewelers is expanding into the space next to the skin care store. Once that is done they will have Rajeunir Black Caviar which is another skin care company. Mica Beauty will be coming in October. Events coming up include Paint El Paseo Pink October 10 and Desert Sampler October 13. They are excited to be partnering with the CVB for their November Meet & Greet which will be held on the center lawn. They will be working with all their restaurants to feature some of their menu items and some of the retail stores to do a type of scavenger hunt. On Fridays they have been partnering with Tesla for test drive events. The last one will be held on Friday, September 18. Theresa Maggio conveyed they just closed on their 30th property sale for the year at Bighorn. Saks Fifth Avenue has selected Bighorn BAM to be the beneficiary of their October Breast Cancer Awareness event October 15-18. They have had almost 100 applications for the Bighorn Cares program where non -profits can apply for grants up to $25,000. The Board is looking for non -profits that help the largest number of people and who need the most help. They will be gifting another $400,000 this year for that program. Ray Rodriguez commented that Cork Tree has reopened for the season. They are moving forward with the Casuelas Cafe remodel. He congratulated The Living Desert for holding their La Gran Fiesta for the Latino community. He stated that he works very closely with the general manager of the TV station Univision. They host a party in Coachella every year that has an attendance of 25,000 people. The retail community has discovered this event and is now fighting for positions from as far away as Palm Springs. It is great to see The Living Desert opening their doors specifically for that part of our community. C. Staff Ruth Ann Moore related that Wolfgang Puck's had been closed for the summer. They are going to remodel and bring in a new use. It will still be a Wolfgang Puck property, but it will not be the pizza concept. It will now have an expanded menu and will be Wolfgang Puck's Kitchen and Bar. The plan is to open in December. Ms. Moore stated that she just found out the Elephant Bar is leased, and she just saw a liquor license come through for a Denny's at that location. She added there have been a lot of 0 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 changes on El Paseo. El Paseo Jewelers is moving next to II Corso. Trio has now closed. Haggen filed for bankruptcy but has not yet said what stores will close. The rough grades approvals have been received for the Hotel Paseo, and they are almost ready to submit for two-phase structural plans. Their financing is done, and there is an 18-month window for construction. Upon question, Ms. Moore responded that there is no tenant for the old Office Max building. They had a signed lease with Fresh Market, but the company decided to pull out of California. The owner is looking for a new tenant. Martin Alvarez reported that there has been a lot of activity on the City's north side. There are 170 acres that will be a master planned community at the northeast comer of Portola and Frank Sinatra. Upon question, Mr. Alvarez responded that the Millennium is another area that is continuing to grow, but that is privately owned. The City is working on a specific plan for that area that will include residential, commercial, and some activity out toward the university. The goal is to blend into the University Village area as one whole area. Behind the Sheriff Station there are 128 acres that are owned by the City and will be master planned. It will be mainly residential. There are 17 acres on Dinah Shore and Monterey, and they are talking to developers about a regional commercial project. Upon question by Chairman Hoehn, Mr. Alvarez responded that he will give an update on Quicksilver at the next meeting. Donna Gomez shared that she has been working with the J.W. Marriott who has signed a three-year contract with The Biggest Loser television show. It will be the first west coast Biggest Loser resort. They will be offering nutritional and weight loss week-long programs. They are guaranteed 50 rooms per week year-round. By the end of the third year of the program, they estimate they will sell 14,000 rooms per year. They asked for the City's support of this project, and the City saw a strong potential for a return on investment. She reiterated that she and David Hermann attended a conference last week that was both communications and marketing based. David learned a lot about the PIO aspect, and she learned a lot about social media. Starting October 1, they will be moving Visitor Center resources and staff into the Marketing Department at City Hall. One of the first things she would like to do is develop a social media strategy to bring back to the Committee. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Transition — Donna Gomez Ms. Gomez reported the last day of operation at the Visitor Center will be September 30. They will be providing visitor services at City Hall after that date. Upon question as to how people would know, she responded they are looking at updating the Way Finding signs to direct visitors to City Hall. Me APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 B. Visitor Center Report The Visitor Center Report was received and filed. Ms. Gomez related there will no longer be a Visitor Center Report in the agenda, and they are eliminating the retail program. The Committee will start to see the social media report and other items provided independently. Upon question, Ms. Gomez responded that the Visitor Center is currently selling some product to CVB to sell at their location, as well as the BLM Visitors Center. XII. NEXT MEETING DATE — OCTOBER 20, 2015 XIII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m. Wilma Michelson, Recording Secretary 11