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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMARKT CMTE - 04/17/07 � � �� ['RLM D E5 E R.T PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, April 17, 2007 — 2:00 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chairwoman Norine Bowen called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Member Absent: Norine Bowen, Vice-Chair Sara O'Flynn Rick Darius CITY COUNCIL ACTIQN: Emily Bird-Hrivnak APPROV$D DENIED Michael Shimer REC$IVBD � OTH£R Staff/Others Present: MEBTING DATE - p Robert Spiegel, Councilmember AYES: ' �r '��- � � Richard Kelly, Mayor NOES: p11� Sheila Gilligan, Assistant City Manager �SE�� Kristy Kneiding, Marketing Manager �STAIN: py��. Donna Gomez, Visitor Center Manager VERIFISD BY:�� David Herman, ManagementAnalyst Original on File wiCtth City Clerk's Office Piper Close, Full Gallop Marketing Mike Osgood, Desert Willow Lori Wimbish, Recording Secretary III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF FEBRUARY 20, 2007 Michael Shimer moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the February 20, 2007, meeting. Motion was seconded by Emily Bird-Hrivnak and carried 4-0. V. NEW BUSINESS A. POLO & BALLOON FESTIVAL SPONSORSHIP PAM THOMAS of the Polo & Balloon Festival addressed the Committee. She thanked the City for its support of the Festival in 2006. A booklet with photos of the specialty balloons that will be featured in this year's Festival was distributed APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APRIL 17, 2007 to the Committee for their review. The Festival runs for three days and the City's banner will be on display for the entire three days. Upon question by Norine Bowen, Ms. Thomas responded that the 2008 marketing campaign will feature special shape balloons for media inflations in the Los Angeles and San Diego areas. Upon question by Ms. Bowen, Ms. Thomas responded that the City of La Quinta, City of Indio, Time Warner Cable, Tarbell Realtors, Fantasy Springs, and Ford Trucks were secured sponsors for the Festival. She said they were also requesting sponsorship funds from the cities of Rancho Mirage, Cathedral City, and Palm Springs. Upon question by Rick Darius, Ms. Thomas responded that last year's event was not cancelled because of the wind; however, the wind did prevent them from lifting the balloons off the ground due to safety concerns. She added that they were still able to perform the balloon glow and firework display. Mr. Shimer moved, by Minute Motion, to approve staff's recommended sponsorship of $5,000. Motion was seconded by Ms. Bird-Hrivnak and carried 4-0. B. PALM DESERT SENIOR CUP TENNIS TOURNAMENT GEORGE ANICH gave a brief review of the events that took place during the 2007 Palm Desert Senior Cup Tennis Tournament. There were 740 participants from all over the world and 192 awards were presented at the dinner. The sponsorship amount requested would go towards the purchase of awards and covers approximately half of that cost. He expressed his appreciation to the City for its continuing support. Ms. Bowen commended Mr. Anich for his ability to run a nice event and provide awards for the players within his budget. Mr. Anich said the 2008 Tournament will be held on April 8, 9, & 10. Because it will be the TournamenYs 15'h Anniversary he wanted to do something special. Upon question by Ms. Bowen, Mr. Anich responded that approximately 50% of the participants were returning players. Ms. Bowen suggested that the City send a "thank you" letter on behalf of the City Council thanking the participants for coming to Palm Desert. Mr. Anich thanked Ms. Bowen for the gesture and added that the letter would really bring prestige to the overall tournament. Ms. Bird-Hrivnak moved, by Minute Motion, to approve staff's recommended sponsorship of $4,500, contingent upon the producer providing receipts from fiscal year 2006/07. Motion was seconded by Mr. Shimer and carried 4-0. 2 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APRIL 17, 2007 C. PUBLIC RELATIONS PLAN AND ACTIVITIES Kristy Kneiding stated that in addition to the information provided to the Committee in the staff report, Palm Desert's Energy Program will be featured on CNN and Headline News under its real estate show entitled "Open House." Upon question by Ms. Bowen, Ms. Kneiding responded that public relations information would be provided to the Committee on a quarterly basis. Ms. Gilligan noted that City Council would be reviewing the Marketing budget for fiscal year 2007/08. That budget would include monies for ihe City's Branding Program. She said staff could use Marketing Committee's expertise to determine the monetary amount needed to further that program. The formation of a subcommittee to ensure that the Branding Program would grow was discussed. That subcommittee would include Councilmember Spiegel and Councilmember Ferguson, as well as two Committee members. Ms. Bird-Hrivnak and Mr. Shimer volunteered for the subcommittee. Mr. Darius will be an alternate member. Mr. Shimer moved, by Minute Motion, to receive and file the Public Relations Plan and Activities. Motion was seconded by Ms. Bird-Hrivnak and carried 4-0. Mr. Shimer moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the appointment of a subcommittee to oversee branding opportunities for the upcoming budget. Motion was seconded by Ms. Bird- Hrivnak and carried 4-0. D. ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN 2007/08 Ms. Kneiding stated that Ms. Close created a new concept using the existing campaign as a base. The Committee had three options to choose from. Ms. Close gave an overview and history of the current campaign. While the existing ad campaign had served the purpose intended, Ms. Close wanted to put a new twist on the campaign while keeping a thread of continuity. She met with Ms. Kneiding and Ms. Gomez to work on ideas that would not only draw people to Palm Desert, but to the Visitor Center as well. She began with display boards showing each concept. That process brought her to the culmination of the new ad campaign. "Plan to be Spontaneous." Shop, golf, dine, or hike. Go ahead and make your plans, we won't hold you to any of them. Although she was not ready to let go of Palm Desert Rocks, Palm Desert Swings, and Palm Desert Dazzles, those tag lines were incorporated in the line copy at the bottom of the ad. Ms. Close concluded that the new ad campaign was really an umbrella to what was already being done, great transition from where they were, and lent it to cooking, living, and outdoor magazine ads. Ms. Bird-Hrivnak liked the new campaign stating that it was more current and demonstrated what Palm Desert was about. The ad doesn't limit possibilities. Mr. Darius agreed and said the message was tighter. 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APRIL 17, 2007 Ms. Close believed that the campaign was simple enough that it was going to be able to be reduced to small page ads and it will still work nicely in full-page ads. Ms. Bird-Hrivnak moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the proposed "Plan to be Spontaneous" campaign for 2007/08. Motion was seconded by Rick Darius and carried 4-0. E. FULL GALLOP MARKETING ADVERTISING CONTRACT Upon question by Ms. Bowen, Ms. Close responded that she does not keep track of the amount of hours that she works for the City. Upon inquiry by Ms. Gilligan, Ms. Close stated that the work she performed for Ruth Ann Moore was separate from her retainer regarding the Marketing budget. Upon inquiry from Councilmember Spiegel, Ms. Gilligan responded that the City used to go out to bid every three years for the Marketing budget. When the Marketing Committee was reformed it was changed to no longer than five years. Upon question by Ms. Gilligan, Ms. Kneiding responded that in fiscal year 2007/08 it would be three years since the City went to bid. The bid for Marketing will go out again no later than 2010. Ms. Close gave the Committee an overview of her contract with the City. Upon question by Ms. Bowen, Ms. Kneiding responded that budget for fiscal year 2007/08 was complete. She added that the payment history noted in the staff report was not the total marketing budget. She believed the marketing budget was at $1.1 almost $1.2 million. The numbers provided were the ones with which Ms. Close based her proposal. Upon question by Councilmember Spiegel, Ms. Close responded that she was on a monthly retainer at Desert Willow with Kemper Sports. The retainer increased last year for the first time. Ms. Bowen suggested that the City go out to bid again. She added that they might find that Ms. Close was underestimating the cost of her services. She also felt that it was time to see what other agencies were charging for their services. Norine Bowen moved, by Minute Motion, to recommend that the City go out to bid for the 2007/08 Advertising Contract. Motion was seconded by Mr. Shimer and carried 4-0. A discussion ensued following the adoption of the motion regarding an inquiry by Councilmember Spiegel as to the timing for a bid process. As a result of that inquiry, staff was asked to come back to the Committee with a report and recommendation at the May 15, 2007, meeting. 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APRIL 17, 2007 VI. OLD BUSINESS A. PRE-EMPTED TELEVISION AIRTIME REPORT Ms. Kneiding stated that Mr. Mandelbaum addressed the idea of pre-empted television airtime at a previous meeting. That idea was researched and the City was already purchasing airtime below market rate, as stated in the staff report. Ms. Bird-Hrivnak moved, by Minute Motion, to receive and file Pre-empted Television Airtime Report. Motion was seconded by Mr. Darius and carried 4-0. B. TRACKING / DISCOUNT BOOK SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT Ms. Kneiding reported on discussions by the subcommittee regarding the tracking of visitors and the idea of a discount card and/or coupon book. They also discussed how to report these findings to the Committee. Recommendation by the subcommittee was to prepare a bi-annual report for the Committee and to continue research on a discount card and/or coupon book by going out into the community and getting feedback from the retailers. Ms. Gomez said they also came up with additional ways to gather information from existing resources, i.e., the Visitor Center's 800 number, which is printed on every print ad. Upon question by Mr. Osgood, Ms. Gomez responded that the Visitor Center's website does include a guest book. Ms. Kneiding stated that one of her goals was to create a quarterly newsletter that would be emailed to the Visitor Center's database. Ms. Bowen made clarification of recommendations presented by the subcommittee. Mr. Shimer moved, by Minute Motion, to approve staff to continue research opportunities. Motion was seconded by Ms. Bird-Hrivnak and carried 4-0. VII. REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL ACTION (S) A. GOLF CART PARADE Councilmember Spiegel reported that the Golf Cart Parade was being moved to October 28, 2007, and the reason was because they could not get the level of participation from the schools due to its close proximity to Christmas. The Chamber was enthusiastic about the change and believed that it was a better date for the City. Ms. Kneiding added that City Council approved the $35,000 sponsorship for the Parade. Ms. Gilligan said the Golf Cart Parade was a community event and the funds would be moved from the Marketing budget to the Special Events budget in the future. 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APRIL 17,2007 Councilmember Spiegel announced that there was a new commander in Twenty- nine Palms. Mayor Kelly sent a congratulatory letter to the Commander and inquired about the Twenty-nine Palms Marine Band for the Parade. VIII. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Ms. Bowen spoke with Lisa Slam and she said the schools were thrilled with the change of date for the Parade and were looking forward to being able to participate. B. Committee Members Michael Shimer reported that Fashion Week — EI Paseo was very well attended. He received positive feedback from customers during and after the event. After a discussion regarding advertising of events via The Desert Sun, and lack of event coverage, Ms. Gilligan offered to set up a meeting with Michelle Krans and Mayor Kelly to discuss those issues. Mr. Darius reported that subscription sales at The McCallum Theatre were greater than last year. C. Staff Ms. Gilligan announced that Rick Mandelbaum resigned from the Marketing Committee. She will forward a copy of his resignation letter to the Committee. Ms. Bird-Hrivnak announced that the Marriott Desert Springs was hosting the Guitars and Saxes Jazz event scheduled for April 28, 2007. IX. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 1. Art of Food 8�Wine Oral Report Ms. Gilligan gave a progress report on the Art of Food &Wine. 2. Visitor Information Center Activity Report Ms. Gomez gave an overview of the Visitor Center's reports. X. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m. � . . ��/l� Lori� imbish, Recording Se retary 6