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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Marketing Committee October 18, 2011PALM DESERT PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, October 18, 2011 — 2 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Sara O'Flynn called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Sara O'Flynn, Chair Emily Bird-Hrivnak, Vice Chair Jenna LeMaster Michael Shimer Marlane Wolf Theresa Maggio Jennie Rayner Stephanie Loog Members Absent: Rolf Hoehn CITY COUNCIL ACTION APPROVED DENIED RECEIVED L�i�t' OTHER. MEETING DATE -- AYES: ���i)St�1, Fin�ri� l�Cl�ni4 UL1�_'�ir�ae Staff /Others Present: NOES: ti �()C Robert Spiegel, Mayor Pro-Tem AIA1IS'IAI _ti �n __..__ ��7'AIN: N �nN_ _ Jan Harnik, Councilmember VI'll HFIED BY: Justin McCarthy, ACM Redevelopment Original on File with City Clerk'. Office Donna Gomez, Visitor Center Manager Ruth Ann Moore, Economic Development Manager David Hermann, Management Analyst Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 20, 2011. Marlane Wolf moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the September 20, 2011, meeting. Motion was seconded by Michael Shimer and carried 8-0-1. Rolf Hoehn was absent. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE OCTOBER 18, 2011 V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VI. NEW BUSINESS A. MARKETING ACTIVITY QUARTERLY REPORT Donna Gomez gave an overview of how the marketing program is progressing, specifically the online and advertising campaigns. Marketing collateral currently underway includes the October Dine Out Program, which is being advertised on the radio and in The Desert Sun. The program has been successful, with 5,000 coupons having been distributed so far. The Visitor Center has seen a lot of activity for this program. Ms. Gomez will give a full report of the results at the next meeting. Mr. Spiegel added that this program has increased local business traffic, which is normally slow in October. In response to question regarding having this program twice per year, discussion ensued regarding past Dine Out Programs. Ms. Gomez then distributed the new Dine Out restaurant guide, which was just printed. The guide is updated every 12 to 18 months. The information is also available online on the tourism website and is updated regularly. The new Visitor Center rack card is at the printer which when completed will be distributed throughout the Valley and to some California Welcome Centers. This piece will also be used when visiting local businesses, especially on El Paseo, so that visitors can be directed to the Visitor Center. Online and print marketing did not have a lot of activity for the July through September quarter. Weather related radio ads were successful, and the only print ads were Visitor Center ads in local publications. Regional and national ads will start running in October. Online has produced great results. Off Madison Ave is currently doing day -of -the -week testing with the monthly newsletter. Stagecoach has been generating the highest rating for online activity, so OMA is looking at developing a landing page with that information and possibly other local event information. The October Dine Out coupon has been the top clicked link. An interesting development in the past few months is that 17% of the traffic is generated through mobile devices. Vacation Guide requests are also one of the top conversions. The email database was recently cleaned K APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE OCTOBER 18, 2011 up and is continuing to grow, with about 7,500 people now and 248 added in September. Top 5 cities driving traffic through paid search are all within California, so the focus for online dollars spent in the drive market appears to be working. Based upon the e-newsletter OMA is developing a calendar for the rest of the fiscal year on what will be promoted. Ms. Gomez stays current with the Marketing Plan to make sure the efforts are staying on target and in line with the goals and objectives. She will be making a recommendation at the next Council meeting to reallocate the $60,000 that was budgeted for the PD Style magazine towards some co- op advertising, such as with the JW Marriott, Desert Willow, the CVA and The Living Desert. Ruth Ann Moore has also requested funding for a 4- page advertorial that went into the Coachella Valley Vision magazine published for CVEP by Palm Springs Life. OMA will be refreshing and updating some of the pages on the website this year. There will be specific reporting next quarter when there is more activity. Michael Shimer moved, by Minute Motion, to receive and file the report. Motion was seconded by Marlane Wolf and carried 8-0-1. Rolf Hoehn was absent. B. CONSIDERATION OF MEETING DAY AND TIME Considering everyone's busy schedule, Ms. Gomez asked the Committee to offer any days or times that would be more convenient. Each person submitted an option or stated they were flexible. Ms. Gomez will come up with some suggestions after looking at the City and Chamber calendars. There was no motion for this item. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS A. UPDATE ON 2012 COMMUNITY CALENDAR David Hermann thanked the Committee for their patience in the taking of the group photo for the calendar. He passed around a draft of the calendar after explaining the format of the pages. Each page has a large photo of a Palm Desert "treasure" as well as small "treasure" photos within the calendar page and quotes with some of the months. The calendar production is well ahead of schedule. There was no motion for this item. K, APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE OCTOBER 18, 2011 VIII. OLD BUSINESS CREATIVE AD CAMPAIGN DIRECTION Staff met with Scott Burch Design last Friday, saw the initial proposal for an ad campaign, and offered direction. A full presentation will be ready for the November meeting. There was no motion for this item. IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS A. City Council Mr. Spiegel noted that the Visitor Center report shows the gap is narrowing between the numbers of visitors this year compared to last year. He added that the Red Lobster project will commence with City assistance approved at the last Council meeting. Ms. Harnik said Council is looking at the Fagade Enhancement Program as a way to help more businesses. They are also looking at the sign ordinance and how that can be used to assist the community. She also mentioned a program from a city in Colorado where visitors who sign up online can come into their visitor center and get a free T-shirt and could it work for Palm Desert. Ms. Gomez offered to check into it. There was discussion regarding offering a coupon book to visitors. Ms. Moore stated that the previous attempts to have a discount book were not successful. A short time frame is better, such as with the current Dine Out promotion. Ms. Gomez noted that coupons are one of the top requests at the Visitor Center. She said among other things offering coupons on a mobile device app would make that app extraordinary, instead of just duplicating the website on an app. Mr. Shimer asked about e-commerce on the website. Ms. Gomez stated that had been done previously, 5-6 years ago, and it might be time to try that again. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Ms. O'Flynn reported that the Gardens was recently purchased by Taubman Centers Inc. out of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and they are currently in a 48-day period of "Due Diligence." The new owner is interested in continuing partnerships with the community. Mr. Spiegel invited the new owners to meet the people at City Hall. El APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE B. Committee Members OCTOBER 18, 2011 Theresa Maggio conveyed that the Bighorn BAM Walk for Life is scheduled for November 6th at Westfield Mall. The "Miracle on El Paseo" in partnership with the Shops on El Paseo will be Saturday, November 19t . The event will include soap bubble 'snow' onto the street, a pink ice skating rink with Desert Ice Castle performers, singing by the Desert Chorale, and lighting of a 60-foot tree. A half hour TV program of the event will air on CBS Thanksgiving weekend. Participating stores will be giving a percentage of sales to Bighorn BAM. This item will be on the El Paseo Merchants as well as the Council agendas. Stephanie Loog indicated that increase in business may require hiring another person. Her business is also utilizing an i-phone application for their customers. Jennie Rayner reported that The Living Desert has been meeting their attendance and membership goals. October 28-30 is the Howl-O-ween event with an old west theme. They are hoping for attendance of 10,000 people over the three nights. Wildlights will open November 23rd. Mr. Spiegel mentioned seeing a camel being transported on Portola, and Ms. Rayner was happy to report that camel rides will be offered this season. Michael Shimer explained the schedule for the remodel of Tommy Bahama's. Jenna LeMaster related the activities for the Halloween event at Westfield on October 31 st, with a large turnout expected. Sales comps have been positive for the last 18 months. Emily Bird-Hrivnak noted that the Marriott room renovation is on schedule. The restaurant renovation will be postponed until 2012. They are also preparing for the upcoming Entrepreneur of the Year event. C. Staff Mr. McCarthy pointed out that the new owners of the Palm Desert Country Club Golf Course met with the Project Area 4 Committee yesterday. They are anticipating a January opening. Ruth Ann Moore reported some store openings and closings, and went over Fashion Week events. Integrated Wealth Management is a new sponsor for Fashion Week. Regarding the CVEP Vision magazine, there are video interviews available. The CVEP annual meeting is this week and 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE OCTOBER 18, 2011 will include an updated Husing Economic Report, which will be available in electronic form next week. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Report Ms. Gomez reported that Council approved the contract with Landmark Golf, who has expertise in retail and visitor center services. Over the next few months they will be conducting a full analysis of the retail, products, merchandising, floor plan flow and will offer recommendations. They will initially be generating ideas for product purchases for the fall season. During the season they will conduct customer surveys and analysis. Discussion ensued regarding offering some of the top selling items for purchase online. XII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:10 p.m. J e Stanley, Recording —Secretary X