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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Marketing Committee February 15, 2011DESERT 1,1 %1 l PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, February 15, 2011 - 2 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Sara O'Flynn called the meeting to order at 2:04 p.m. Ms. O'Flynn welcomed Councilmember Jan Harnik, who will be serving as Council liaison along with Robert Spiegel, as well as new Committee member Rolf Hoehn. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Sara O'Flynn, Chair Kimberly Bowers Emily Bird-Hrivnak, Vice Chair Marlane Wolf Michael Shimer Stephanie Loog Theresa Maggio Rolf Hoehn Staff /Others Present: Robert Spiegel, Councilmember Jan Harnik, Councilmember Justin McCarthy, ACM for Redevelopment CITY COUNCIL ACTION Ruth Ann Moore, Economic Development MOVFD,.,_„_ DENIEDDonna Gomez, Visitor Center Manager — RECEIVED E David Hermann, Management Analyst _ OTHER Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary MEETING DATE - q- a. c Cathy Walker, Senior Management Analyst AYES: i e,--f ' I i David Portener, TravelHost NOES: Ncoe- ABSENT- zgoo c' --- III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS ABSTAIN: oot! --~--- VERIFIED BY: ��- 0 K_ l i c/- None Original on File with City Cleric's Ol'ficc IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JANUARY 18, 2011. Michael Shimer moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the January 18, 2011, meeting. Motion was seconded by Emily Bird-Hrivnak and carried 5-0. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2011 V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VI. NEW BUSINESS A. AGENCY PRESENTATIONS FOR PROVIDING ONLINE MARKETING SERVICES Donna Gomez gave an overview of recent events, which included the departure of the City's marketing manager and the December 31, 2010, expiration of the current online services contract. Based upon the timeline and cost savings, staff determined the online marketing services contract would be split between online advertising and website management. The existing website has been quite successful and is currently managed by Off Madison Ave. As a result of the recent RFP for online advertising services, six proposals were received. Staff reviewed the six proposals and selected the top three, which were invited to make presentations at today's meeting. Olson Communications has reviewed the marketing program and indicated it would be in the City's best interest to retain one firm for both components of the contract. Late last week, they requested to be removed from this process. Therefore, there are two presentations today: from SAESHE and Off Madison Ave (OMA). SAESHE was scheduled to be first with their presentation but was not immediately ready. Ms. Gomez handed out the selection criteria to keep in mind for the Committee's recommendation of an agency. She also clarified the reasons for delaying the development of a new website. The City's IT Department had previously indicated that the cost associated with designing a new website would be in the $30,000 range. Also, the technology is changing rapidly and would affect the development of a new site. Upon question by Rolf Hoehn, Ms. Gomez explained that the creative portion of the media plan has been in place for a few years. JNS Advertising places the print ads, and OMA manages the online component. For the Committee's consideration in the near future, Ms. Gomez and Ruth Ann Moore will put together a proposal for a new media campaign. Teresa Maggio added that the City's website has a strong personality, which is interjected throughout all the advertising. Ms. Moore updated the Committee on March magazine ad placements in Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis -St. Paul, and British Columbia. Banner ads directing viewers to the City's website are on the magazine's websites, which was negotiated as a way to measure their effectiveness. F APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2011 There are also Visitor Center ads in Palm Springs Life, Desert Guide, and TravelHost. Radio commercials started about two weeks ago on Clear Channel stations. Because SAESHE was not ready, at this point Ruth Ann Moore made the presentation for agenda item B. After Ms. Moore finished, three representatives from SAESHE made their presentation: Young Yu, Cristina Samiley, and Ginny Ceballos. SAESHE's recent programs focus on Asian destinations as well as managing Thai Airways website. The challenges they see for Palm Desert are: differentiating Palm Desert from Palm Springs, competing with other warm weather destinations for the same audience, and working with a limited 2011 budget. Their recommended strategy is to carve out Palm Desert's niche by seeking specific audiences: snowbirds, empty nesters, golfers, and women seeking a place for "girlfriend getaways". Consumers targeted would be those in southern California and those from cold weather areas. Applying that strategy would maximize the online budget. Their philosophy for advertising is to go to where people are looking for travel information. For the associated niche customer they would identify possible partnerships for packages and discounts and would collaborate with local businesses to promote their products and services. SAESHE has experience with SEO, PPC and reporting, and would offer strategies and recommendations for social media. Although it was not part of the RFP, they also presented a few ideas for website designs and presented several creative ideas. Mr. McCarthy asked for explanation of the type of reporting information they would provide with reference to accountability, success and analysis. Ms. Yu responded that online efforts are specified to link back to their website for performance evaluation and are constantly being updated. They also receive continual feedback from marketing partners to determine if campaigns are working. Another city that SAESHE has worked with is L.A. County Public Health and Public Works. Mr. Hoehn asked how they intend, given the budget limit, to give Palm Desert a unique position in the marketplace. Ms. Yu replied that would be accomplished by identifying and reaching the target audiences in collaboration with marketing partners. SAESHE is currently developing an app for Tourism Malaysia. Ms. Gomez asked for clarification on the proposal price. Ms. Yu replied that the proposed $4,500 monthly retainer for 47 hours is less than $100 per hour. Additional work outside the scope would be in the $120 to $275 range, 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2011 depending on staff level. Often with retainer customers, they agree on a flat ad hoc rate around $100 to $150 per hour. SAESHE staff is willing to come to Palm Desert to work with marketing partners. In response to Ms. Yu, Ms. Gomez indicated the Committee was hoping to make a recommendation today for City Council consideration, and the contract could start on March 1 st. The second presentation was made by Roger Hurni and Christine Olivas from OMA. Ms. Olivas described how Palm Desert has a firm hold on the two-hour market and maintains a strong online brand presence. The website has been high performing since its start three years ago. For a small city, Palm Desert is also doing quite well in the social media space. Targeted banner ad placements have also done well. Ms. Olivas explained that organic web traffic is traffic that goes to a landing site without being paid for. Search result listings in the main body are organic. When the website was built, OMA's major goal was to provide a lot of room for organic traffic so that over time it would pay for itself. Despite the economic trend and rising prices the website has had year -over -year growth. As a result, the cost -per -click for paid ads has decreased by 43%. Strategies moving forward include creating additional landing pages by targeting the top ten or twenty things people are searching for. Another area to explore would be behavioral targeting to explore new markets and demographics. Mr. Hurni gave an overview of past results. Mr. Spiegel asked for the proposal cost and if OMA works with any other cities. Ms. Olivas responded that the proposed cost is the same as it has been for the last three years, which is $5,275 per month. The cost averages $50 to $70 per hour. Basic social media consulting would still be offered. OMA is currently working with the Arizona Office of Tourism. Mr. Hurni was asked what he thought is Palm Desert's weakness. He stated that the Palm Springs umbrella is around Palm Desert. The challenge is to present information that this is the better destination. Another challenge is reaching younger people to change their notions of the desert. Ms. Olivas would continue as the representative. Ms. Gomez distributed the January 2011 monthly report from OMA and offered to provide those regularly. At this point, Mr. Hoehn left the meeting and there was no longer a quorum. E APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2011 Action: This item will be continued to the next meeting. Ms. Maggio suggested that the new contract be prepared with a longer time frame. Mr. Spiegel also suggested that Off Madison Ave continue two more months until a recommendation can be made to Council. B. PRESENTATION ON REDEVELOPMENT AND THE STATE'S PROPOSAL TO ELIMINATE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCIES Ms. Moore mentioned this presentation will be given to all the Committees. The goal is that they would get a better idea of what Redevelopment does. Due to floods destroying streets and buildings in 1979, Palm Desert had been declared a disaster area. Limited government aid was available to build the $20M Palm Valley storm channel to address the flooding problem. Ms. Moore showed how existing taxes are allocated. Pass -through funds are sent to the County for community projects, and other funds are mandated for affordable housing. An example of a community project is the Coachella Valley Animal Campus. She showed pictures of Palm Desert affordable housing projects, which are either built as new construction, or are existing properties that have been purchased and rehabbed. Tax funds that are not pass -through are those used for Redevelopment capital projects. These projects are for local programs, such as the Cal State San Bernardino Campus, and economic development projects, such as the Gardens parking structure. Redevelopment generates sales tax for the City as well as for the State of California. $313 in sales tax has been sent to the State by the 9 area cities in the last decade. Redevelopment builds things, but it's also about educating, public safety, health services, and affordable housing for our community. Redevelopment is local people, using local revenue, to solve local problems. More information on Redevelopment is available at: www.pdrda.org. Mr. Spiegel commented that $5M in Redevelopment funding was used to build the parking structure on El Paseo. He added that Palm Desert probably would not have acquired The Gardens and their expansion if not for the parking structure. Mr. McCarthy continued by stating that when the El Paseo parking project was conceptualized, total sales on El Paseo was about $65M. With the addition of The Gardens, taxes on El Paseo increased to $90M with a peak of $190M. As an economic development tool, these types of local investments leverage other investments in the community. Referring to Governor Brown's quote in the presentation, Mr. McCarthy said that since government resources were not available, cities were on their own. Local resources sent to the State may not come back. In his opinion, the 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2011 implication of the Governor's proposal to eliminate Redevelopment would be tax increases. Ms. O'Flynn stated that this presentation is a reminder of all the improvements done by Redevelopment. In her opinion, taking Redevelopment funds by the State may not be the best solution and is viewed as an easy solution to the State budget problem. Mr. Spiegel added that when the recession started, the City cut back on spending without a reduction in services to residents. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS A. City Council Mr. Spiegel mentioned that the City is saving over $600,000 per year as a result of belonging to the BID, and some of those funds should be used for marketing. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Ms. O'Flynn was happy to report that sales are up over last year. The 13tn Annual Wine and Music Series is going very well. B. Committee Members Emily Bird-Hrivnak stated that the JW Marriott hotel has been very busy. Theresa Maggio reported that some Bighorn members have suggested that the Palm Springs airport should try to obtain a direct flight from New York. B. Staff Mr. McCarthy commented that staff has been reacting the past few weeks to Governor Brown's proposal. Palm Desert was chosen as one of the eighteen cities to be audited by the State Controller's office. This audit occurred last week and went well. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2011 XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Report Ms. Gomez pointed out that the numbers are slightly down even though there has been increased foot traffic at the new location. Inventory had been reduced in preparation for the move, and staff is exploring the types of products that will be in demand as a result of being off El Paseo. Upon question, Ms. Gomez reported that Visitor Center guests are not differentiated as being local residents. The former location had opportunities that are not currently available, such as the Farmer's Market, in the city - owned parking lot. XII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 4:05 p.m. ,1 , J ne Stanley, Recor ' g Secretary 7