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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Marketing Committee - May 15, 2012X-E3 PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, May 15, 2012 — 2 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Sara O'Flynn called the meeting to order at 2:03 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Sara O'Flynn, Chair Theresa Maggio Jennie Rayner Rolf Hoehn Diane Williams Members Absent: Emily Bird-Hrivnak, Vice Chair Marlane Wolf &W-06048WACTION APPROVED DENIED RECEIVED-1 E OTHER. Arlene Amick Tim Snyder MEETING DATE AYES: R, i e _ Staff /Others Present: NOES: IL -a c _.� Robert Spiegel, Mayor ABSENT: fs un f Jan Harnik, Councilmember ABSTAIN: r one— Justin McCarthy, ACM Redevelopment VERIFIED BY: Donna Gomez, Visitor Center Manager Original on File with City Clerk. [lice David Hermann, Management Analyst Ruth Ann Moore, Economic Development Manager Martin Alvarez, Redevelopment Manager Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary Michael Mathews, Palm Springs Life Jeff Hocker, Palm Springs Life Susan Stein, Palm Springs Life Gary Sage, JNS Advertising Judy Sage, JNS Advertising Bette King, Bette King Productions III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Tim Snyder was appointed to the Marketing Committee on April 26th and was sworn in by Rachelle Klassen, City Clerk, prior to the start of the meeting. Mr. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MAY 15, 2012 Snyder introduced himself to the Committee. He is the manager of the Palm Desert Ruth's Chris Steak House. The Committee members introduced themselves and welcomed Mr. Snyder. IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF MARCH 20, 2012. Theresa Maggio moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the March 20, 2012, meeting. Motion was seconded by Rolf Hoehn and carried 5-0-3-2, with Emily Bird-Hrivnak, Stephanie Loog and Marlane Wolf absent; Sara O'Flynn and Tim Snyder abstaining. V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VI. NEW BUSINESS A. CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST TO SPONSOR CANADAFEST 2012 Donna Gomez introduced Bette King of Bette King Productions. She described CanadaFest 2012 and asked for any questions. Jennie Rayner asked if any local attractions had committed to sponsoring the event. Ms. King responded that she has sold 375 vendor booths and has 16 sponsors, among which are Eisenhower Hospital, Palm Springs Spa Resort Casino, McMahan's in Palm Desert, and several banks. Rolf Hoehn understood the target audience to be Canadians that are already in the Valley and stated that the Palm Desert Marketing Committee's objective is to attract visitors to the Valley. Ms. King said many Canadians come to the Valley looking for homes and things to do while they are here. She has booked 300 hotel rooms in conjunction with this event. Requesting further clarification Jan attract Canadians to the Valley c something to do. Harnik wondered if the event would give those that are already here Ms. King said she thinks the event will attract more visitors, such as the Canadian March of Dimes people who are coming. She then mentioned several charities and service clubs that would benefit from CanadaFest. 2 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MAY 15, 2012 Ms. O'Flynn asked if any other Coachella Valley cities will be participating in regards to having a booth, to which Ms. King said Palm Springs, and she will also be asking sponsorship from Indian Wells and Indio. Ms. Gomez mentioned that as part of the $3,500 sponsorship, the city would get 2 booths, but unfortunately there is no one that could staff the booths at this time. Rolf Hoehn moved, by Minute Motion, to have the City participate as an attendee of this first year event to evaluate its significance and relevance as a future marketing tool within the city's overall marketing efforts. Motion was seconded by Jennie Rayner. Ms. O'Flynn asked for any further discussion. In response to Theresa Maggio's question, Ms. King answered that she has organized other expos. Rolf Hoehn pointed out that in the CanadaFest 2012 proposal he was looking for a budget and business plan, and how much funding would be for advertising outside of the Valley to bring people to this event. Ms. O'Flynn asked if the CVA was involved, to which Ms. King responded they were. Ms. Gomez added that she had spoken with Ashlee Ciora from the CVA, who indicated that the extent of their involvement is that they will be taking CanadaFest flyers to Canada on their FAM trip. Rolf Hoehn called for the vote. The motion passed 7-0-3, with Emily Bird-Hrivnak, Stephanie Loog and Marlane Wolf absent. B. APPOINTMENT OF SUBCOMMITTEE FOR REVIEW OF DIGITAL MARKTING PROPOSALS Ms. O'Flynn stated that staff needs 3 committee members to work with them on evaluating the 8 proposals recently received for the digital marketing program. She has already asked Theresa Maggio, who recently launched Bighorn's new website, and Emily Bird-Hrivnak, who is an expert in digital marketing for Marriott, if they would be willing to be on the subcommittee. Ms. O'Flynn suggested herself also, as The Gardens has also recently launched a new website. With that in mind she asked the Committee's support of the appointment of herself, Theresa Maggio and Emily Bird-Hrivnak. Ms. Gomez explained that the subcommittee will evaluate the proposals and recommend which ones would be presented to the full committee. 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MAY 15, 2012 Diane Williams moved, by Minute Motion, to appoint Sara O'Flynn, Theresa Maggio and Emily Bird-Hrivnak to a subcommittee for review of the digital marketing proposals. Motion was seconded by Rolf Hoehn and passed 7-0-3, with Emily Bird-Hrivnak, Stephanie Loog and Marlane Wolf absent. C. REVIEW OF QUARTERLY REPORT FOR TRADITIONAL MEDIA — JNS Ms. Gomez introduced Judy and Gary Sage from JNS, who handle all the print and radio ad placement. Year-to-date results were included in the agenda packet. Mr. Sage went over the numbers from July 1, 2011, through April, 2012. The report listed ad placements and included, among other statistics, circulation, impressions, ad size, and cost per click. Radio ads were placed during traffic and weather reports. Ms. Gomez distributed an example of a successful co-op ad with the Marriott that ran January through April and targeted western Canada. Because of the limited budget, partnerships such as this will be utilized next year. Upon question from Mr. Spiegel, Mr. Sage responded that if he were to do the ad campaign again he would drop Seattle Metro magazine and perhaps pick up a Denver magazine. Ms. Williams asked what the industry standard is for the click through rate, to which Mr. Sage responded it is 0.12 to 0.15. No action taken. D. REVIEW OF QUARTERLY REPORT FOR DIGITAL MARKETING PROGRAM Ms. Gomez mentioned that another co-op opportunity is a digital program currently running with El Paseo on Expedia.com. El Paseo is happy with the initial results. Prior to the fiscal year, goals were set with Off Madison Ave. (OMA): • Cultivating Community and Developing Loyalty • Further Branding of Palm Desert • Showcasing Signature Events and Seasonality • Leverage Co-op Opportunities • Utilizing Digital as a Testing Ground Ms. Gomez gave a quick overview of the report. Highlights include: • Landing pages were created for the Coachella and Stagecoach events. • Targeting special events such as Fashion Week should be considered. C! APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MAY 15, 2012 • Newsletter subscribers continue to increase. • One in four website visitors use mobile devices, and they tend not to convert. OMA is working on how to change the conversion rate. One of the things that will be important for a digital marketing agency for next year is how will this agency bring the websites current with mobile users. • Focusing on the drive market has been very successful. • Google has been more successful than Fetchback for retargeting. Fourth quarter projects include updating several landing pages as well as adding the new ad campaign photography and messaging. One of the recommendations made by OMA for the future is to produce a Facebook contest to direct people to our website with the possibility of winning a prize. Upon question from Mr. Spiegel, Ms. Gomez responded that incorporating the new Oasis campaign would be something to be considered by the Committee. Oasis is the newly launched ad campaign from the CVA. Ms. Gomez also noted that the city is participating in the "90 Days of Summer" promotion by Palm Springs Life, which is heavily promoted and sponsored by the CVA. No action taken. E. REVIEW OF CITY OF PALM DESERT 2011/2012 MARKETING PLAN RESULTS TO DATE Mr. Hoehn questioned the demographic target for the Marketing Plan, which is stated to be ages 40 — 70+. Ms. Gomez acknowledged that a younger demographic will be taken into consideration for the Marketing Plan for next fiscal year. Ms. O'Flynn agreed and said that her business has added a secondary market because the age demographic is shifting. Ms. Gomez gave a brief overview of what has been addressed and/or accomplished over the last year, such as developing a new ad campaign, addressing specific markets, and weather -related ads in the target markets. • The contract with DCTV has been renewed, which is a 60-second spot in 1,400 hotel rooms. • Co-op ads have been working well. • The Visitor Center review by Landmark has been finalized and recommendations will be presented to the City Council. • A list of Palm Desert retail businesses will be added to the website so visitors can search online for specific businesses. 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MAY 15, 2012 Not all goals were accomplished, so there are still a few areas that are opportunities moving forward. Mr. Spiegel suggested that the Palm Springs Art Museum be incorporated into the next Marketing Plan. Jennie Rayner asked if there were any areas that are not working well. Ms. Gomez answered that some of the media buys are a little expensive. She also asked the committee members for input regarding next year's Marketing Plan. Ms. Williams suggested rather than not using Fetchback any longer, it should be analyzed as to how it could be used more effectively. The results should be above the industry standards. Mr. Hoehn suggested it might be helpful for the next Marketing Plan to prioritize and recommend how the funding would be best allocated. Ms. Gomez said she could include dollar amounts in the next plan. No action taken. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS A. FASHION WEEK 2012 RECAP Michael Mathews from Palm Springs Life presented several videos from KCET Los Angeles that were on Fashion Week and the Food and Wine Festival. As an aside, he added that the strategy of online contests has been very successful for adding to their database. Highlights for the 2012 Fashion Week: Attendance grew 19% over last year. Economic impact using Destination Management Association figures for the value of visitors was about $3.7M. Incremental dollars reported by The Gardens was over $1 M for Fashion Week. • Marketing outreach had a value of over $1.8M. • 25 Charities cumulatively received $103,537. 70% of the attendees were from the Coachella Valley. Part of the strategy moving forward will be to attract more people from out -of -market. 380 separate in-store events occurred. Highlights for the 2012 Food and Wine Festival: Attendance grew 15% over last year. • 57% of the attendees were from out -of -market. This indicates a broader appeal for food and wine as opposed to fashion. 0 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MAY 15, 2012 Ruth Ann Moore commented that having a second tent, which allowed people to move around and socialize, helped to make this a social event. Having Integrated Wealth Management as a sponsor also led to a more male demographic. Upon question from Mr. Spiegel, Jeff Hocker stated that of the 28 chefs and speakers Sara Moulton was the only paid chef. As the event grows and there is more funding, more celebrity chefs will attend. Mr. Mathews explained that through their public relations efforts, recognition of these 2 signature Palm Desert events has spread from local to regional, national, and international. Travel agents have already inquired if the dates for 2013 have been set yet. He feels that Palm Springs Life has kept its promises and reached its goals. Over $100,000 was spent on improvements, including the additional tent and creating the garden space in between. Palm Springs Life will continue to create an enhanced experience for the attendee and live up to its commitment to make this the most impressive, biggest, well attended Fashion Week on the west coast. Improvements for next year would be: • Enlarge the garden space. • Lounge tent more "loungey". • Food and Wine event was too crowded — expand the larger tent area. • Improve landscaping. • Restrooms with attendants. • Buffer sound to neighboring residents. • More out -of -market promotion to drive more tourists. • Online ticketing system. Mr. Mathews made a request of the Marketing Committee, that it consider incorporating Fashion Week and Food and Wine as signature events in some of its out -of -market advertising. He is trying to create an alliance with WestJet, but they have not yet engaged in any event outside of Canada. For 2013, Palm Springs Life is requesting that the Marketing Committee recommend a $150,000 sponsorship to the City Council. Donna Gomez pointed out that staff has not had time to make a recommendation of the sponsorship request. Justin McCarthy believed that there are two considerations moving forward: the event may be outgrowing the current venue, and that Palm Springs Life make a commitment to stay in Palm Desert assuming an appropriate venue can be found. 7 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MAY 15, 2012 Mr. Mathews stated categorically that they have never discussed moving the event out of Palm Desert, but previously discussions have occurred regarding alternative locations. The challenge would be moving away from El Paseo because that is where the support has come from. Sara O'Flynn communicated that this sponsorship request will be agendized at the next meeting, which will be June 19th. Due to the length of the meeting, Ms. O'Flynn asked that Reports, Remarks and the Visitor Center Report be made at the next meeting. No action taken. Ms. O'Flynn recognized Justin McCarthy and thanked him for his guidance, as he is retiring. Mayor Spiegel acknowledged that Justin will really be missed. He has gone way above and beyond what he had to do. Justin stayed on at the City three years longer than he had planned. VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS None X. REPORTS AND REMARKS None XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Report Action: Continued to the next meeting. XII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 4:42 p.m. Jane- tanley, Record in ecretary 0