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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarketing Cmte - 11/20/2012 -� �� � � I'ALM DESERT PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, November 20, 2012 —2 p.m. Steven B. Chase Administration Office The Living Desert 47900 Portola Avenue, Palm Desert I. CALL TO ORDER Sara O'Flynn called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Sara O'Flynn, Chair Emily Bird-Hrivnak, ic h ir Arlene Amick Theresa Maggio Rolf Hoehn Jennie Rayner Stephanie Loog Tim Snyder Diane Williams Marlane Wolf � � � �- � zz � � v Staff/Others Present: � p , p ;� Robert Spiegel, Mayor � � Jan Harnik, Councilmember � , _ Donna Gomez, Tourism & Marketing Manager Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary � � � Nyla Patzner, The Living Desert Marketing Manager ,'�, ' w 5 � �' 4 � ,°' III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS � �? p A � �- o > y z E:: 7 ° ° � None. y, aw �- �; v; wF � � �.� aU � w �= ;.r. v: � 'an IV. CONSENT CALENDAR � aa � az° aa > o A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 18, 2012. Rolf Hoehn moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the September 18, 2012, meeting. Motion was seconded by Marlane Wolf and carried 6-0-4, with Emily Bird-Hrivnak, Jennie Rayner, Theresa Maggio and Diane Williams absent. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 20, 2012 V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None At this time, Diane Williams arrived at the meeting. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. RESULTS OF OCTOBER DINE OUT PROMOTION Donna Gomez stated that the 2012 Dine Out promotion ran in October with 38 Palm Desert restaurants participating, which are 3 less than in 2011. She will be asking the Committee to discuss at a future meeting whether to continue with this concept or try another promotional opportunity with local restaurants. Ms. Gomez distributed results from a survey given to the participating restaurants. Half of those that responded said they thought the promotion was successful and 97% said they would participate again. The Dine Ouf promotion was advertised on radio, in the newspaper, the City's website home page, the e-newsletter and at the Visitor Center. The landing page that was created had 1,021 views and the coupon was downloaded 795 times. The restaurant page of the website also indicated which restaurants were participating and 372 coupons were downloaded from there. 195 People picked up coupons at the Visitor Center compared with 128 last year. One of the recommendations from a restaurateur was to have a promotion through the summer. An existing summer promotion is Restaurant Week that is held in June, with 15 participating high end restaurants last year. Tim Snyder stated that Ruth's Chris did not participate in the Dine Out promotion because their corporate office does not allow more than a 15% discount. He added that October is a tough month after coming off of a slow summer, so smaller restaurants may have difficulty providing extra discounts. July and September are the two slowest months in the desert. He likes the idea of doing a promotion all summer for local residents. A popular program at Pacifica is discounts offered to Marriott and Westin guests. Ms. Gomez asked Tim Snyder to participate in an ad hoc committee to bring some ideas back to the Committee, to which he agreed. No action taken. 2 - - APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 20, 2012 B. UPDATE ON MEDIA PLAN CHANGES Ms. Gomez noted a few changes since the last meeting where a suggestion had been made to look again at the San Francisco market. She found duplication with Alaska Airlines; a co-op and an individual ad, where a change was made allowing funding to advertise in San Francisco magazine. Seattle Met provided an opportunity for a Palm Springs area insert in their January edition for less than $1,000. The January ad commitment was moved to the March edition, which will also include a 250-word advertorial. The digital campaign had issues with San Diego area placements. One magazine charges for accessing information online and one eliminated their online program, which would greatly limit exposure. Off Madison Ave. recommended another program with Value Click Media as an alternative to those two placements. Value Click Media can target a geographic area as well as demographic markets. No action taken. C. PRESENTATION OF UPDATED COLLATERAL MATERIALS Ms. Gomez distributed the updated Vacation Guide, which is mailed out from the Visitor Center. The Aquatic Center and Palm Springs Art Museum have been added in addition to other changes. Costs of production and printing were reduced by removing the back pocket, reducing the paper weight, and changing the binding, all accomplished while maintaining the quality of the piece. As a result approximately $4,000 in mailing costs will be saved. The guide is also available for download on the tourism website. Rolf Hoehn questioned whether the online version of the Vacation Guide has links to URLs. Ms. Gomez stated she would check into that. Ms. Gomez also distributed the updated Hiking and Biking maps. Trails and routes have been changed, and better descriptions were added. The Hiking map is the most requested piece at the Visitor Center. The maps will also be available online. No action taken. D. REPORT ON ADDED VALUE RECEIVED Ms. Gomez reported that there have been great results since October. The co-op with the Marriott last year in the western Canadian market 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 20, 2012 provided many opportunities for receiving free ad space. The Marriott has set aside funding for another co-op this year into the Canadian market. Ms. Gomez distributed a binder representing examples of the free ads and advertorials received to date. Palm Springs Life, Desert Guide, and Travel Host are the three publications that have Visitor Center ads. No action taken. E. OVERVIEW OF WEBSITE UPDATES Accessing the tourism website on a large screen, Ms. Gomez pointed out the updates experienced to date. The website is in the middle of a redesign to mobilize it and to incorporate the "Feel the Warmth" campaign elements. Those changes should be completed within the next month. She demonstrated how the "Restaurants", "Hotels", and "Golf' tabs have been changed by adding such things as a Google maps feature, a search option, and reservation system link. The "Events" tab has also been substantially changed. The monthly calendar has been changed to a listing with date search option. A link to the Aquatic Center has also been added. Video segments are available through a governmental program, which will end in about a year. Under this program ads have been sold so there is no cost to the City. At a future meeting Ms. Gomez would like the Committee to discuss funding for quality videos. At Mayor Spiegel's request, Ms. Gomez will present analytics at the next meeting. No action taken. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS Mayor Spiegel was happy to report that for July through October, TOT is up over $100,000 compared to last year. At the last CVB meeting, the 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 20, 2012 request was made for any possible way to assist Virgin Airlines in keeping its New York route. Councilmember Jan Harnik mentioned that regarding Palm Desert's branding, Sutton Foster performed at the opening of the Annenberg Theater and said that she "enjoyed being in Palm Desert." The recent art museum opening was packed, bringing new energy to Palm Desert. She also attended the Fashion Week kick-off where it was reported that the Palm Desert event is the largest fashion week on the west coast, and the largest consumer fashion week in the nation. As such, iYs a great opportunity for everyone to be leveraging on the week. Ms. Harnik has recently attended League of California Cities and Joint Powers Insurance Authority meetings and came away with great ideas for creating more vibrancy for the City. She will be working with staff to integrate some of those ideas. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Sara O'Flynn had just attended the Peace Officers and Public Safety Luncheon where they did a wonderful job of honoring those that serve our community. She commented that events such as Fashion Week and the BNP Paribas further enhance what we have to offer. She was happ�y to report that the Gardens has a new marketing campaign. November 24t and December 1 St will be "Playtime with Santa" to benefit Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Desert, and December 8th will be "Paws and Claws" to benefit Animal Samaritans. The Gardens does not participate in "Black Friday," but Westfield Mall will be participating. Mastro's had a phenomenal opening and continues to be busy. Councilmembers Harnik and Benson will be reviewing the issue of sidewalk dining on EI Paseo. B. Committee Members Arlene Amick thanked the museum committee members for their help in making the "Meet the New Museum" night a success. There were more than 900 paid RSVPs and 750 people attended the event. The sculpture garden is installed. A combined event with the Renaissance Esmeralda is planned for next Thursday, with proceeds benefitting the Palm Desert museum. The museum will be participating in the 2013 Fashion Week by hosting the opening night after-party with Saks Fifth Avenue. 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 20, 2012 The museum will also be assisting with the monthly Art Walk. Diane Williams indicated that Canadians are increasingly interested in purchasing property. Tim Snyder suggested that a promotion be done in the Los Angeles area for a Fashion Week trip package give-away. With an update from the Airport Commission, Rolf Hoehn said the October results are the strongest ever. There have been nine months of continuous increases over the previous year driven in part by new services like Virgin America and additional Canadian services. Adding to what Mayor Spiegel said, Virgin America has requested the involvement by the local community in making opportunities to travel to the east coast known. The CVB reported positive hotel numbers with strong demand. Some corporate groups that have not traveled here for a few years are returning. Palm Springs is experiencing increased activity as well. The Indian Wells Tennis Garden's tournament sales are way up over last year. Plans are being finalized with engineers and architects for the new 8,000 seat permanent sunken stadium. Construction will begin right after the 2013 tennis tournament and will be finished in time for the 2014 tournament. There will be expanded parking as well, and new landscaping plans include 700 palm trees. Nyla Patzner reported that "Wild Lights" will run on select nights November 21 through December 31. Attendance has been down the past few months. To increase attendance and value to members there will be one-day special events each month. A new crew of 22 kids age 4 to 12 years, called Zoo Cool, will be the faces of the park. They were chosen from an essay contest and will be involved in special events and will be featured in ads. Upon question from Mayor Spiegel, Ms. Patzner said that the dinosaur exhibit is on hold for now. C. Staff Donna Gomez said that at the annual CVB business luncheon last week the featured speaker talked about the China market and what to look for as far as their culture and mistakes not to make with Chinese visitors. The CVB will be opening an office in China. They also commissioned an economic impact study with the results available to the Committee. The CVB contacted the City six weeks ago regarding an application they submitted to participate in the Amgen bicycle tour to serve as one of the legs of the race. The race would start in the northern San Diego area; go over Highway 74 through Palm Desert, with the first leg ending at the 6 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE NOVEMBER 20, 2012 convention center in Palm Springs. The event will be televised on NBC and have live web streams. Palm Desert will provide in-kind police services because of the roads being closed along the route. Ms. Gomez is working with the Public Works department on a route through Palm Desert that is safe as well as visually pleasing for television. Mr. Hoehn added that this race is the biggest professional bike race in the United States. The real estate sub-committee will meet for the first time on November 26. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Report Visitor numbers in October have increased 1% over last year. There is also a large increase in sales. In answer to Mayor Spiegel's question regarding the suggestions made in the recent Landmark study, she stated that they had provided good contacts for vendors. Ms. Gomez displayed some new merchandise with the newly designed "Feel the Warmth" logo. The old logo had problems because it did not embroider well. XII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:35 p.m. �� � ' �'i� �:-�.�� Jan�jStanley, Recording cretary 7