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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarketing Cmte - 01-21-2014 $��� ,�'- �" _::� �.. _ f'AL1�/i D ES E RT PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, January 21, 2014 — 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: Members Absent: Sara O'Flynn, Chair Tim Snyder Arlene Amick Theresa Maggio, Vice-Chair Rolf Hoehn Jeffrey Norman � � I ; o Emily Bird-Hrivnak Stephanie Loog � Diane Williams � Marlane Wolf �` Staff/Others Present: c � _ � � Bob Spiegel, Council Member z ` ,� o Jan Harnik, Council Member c:: �- � � Donna Gomez, Tourism & Marketing Manager C " " ' x Martin Alvarez, Economic Development Director z � `� � � Ruth Ann Moore, Economic Development Manager C y � David Hermann, Management Analyst V \ � Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary Q ' :� Frank Mandarano, Car Guy Tours .`�, � F � � Tom McDowell, Concorso Italiano Inc. V o � p r�a w A � � � wW C. � ZWo III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS U a W �,�—„ z Q �, -' .� �c �. �; v� � wE- �- .__ E., aU � w r� v� a ,� None U � a � Qz � 4 > O IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF DECEMBER 17, 2013. Stephanie Loog moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the December 17, 2013, meeting as presented. Motion was seconded by Emily Bird-Hrivnak and carried by 6-0-4 vote, with Amick, Bird-Hrivnak, Hoehn, Loog, Wolf, and O'Flynn voting AYE, Maggio, Norman, Snyder, and Williams absent. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JANUARY 21, 2014 V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VI. NEW BUSINESS A. NOMINATION AND APPOINTMENT OF 2014 CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR Sara O'Flynn said she has completely enjoyed being chair for the Marketing Committee and feels it is time to give the opportunity to someone else to step into the role. Sara O'Flynn moved to nominate Rolf Hoehn as the 2014 Marketing Committee chair and Theresa Maggio as the 2014 Marketing Committee vice chair. The motion was seconded by Marlane Wolf and carried by 5-0-4-1 vote, with Amick, Bird-Hrivnak, Loog, Wolf, and O'Flynn voting AYE, Maggio, Norman, Snyder, and Williams absent, and Hoehn abstaining. Emily Bird-Hrivnak commented that Ms. O'Flynn has done an outstanding job and always made the meetings fun. B. CONSIDERATION OF SPONSORSHIP OF THE DESERT CONCORSO ITALIAN AUTO SHOW IN THE AMOUNT OF $15,000 Referring to the staff report, Martin Alvarez said the City was approached last year by the organizers of a high-end Italian car show held annually at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, called Concorso Italiano. The two gentlemen are present today, Frank Mandarano and Tom McDowell. They would like to stimulate a grassroots event and have done a lot of research to determine that a high-end car show would be a good fit for Palm Desert. They already have a contract with Shadow Mountain Resort to display the vehicles on the fairways and driving range on Sunday, March 30th. The event map shows the areas where the cars will be displayed, as well as ingress, egress, and parking. The $15,000 sponsorship will go towards their marketing efforts: online, print, and radio advertising. The event website, www.desertconcorso.com, is up and running. The first-year goal is to have several hundred vehicles on display and about 1,200 attendees. The successful event in Monterey displays about 1,000 vehicles with over 8,000 attendees. The Palm Desert event will include vendors and sponsors related to high-end Italian vehicles. Mr. Alvarez stated that this event is a good match for Palm Desert. It will be on a weekend that doesn't conflict with any other major events. The 2 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JANUARY 21, 2014 proximity to EI Paseo is also a good match. Local food vendors will be utilized for catering. As part of the sponsorship, the City's name will be on the website, as well as special consideration in ads, and a booth at the event. The hope is that the event grows into a signature event for the City. Responding to question, Mr. Alvarez said that Desert Willow could be a possible location if the event were to grow, however, March is the peak season at Desert Willow. Mr. McDowell answered Jan Harnik's question by saying they had considered calling the event "Palm Desert Concorso," but wanted the event's name to have a broad appeal. Mr. Mandarano added that the ads all will say Desert Concorso at Palm Desert, leveraging the name "concorso." Desert European Motors will be the top sponsor. Discussion ensued regarding the benefits and pricing for tickets. In comparing other events in Southern California and the Coachella Valley, the organizers are comfortable with a $70 price point. The strategy is to brand the event with EI Paseo. One possible idea is to have a Saturday event where special cars will be parked and seen for free along EI Paseo. Marketing promotion will be through mailings, print ads, email blasts, social media, radio interviews, newspaper ads, and trade publication ads. The organizers want to grow the event in a controlled way so that at the end of the event, attendees will say they had a really great time and they are looking forward to next year. Another goal is to keep visitors in the vicinity, having a good experience on EI Paseo and the surrounding area. There are no structured collaborations with local hotels, however, hotel links will be on the Desert Concorso website. Restorante Mamma Gina and Piero's Pizzavino will be handling the food court. Ms. O'Flynn pointed out that the proposed sponsorship will come from the City's Unobligated General Fund and will not affect the Marketing budget. At this point in the meeting, Diane Williams arrived. Rolf Hoehn moved, by Minute Motion, to endorse staff recommendation to approve sponsorship of the March 30, 2014 Desert Consorso Italian Auto Show in the amount of $15,000. The motion was seconded by Sara O'Flynn and carried by 7-0-3 vote, with Amick, Bird-Hrivnak, Hoehn, Loog, Williams, Wolf, and O'Flynn voting AYE, Maggio, Norman, and Snyder absent. 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JANUARY 21, 2014 C. REVIEW OFF MADISON AVE. DECEMBER 2013 MONTHLY REPORT Ms. Gomez highlighted items from the sections of the report. • Unique visitors are up 18.42% year-over-year. • Click-to-Call Program is very active with growing numbers. • Events page is one of the top-producing pages. It is updated daily by C ity staff. • Digital ads placed in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and San Diego have the best results. • 60% of visitors are from mobile devices. • Online display total impressions meet or exceed industry average. • Trip Advisor has the strongest click through rate. • Pay Per Click visits are up 60% year-over-year. • Facebook is very active and is performing very well. • Newsletter now focuses on current events, based upon last year's survey. Responding to question, Ms. Gomez stated that she is pleased with the results and has no areas of concern. OMA stays engaged and results are reviewed weekly. With Committee concurrence, the December 2013 Off Madison Ave. report was received and filed. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS Councilmember Bob Spiegel stressed the need to work on attracting more special events and hotels to Palm Desert. He is encouraged to be having the Desert Concorso Italian Auto Show in Palm Desert. Discussion ensued regarding the hotel site on Highway 74 and EI Paseo. Mr. Alvarez stated that he is currently in discussions for a four-star hotel project at Desert Willow. 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JANUARY 21, 2014 X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Sara O'Flynn reported that the 16th annual concert series at The Gardens will run from February 1St through April 19th. Each concert benefits a different local charity. Overall, sales in the center are up. Responding to question, she said Wilma & Frieda is doing very well. They focus on breakfast and lunch, and close at 4:00 p.m. B. Committee Members Rolf Hoehn conveyed that the player field for the tennis tournament will be announced tomorrow. Opening weekend and ribbon cutting ceremony will be Saturday, March 1St, and will include a charity event called the "McEnroe Challenge" with John McEnroe and other legendary players. Public events will be held March 2-�. Ticketed events will begin March 5tn The new stadium will be delivered on February 3�d Final numbers for 2013 are in for the Airport Commission. December had a 1% increase, and the whole year was a record-breaking year for the airport with 1.75 million visitors. Airlines are increasing services and the Airport Commission has voted to provide help to American Airlines in expanding their Chicago service. The CVB is trying to get airlines to expand services and to start earlier, and to inform convention business of the air service to Palm Springs. Arlene Amick was happy to report that the January 4th 5-K was very successful with about 500 participants. The current exhibit is getting good numbers. Free First Fridays have been fantastic, with about 250 people each. About 50 attend Yoga in the Sculpture Garden. The museum will be closed for 2 weeks at the end of January to prepare for the next exhibition. They are collaborating with Baccarat, French crystal manufacturer, to celebrate their 250th anniversary at the museum. Diane Williams said that the housing market is brisk, and 2014 will be the year for move-up buyers. C. Staff Ruth Ann Moore updated the Committee on 15 new stores along EI Paseo, and several more under construction. The new Walmart Neighborhood Market opened up last week with a lot of fanfare. Martin Alvarez distributed a flyer for the end-of-season event and dinner for EI Paseo Cruise Night, scheduled for April 19th at Desert Willow. The car show will be in the overflow parking lot from 5-7 p.m. The event will be heavily promoted. Responding to Mr. Spiegel, Mr. Alvarez reported that 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JANUARY 21, 2014 Council approved a sponsorship with the Jazz Institute for concerts on May 10th at The Living Desert, and May 11th brunch and jazz concert at the Desert Willow clubhouse. Also, there will be theme dinners and buffets at Desert Willow, of which Mr. Alvarez will bring more information to the next meeting. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Report Referring to the report, Ms. Gomez noted that the digital side remains strong; visitor numbers and sales activity are slow. Visitor Center Manager Barbara Blythe has improved the merchandising and expanded the services that are provided there. With Committee concurrence the Visitor Center Report was received and filed. Ms. Gomez added that First Weekend continues to see success. Staff found an event called "Paint Nites," which are fun painting events in area restaurants organized by a private organization. They have booked 4 sessions that fall on First Weekend. Ms. Gomez has been working on a co-op with Desert Willow for print and digital advertising in the local area. They will share a booth at the PNB Paribas, where staff and volunteers will promote shopping, dining, and attractions. XII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:10 p.m. -� .. ��_ tG l:.L� ,%��Zc-%�l C� � J ne Stanley, R�cording Secretary 6