PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE Tuesday, June 21, 2016 4:00 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Bruce Nation called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Arlene Amick Mahasti Islami Franchesca Forrer Jerry Martin Bruce Nation Ray Rodriguez Members Absent: Rolf Hoehn, Chair Theresa Maggio, Vice-Chair Jeffrey Norman Staff /Others Present: Bob Spiegel, Mayor Jan Harnik, Mayor Pro Tem Thomas Soule, Tourism & Marketing Manager Martín Alvarez, Economic Development Director David Hermann, Management Analyst Ruth Ann Moore, Economic Development Manager Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary Barbara Blythe, Tourism & Marketing Specialist Erin Scott, The Living Desert Mark Schaeffer, H&L Partners Blake Padberg, Account Director, H&L Partners Heather Woodard, PR Director, H&L Partners Jeff Miraglia, Palm Springs CVB III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Bruce Nation introduced and welcomed Jerry Martin, who was just appointed to the Committee. Mr. Martin runs El Paseo Cruise Night and is a golf pro. He said he is excited to learn how he can help and is looking forward to contributing.
IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF APRIL 19, 2016 Ray Rodriguez moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the April 19, 2016, meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Arlene Amick and carried by a 5-0-4 vote. (AYES: Amick, Forrer, Martin, Nation and Rodriguez; NOES: None; ABSENT: Hoehn, Islami, Maggio and Norman) V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. FISCAL YEAR-END UPDATE ON AD CAMPAIGN PERFORMANCE BY H&L PARTNERS Thomas Soule introduced Mark Schaeffer from H&L Partners. At this point in the meeting Mahasti Islami arrived. Mr. Schaeffer began by saying he came to Palm Desert last May where he met most of the Committee members. H&L Partners is the creative, media, and digital agency. More and more the investment in activity is in the digital space. Several key ideas will benefit the City in the long term. First is to keep to a long term plan. Second is greater focus and simplification. Looking at return on investment, most of the revenue is coming from the drive market, so that is where the focus is now. Thirdly is to become more relevant to younger visitors. The future is to be true to the upscale assets that are Palm Desert, but to be younger. This year s campaign was more contemporary and active. Blake Padberg then continued with some broad results. Overall, website traffic is up 15% year-over-year. Smartphones are the preferred device to access the website. Another key performance indicator is enewsletter signups, which are up 14% year-over-year; an increase of 2,700 new subscribers since the campaign started. Once people are here in town they are looking for things to do; events, shopping, golf. There is an uptick in traffic right after the monthly enewsletter goes out. Responding to question, golf ads had the most Facebook likes. The co-op with the CVB for TV ads has been the best vehicle for mass reach. Ads have been in the Palm Springs airport since December and will continue at least through June. Looking ahead, video will be integrated into the digital media plan. Mr. Schaeffer said they are working with Mr. Soule on concepts for the new ad campaign. 2
Heather Woodard provided Public Relations results. She stated a goal is to reach outlets and consumers above and beyond the media plan. This was successful with 2 activities. First was the winter FAM media tour, which has resulted in 9 articles thus far. Editorial coverage has reached more than 40M potential visitors. The second was bringing social influencer Claire Sulmers to introduce a younger crowd to Fashion Week. Because of her social media postings, snaps, live tweets, glowing reviews on her website of the event, restaurants and venues, she received more than 20,000 combined likes. The digital team determined her posts valued $19,800 versus the $2,500 investment. Looking ahead there will be continued outreach in the drive markets. Additionally, there are conversations with Self magazine and Good Housekeeping for potential stories. Since there is time to plan, there are several ideas for leveraging the events next year. Franchesca Forrer asked if there could be other social influencers for events and festivals, including Food & Wine, to which Ms. Woodard responded that this is definitely a priority. Mr. Padberg stated that not only do they want to build the brand through the campaign theme, but they also want to focus on events. Mr. Schaeffer concluded by saying this past year the team is encouraged that there has been progress and good decisions have been made in positioning this destination. With Committee concurrence, the Fiscal Year-End Update on Ad Campaign Performance was received and filed. B. REVIEW OF FISCAL YEAR 2016/2017 MARKETING BUDGET Mr. Soule said that the 2016/2017 budget is very similar to last year. There is a slight increase in PR to try to get more top-notch bloggers. A new ad campaign is planned so collateral will need to be refreshed. Also included is $200k that the Council approved for additional co-ops with hotels to attract new summer business. Out of that fund there are 3 groups coming this summer to the JW Marriott that otherwise would not have come. A new media plan will be developed that will come before the Committee at another meeting. This budget will be considered by the City Council and he would like the Committee s recommendation. Mahasti Islami moved, by Minute Motion, to recommend approval of the Fiscal Year 2016/2017 Marketing Budget to the City Council as submitted. The motion was seconded by Franchesca Forrer and carried by a 6-0-3 vote. (AYES: Amick, Forrer, Islami, Martin, Nation and Rodriguez; NOES: None; ABSENT: Hoehn, Maggio and Norman) 3
C. CONTRACT RENEWAL FOR H&L PARTNERS Mr. Soule said the current contract goes through June 30, 2016, and includes the option for two 1-year renewals. Now is the time for the City Council to consider renewing the contract. Franchesca Forrer moved, by Minute Motion, to recommend approval of a one-year extension to the H&L Partners contract for marketing services, through June 30, 2017, under the same terms and conditions. The motion was seconded by Arlene Amick and carried by a 6-0-3 vote. (AYES: Amick, Forrer, Islami, Martin, Nation and Rodriguez; NOES: None; ABSENT: Hoehn, Maggio and Norman) D. CONSIDERATION OF QUARTERLY MEETING TIME Mr. Soule informed the Committee that the City Council has been reviewing all the Committees and Commissions and they approved having quarterly meetings instead of monthly meetings for the Marketing Committee. He asked the Committee members for their input on when they would like to meet. A special meeting could be called if an issue arises between quarterly meetings. Mayor Pro Tem Harnik added that information, such as that from the CVB s marketing, could be shared via a group email. The By-Laws would need to be amended to reflect the new meeting schedule. Ms. Islami asked when the Media Plan would need to be reviewed as that may determine when the Committee would meet. Mr. Soule suggested the first Tuesday at the end of the quarter September, December, March and June, at 4:00 p.m. Ruth Ann Moore suggested surveying the Committee members before the next meeting to determine their preference. With Committee concurrence this item will be continued to the next regular meeting. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS 4
A. City Council Mayor Spiegel reported that he just came back from the Palm Desert Area Chamber of Commerce planning retreat. Ruth Ann Moore and Ray Rodriguez were also there. Mayor Pro Tem Harnik said she and Ms. Moore worked hard at the ICSC convention and they made a lot of contacts. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Bruce Nation reported that Desert Willow is finishing up the fiscal year. FootGolf has taken off. They are trying to sell it as a corporate event - playing 9 holes in about an hour and coming back to the clubhouse for cocktails and hors d oeuvres and possibly dinner. The national FootGolf championship will be held at Desert Willow this coming November. Desert Willow is the official course for the American FootGolf League. One of the goals is to convert soccer players to golfers. Jeff Miraglia added that today s travelers are looking for unique, new experiences. The 35-54 year-old audience is looking for new experiences where they feel emotionally and physically active. Mr. Schaeffer asked the Committee members to let H&L know when they have events such as the FootGolf championship. Mr. Rodriguez noted that the Senior Games, held in February, bring in a lot of people. B. Committee Members Franchesca Forrer said Westfield Mall will be having a busy summer. They are partnering with Mattel for a series of summer family events. The first, with Bob the Builder, was huge. In July the event will have Little People, and August will have Barbie. The mall will be holding the Back to School Fashion Show with Mayor Pro Tem Harnik participating once again as host and judge. Also, planning is underway for the Day of the Dead and Street events. Ray Rodriguez noted that Cork Tree will be closing at the end of June for a few months, along with other restaurants. He went on to say that he has vigorous opinions regarding what we can do to elevate the Food & Wine event to the level of Fashion Week. From his perspective it has a long way to go. 5
C. Staff Erin Scott said The Living Desert is in summer mode. Zoo Camp started yesterday. 600 kids will participate over the next 6 weeks. Fall planning is underway. The CVB was out today hosting World Giraffe Day. Jerry Martin was happy to report that El Paseo Cruise Night had a terrific season and will start again in November at The Gardens. There was about a 30% increase in attendance this year as well as more foot traffic. El Paseo Cruise Night made it into Westways and Sunset magazines as a top thing to do. Mahasti Islami said the dates for the concert series are January 28 to March 18. Planning meetings have already been occurring for Fashion Week. Arlene Amick reported that the museum went through an extensive strategic plan for all 3 facilities. Summer camp begins next week and will be held for the first time only in Palm Desert for kids ages 5 to 13. For summer the museum is only open Friday to Sunday. None. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Services Reports Arlene Amick moved, by Minute Motion, to receive and file the Visitor Services Reports as presented. The motion was seconded by Ray Rodriguez and carried by a 6-0-3 vote. (AYES: Amick, Forrer, Islami, Martin, Nation and Rodriguez; NOES: None; ABSENT: Hoehn, Maggio and Norman) XII. NEXT MEETING DATE JULY 19, 2016 XII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m. Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary 6