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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/17/2004, BUS3 - COMMUNITY TOURISM PROMOTION BRAND IMAGE council j acenda nepout CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO FROM: Wendy George,Assistance City Administrative Officer Prepared By: Shelly Stanwyck,Economic Development Manager 54(� SUBJECT: COMMUNITY TOURISM PROMOTION BRAND IMAGE CAO RECOMMENDATION As recommended by the Promotional Coordinating Committee (PCC), approve the phrase "Experience the SLO Life" to be used as the City's Community Tourism Promotion slogan and approve the attached graphic image(Attachment 1)for use with this slogan. DISCUSSION Background The City's Community Tourism Promotion budget is approximately $375,000 annually for fiscal years 2003-04 and 2004-05. This money is allocated to a variety of services to promote the City as an overnight visitor destination. In response to declining transient occupancy tax (TOT) revenues, increased competition from neighboring communities, and a major Council Goal for 2003-05 focused on tourism, the Council has adopted a Tourism Marketing Plan with the following main objectives: 1. Increase transient occupancy and sales tax. 2. Develop and implement a brand image. 3. Enhance and use as a fulfillment tool the visitslo.com website. 4. Develop and maintain strategic alliances. 5. Collect more data about the City's market position. 6. Establish accountability standards for the community promotions contractors. The purpose for developing a brand (objective number two) is to provide a consistent and focused message to be used in all media promoting the City as a visitor destination. This message would serve as an opportunity to distinguish the City from the County and to provide a "promise" of why people should visit San Luis Obispo. As identified in the Tourism Marketing Plan, the brand could be a tagline and/or image that identifies San Luis Obispo as the hub or focal point for one's vacation experience to the Central Coast and evokes the small town charm for which we are known. As part of their contract, the City's Community Tourism Promotion advertising contractor, Barnett, Cox and Associates (BC&A) has been working with the Promotional Coordinating Committee for several months on the development of such a brand. Council Agenda Report—Community Tourism Promotion Brand Page 2 The Process 1.Selection of Slogan Using the direction provided in the Tourism Marketing Plan, the PCC Marketing Subcommittee met and discussed possible slogan ideas. Literally hundreds of slogans were considered. Several were presented to the PCC at its October 8, 2003, meeting (Attachment 2), but none of them were quite right. At the November 12, 2003, PCC Meeting (Attachment 3), a slogan concept, to include the phrase the "SLO Life" was adopted by the PCC. The PCC directed Maggie Cox, of BC&A, to research trademark issues prior to the presentation of the final slogan. To avoid potential litigation a common law search of variations on the "SLO Life"was conducted. A few inactive uses showed up and one semi-active use for clothing appeared. At its December 10, 2003, meeting (Attachment 4), the PCC agreed that the slogan should be "Experience the SLO Life". Members of the PCC felt that this slogan provided innumerable advertising and public relations opportunities and captured the friendly nature of our City, while at the same time creating interest in the potential to do many things while visiting. 2.Selection of Graphic Image At the January 14, 2004 meeting (Attachment 5), members of the PCC reviewed four different graphic images using the slogan Experience the SLO Life. After a great deal of discussion, there was general consensus in support of two of the graphic images. The PCC requested that Maggie Cox make further refinements to the images and include them in mock advertisements (Attachment 6) for review by the PCC. On January 28, 2004, the PCC held a special meeting to review the refined images and make a selection to recommend to Council (Attachment 7). The graphic representation of the slogan Experience the SLO Life compliments the City's mission bell brand. It is intentionally playful in an effort to demonstrate that we are a family friendly destination and a vacation destination. The graphic image is adaptable. The "O" in Obispo can be used for further graphic treatments as shown in Attachment 8. Also, the colors used in graphic image can be modified to compliment an ad campaign and to reflect current color trends. Next Steps Upon approval by Council of a Community Tourism Promotion brand, our advertising contractor will coordinate an unveiling with the media. We will follow up with a presentation of the brand to all of our local hotels and provide them with a display copy to encourage its use in their individual advertising. Our public relations contractor, the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, will utilize the brand in all materials provided to travel writers and will incorporate the brand into the visitslo.com website. City staff will coordinate further application of the brand with the PCC, including possible uses by other groups. 3 �� i Council Agenda Report—Community Tourism Promotion Brand Page 3 FISCAL IMPACT The amount currently budgeted in the 2003-04 Financial Plan for Community Tourism Promotion is $754,500 for the two-year total. Development of a brand for Community Promotions was included in the advertising services contract with BC&A, as was the use of the brand by the Chamber for Public Relations purposes. ALTERNATIVES If Council is unsatisfied with the proposed slogan or graphic image they could direct the PCC and BC&A to do further work and return to the Council for reconsideration and adoption.. ATTACHMENTS 1. Graphic Image 2. PCC Minutes, October 8, 2003 3. PCC Minutes, November 12, 2003 4. PCC Minutes, December 10, 2003 5. PCC Minutes, January 14, 2004 6. Mock Advertisement 7. PCC Minutes,January 28, 2004 8. Different"treatments" of proposed Graphic Image Available in Council Reading File: Tourism Marketing Plan Eemonic File Path:Adnnn\projects\PC0Counci1 Agenda Reports\Brand Selection 3 - 3 ATTACHMENT Lis ■ ■ BISPO �/SLO cam ! 3-4 PROMOTIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE ATTACHMENT 2 REGULAR MEETING MINUTES October 8, 2003 Council Hearing Room, City Hall San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Bob Griffin called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. with the following members present: Diane Hunt Roberts, Louise Justice, George Newland, Debby Nicklas, Cate Norton and Wilda Rosene. Shelly Stanwyck served as staff. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT Kimberly Stewart, Archie McClaren, and Pam Heathington were members of the public here to listen and Bob Griffin thanked them for their interest. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the regular meeting of September 10, 2003 were approved as presented. (Rosene moveditcklas seconded, unanimous). 4. MARKETING SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT Debby Nicklas reported on the recent Subcommittee meeting. The meeting focused on slogan development and work plan coordination. At the next regular meeting will revamp the Agenda to focus on Tourism Marketing Plan objectives. Want to generate new ideas and have more interaction with contractors and make sure not duplicating efforts. 5. PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING A BRAND Debby Nicklas reported that the Marketing Subcommittee had come up with three that they thought were exciting. San Luis Obispo . . . Simply Irresistible; A Beautiful Find; Stay Here, Play Around Maggie Cox discussed national marketing campaigns and how most slogans are not remembered, e.g. Circuit City & Kmart. BC&A did interviews at the Chamber, Embassy Suites, Mission Plaza, and Downtown — asking survey respondents to rate slogans on a 1-5 basis. Nothing "popped'; nothing was a strong 3 to 5 or winner. She recommends stepping back and taking another look. Cate Norton reported lack of enthusiasm among her staff. Maggie will email comments from respondents. The Marketing Subcommittee will have a special meeting on this topic. 3�� Promotional Coordinating Committee ATTACHMENT 3 Wednesday, November 12, 2003 5:30 p.m. City Hall Council Hearing Room 990 Palm Street CALL TO ORDER: Chair Robert Griffin, 5:32 p.m. PRESENT: Chairperson Griffin, Hunt Roberts, Justice, Newland, Nicklas, Norton, Rosene, Council Laison, Mulholland STAFF PRESENT: Shelly Stanwyck, Economic Development Manager, Betsy Kiser, Principal Administrative Analyst, Bill Statler, Finance Director PUBLIC COMMENT Leslie Jones, ECOSLO, commented on the proposed Green Information Map CONSENT AGENDA ACTION: Moved by Nicklas/Hunt Roberts to accept the Consent Agenda with the exception of item C-4 which was not a part of the Agenda Packet; Motion carried 7:0. MARKETING OBJECTIVES Item 1 . DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF BRAND IMAGE Maggie Cox provided a status report on the development of a brand image. The Marketing Subcommittee held a special meeting to discuss possible concepts. The "SLO Life" or something with "SLO" in it such as "Experience the SLO Life" was what the group focused on. Maggie has embarked on the legal research regarding the trade marking of this concept. There are some similar marks out there including "I Love the SLO Life" for license plates, "SLO Life Inc", a corporation, in Mission Viejo and "SLO Life" in Texas. Maggie will be working with Intellectual Property Attorney, Mary Harris, on the trademark issue. ACTION: Moved by Justice/Rosene that the "SLO Life" or some variation by our brand slogan; Motion carried 7:0. Item 2. DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF STRATEGIC ALLIANCES PCC Meeting Minutes November 12,2003 Page 1 3 -LP i ATTACHMENT 4 Promotional Coordinating Committee Wednesday, December 10, 2003 5:30 p.m. City Hall Council Hearing Room 990 Palm Street CALL TO ORDER: Chair Robert Griffin, 5:30 p.m. PRESENT: Chairperson Griffin, Hunt Roberts, Justice, Newland, Nicklas (arrived at 6:00p.m.), and Rosene STAFF PRESENT: Shelly Stanwyck, Economic Development Manager, Betsy Kiser, Principal Administrative Analyst, Jonathan Lowell, City Attorney PUBLIC COMMENT None. CONSENT AGENDA ACTION: Moved by Hunt Roberts/Newland to accept the Consent Agenda; Motion carried 5:0 COMMITTEE & BUDGET ITEMS Item 1 . DISCUSSION OF DUTIES OF ADVISORY BODY MEMBERS Jonathan Lowell, City Attorney, summarized his memorandum provided in the Agenda Packet regarding the unique nature of PCC Members role as advisory body members. He discussed an issue that had come up recently regarding dual roles and the need to avoid the perception of split allegiances that could be perceived by some to be a conflict of interest. The materials he provided to the PCC were intended to help avoid a situation that could arise due to the unique role of the PCC. Bob Griffin inquired whether or not member of the PCC would have a conflict of interest if they used BC&A as their ad agency? City Attorney Lowell responded that he would need to explore that issue in the future, but at a minimum the member with a conflict should recuse him or herself form any action, and as is appropriate with conflicts of interest, remove themselves from the hearing and not participate in any discussions leading up to a decision. PCC Meeting Minutes November 12,2003 Page 1 3=9 I 1 AwTACHMENT 4 Item 2. PUBLIC RELATIONS CONTRACT Shelly Stanwyck, Economic Development Manager, summarized Wendy George's memorandum included in the Agenda Packet regarding the Chamber's desire to discuss their Public Relations Contract in light of an upcoming personnel change. PCC members discussed the appointment of an ad hoc subcommittee to carry on this discussion. ACTION: Moved by Newland/Hunt Roberts that Bob Griffin, George Newland and Debby Nicklas comprise an ad hoc subcommittee to meet with the Chamber and discuss its public relations contract; Motion carried 5:0. MARKETING OBJECTIVES Item 1 . DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF BRAND IMAGE Maggie Cox provided a status report on the development of a brand image. Trademark work has continued and one more level of search must be completed prior to use of the slogan "Experience the SLO Life". This level of search is important to avoid possible litigation. The common law search will be completed shortly. In the meantime, BC&A will develop graphic images to be reviewed informally by the Marketing Subcommittee and presented to the PCC for consideration at the January 2004 meeting. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS Item 1. GRANTS IN AID SUBCOMMITTEE Subcommittee Chair Hunt Roberts highlighted the proposed changes to the GIA Application materials. The format has changed from a.letter to forms. Proposed funding amounts were shifted to more accurately reflect previous awards, which hadn't been higher than $5,000. The applicant criterion emphasizes the need for completed reports from last year's grants. Both 501(C)(3) and (C)(6) corporations can apply. Events should be focused in the City. ACTION: Moved by Justice/Newland to approve the GIA materials as presented; Motion carried 6:0. Item 2. MARKETING SUBCOMMITTEE Subcommittee Chair Nicklas reported that.the Marketing Subcommittee Meeting at its recent meeting discussed and reviewed the visitslo.com website. The Subcommittee also discussed the status of the brand image development. Debby also reported that the Trout About Art Committee had a kick off meeting and the event is presently planned to begin in May 2005. PCC Meeting Minutes November 12,2003 Page 2 3-8 ATTACHMENT S Promotional Coordinating Committee DRAFT Wednesday, January 14, 2004 5:30 p.m. City Hall Council Hearing Room 990 Palm Street CALL TO ORDER: Chair Robert Griffin, 5:30 p.m. PRESENT: Chairperson Griffin, Hunt Roberts, Justice, Nicklas, Norton and Rosene STAFF PRESENT: Shelly Stanwyck, Economic Development Manager COUNCIL PRESENT: Christine Mulholland PUBLIC COMMENT None. CONSENT AGENDA ACTION: Moved by Nicklas/Hunt Roberts to accept the Consent Agenda; Motion carried 6:0 COMMITTEE & BUDGET ITEMS Item 1 . FEEDBACK ON 2003-05 TWO STEP BUDGET PROCESS Shelly Stanwyck, Economic Development Manager, summarized the Memorandum included in the Agenda Packet from City Finance Director, Bill Statler, regarding the budget process. Committee members all liked the two-step process. In particular they liked reviewing the other advisory bodies' proposed goals. In the case of the PCC they discovered that two other advisory bodies were supported of a similar goal for street lighting. Bob Griffin suggested that feedback be provided to the advisory bodies as to which of their proposed goals were adopted by Council. PCC Meeting Minutes January 14,2004 Page 1� ATTACHMENT , 5 MARKETING OBJECTIVES Item 1. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF BRAND IMAGE Maggie Cox reported on the results of the Thompson and Thompson trademark search for the proposed slogan "Experience the SLO Life". Maggie stated that there is a local company that has a clothing trademark for "SLO Life" on clothing (you have to trademark a brand in different categories of which there are 42). The advice Maggie has received from the intellectual property attorney is that we can use the proposed slogan and should register it initially in the advertising category. We can go back and register it for use on material goods later. Maggie then presented four different graphic treatments for review by the committee. Each was very different. There was much discussion and review with suggestions for modification. It was the consensus of the committee that a special meeting would be held to make the final selection from further refined logos. Item 2. 2003 RETREAT FOLLOW UP Jim Sevbert our 2003 Retreat Facilitator conducted a follow up to last year's retreat. He focused on two Marketing Plan Objectives: strategic partnerships and the development of accountability standards for the contractors. Jim Seybert's Summary of the Brainstorming is as follows: Forming Partnerships • The value of a partnership is in the "non-cash assets" each partner brings to the alliance. • Each partner (there are often more than two) must identify what assets they are able to share and what assets they would like to have access to in return. • Marketing partnerships are generally formed to address a very specific (not broad) situation or objective. For example: The Cal Poly Alumni Association and the PCC could form a partnership that would help the Association recruit or retain members while the City received access to members for event marketing purposes. Discussion Panels The group discussed four potential partners. We were asked to identify what "non-cash asset" the partner would bring to the table as a benefit to the city of San Luis Obispo and what the City could offer the partner as a benefit for participating in a co-marketing campaign. (After discussion it was decided that a fifth partner group (the hotel industry) should be added into the mix). Cal Poly University Benefits of workina with Cal Poly: 1. Students 2. Connection to parents of students 3. Connection to University alumni 4. Special events that attract visitors PCC Meeting Minutes January 14,2004 age 2 -c b ATTACHMENT (a �l &Z °Pam Cv - ,a oil "ter ATTACHMENT 7 Promotional Coordina ng Committee DRAFT Wednesday, January 28, 2004 8:00 a.m. City Hall Council Hearing Room 990 Palm Street CALL TO ORDER: Chair Robert Griffin, 8:07 a.m. PRESENT: Chairperson Griffin, Justice, Newland Nicklas, and Rosene STAFF PRESENT: Shelly Stanwyck, Economic Development Manager PUBLIC COMMENT None. Item 1 . SELECTION OF SLOGAN AND BRAND IMAGE Maggie Cox, presented further refinements of the slogan and brand image. Several "mock ads" and t-shirts designs were used to demonstrate how the image would work in practice. Committee members and Maggie discussed each of the refinements and identified what was working and what was not. The general consensus was that the graphic treatment of the words, with two squares was working well for a majority of the PCC because it focused on the words and the slogan — not just on images that many other cities could use as well. Newland remarked that he liked the more graphical treatments that had images of the mission, creek, mountains, but did not oppose the use of words that have been graphically enhanced. Several committee members thought that additional color schemes should be applied to the image, but that one color scheme should not be selected for all uses. There was lots of brainstorming about the "O" in Obispo and how it could be used as a graphic element when doing specialized promotions and ads, e.g. a soccer ball for soccer tournaments or music notes for the Mozart festival, etc. ACTION: Moved by Nicklas/Rosene to recommend to the City Council the selection of the San Luis Obispo, Experience the SLO Life! logo that with the two squares; Motion carried 5:0. Meeting Adjourned at 8:25 a.m. PCC Meeting Minutes January 28,2004 P�-t a aiiasx*¢x. e S� L►s ■ fulsm �Blspo •�sisPo Nufl�� W�s to IQISEANL ■ c�BISPO • '�BISPO & twuwh60tyrel! tfvl/SGOi4tl' 3 - 13