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Home My WebLink Aboutresolution.council.089A-01 RESOLUTION NO. 89 SERIES OF 2001 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, APPROVING THE 2001-2002 MARKETING PLAN AND BUDGET FOR THE CITY OF ASPEN TOURISM PROMOTION FUND AND EXTENDING THE TERM OF THE AGREEMENT REGARDING THE TOURISM PROMOTION FUND THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 2002. WHEREAS, on March 26, 2001 the Aspen City Council approved an Agreement between the City, the Aspen Lodging Association (ALA), and the Aspen Chamber Resort Association (ACRA) relating to the expenditure of a portion of the receipts of the recently imposed 1.0% visitor benefit tax; and WHEREAS, the Agreement requires ACRA to submit to the City a detailed annual marketing program and expense budget, along with a review of the previous year's program (except for the fnrst year); and WHEREAS, the term of the Agreement may be extended by mutual agreement of the parties upon the submission by ACRA of th~ annual marketing plan and budget and the approval of the same by the City Council; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to approve the proposed marketing plan and budget and thereby extend the term of the Agreement through December 31, 2002. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO: That the 2001-2002 marketing plan and budget appended hereto as Exhibit A is hereby approved and the term of the Agreement is hereby extended to December 31, 2002. RESOLVED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 10th day of September, 2001, by the City Council for the City of Aspen, Colorado. I, Kathryn S. Koch, duly appointed and acting City Clerk do certify that the foregoing is a true and accurate copy of that resolution adopted by the City Council of the City of Aspen, Colorado, at a meeting held September 10, 2001. Kathryn S. IC/~fch, City Clerk ASPEN September 10, 2001 Mayor Klanderud and members of the Aspen City Council: We appreciate the opportunity to present this marketing plan and proposed budget for Aspen's tourism promotion fund. As you know. c I-I A M B E R the Aspen Chamber Resort Association was contracted by the City R E S O R T of Aspen to administer the marketing funds resulting from the passage of the lodging tax. 42~ ~i,, (;~,,,~ac p~c~ In this packet, you will find the comprehensive, bound marketing ^~p,n co~o~,~ s~a plan that is a result of eight months of work by the ACRA's Marketing Advisory Committee and PRACO, the marketing firm T 970 925 1940 we hired. .... ...~,,¢,,~,,~,~,~,~ You also will find a brief overview of the plan with bullet points; the detailed proposed budget for 2001-2002; and a summation of the feedback we have received from the community. We're available at any time ~o answer questions, and we look forward to meeting with you on Monday, Sept. 10. Christine -Nolen President and CEO Aspen Chamber Resort Association PRACC. LTD. Public Relations PRACO Advertising 2001-2002 ASPEN MARKETING PLAN 5300 DTC ~a;'~a: Campaign Goals · Increase hotel occuoancy & expenditures for trial visitors · Provide realistic ROI ~,,gle~ood. CO 8o::: · Re-energize Aspen brand to trial visitors · Leverage marketing investment through co-ops Campaign Objectives Fax303-850-7820 · Generate measurable direct contacts · Generate $2,400.000 in new lodging revenue by year 2 of campaign · Provide short-term ROI of $6 to $1 · Provide long-term ROI of $18 to $1 Strategy #1: Research · Brand Report · Aspen Ski Co. Co-op Quantitative Survey · Creative Testing · ACRA Quantitative Survey Strategy #2: Package Development · 52 Packages per year · Developed by ACRT · Target "hot deal" travel sections in top 1 00 national newspapers · Additional efforts in Los Angeles & Dallas · Trackable and measurable Strategy #3: Community Relations ·Two-way communication program to educate, inform, and elicit feedback on the ACRA marketing efforts Strategy #4: "Booster Shots" - lwo Direct Marketing Campaigns · Regional focus in LA & Dallas/Ft. Worth (winter & summer) · MNI Magazines - 6 publications · Bloomberg.com · NPR Radio sponsorships · Direct mail campaign with American Express - series of 3 postcards · Trackable and measurable Strategy #5: Campaign Site · Adjunct to ACRT site · Address barriers · Promote & list packages · Links to booking function or 800# · Links to a variety of Aspen sites · Trackable and measurable ASPEN CHAMBER RESORT ASSOCIATION 2001-2002 MARKETING PLAN: COMMUNITY COMMENTS AND MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS At the request of the city manager's office, we've compiled a brief repor~ on the questions and comments the community offered in response ~o a review of the marketing plan. Background: Once the research had been completed and the marketing plan began to take shape, ACRA and its contracted agency, PRACO. met with a variety of community groups to discuss strategies and tactics. These groups included .the ACRA's 20-member Marketing Advisory Committee; the Aspen Lodging Association; PR Connections, which is the group composed of local public relations managers; the Aspen Skiing Company staff and its agency representatives; the Snowmass Village Resort Association staff and its agency representatives; the ACRA Board of Directors; and the community at large. It must be noted that the general reaction, even from some of the mos~ opinionated, experienced folks in our community, was very positive. The goals, objectives and strategies of the campaign were affirmed and the research and thoughtfulness that had led us to this point were acknowledged. We then proceeded to more specific feedback: How does this tie in to the Skiing Company's and Snowmass's marketing plans? Thanks to thorough communication between our marketing staffs and our agencies, we have all identified some very consistent audiences we think are ripe for trial. Skico, of course, goes after the skier/snowboarder audience and segments it from there: Snowmass, no~ surprisingly, will s~rongly target families; and ACRA has identified -by lifestyle--affluent, active, metropolitan-area adults who love adventure- based vacations. We are working hard to dovetail our efforts, no~ duplicate them. SVRA and ACRA are employing two agencies with a strong fraternal relationship, and we are talking about cooperative advertising in the fall of 2002. Why is Aspen Central Reservations the call to action? We sent out requests for proposals to virtually every local travel agent. ACRT's proposal was selected by a subcommittee of the Marketing Advisory Committee. ACRT has a sophisticated on-line booking system, tools for measuring results of our campaign, and is a community-based reservations agency serving the Aspen and Snowmass communities exclusively. Another Web site? Don't we have enough in this community? We don't consider aspeneffect.com another Web site. It's a portal that we need to 1) break down barriers to visiting and booking Aspen; 2) drive business'to the sites to which it seamlessly connects: aspensnowmass.com; stayaspen.com; aspenchamber.org; etc. and 3) you'll hear us say this again and again--we've got to have a tool to track the results of this campaign. Why are Los Angeles and Dallas the focuses of the "booster shot" campaigns? First, it's important to remember that the package promotions--to the top 100 newspapers with package sections and travel Web sites--and other elements of the Chamber's marketing efforts are nationwide. The booster compaigns were limited to two markets because of the advertising costs. Los Angeles came to the top of everyone's list; research has sho~vn that we have a very strong California audience, with room for growth. Dallas was selected as the second city because: it is also a lucrative market for Aspen; we needed a market that would work for both summer and winter, and those folks who are not die-hard skiers in the East and Midwest are not as likely to take a winter Rocky Mountain vacation; and Dallas is a less expensive buy than, say, Chicago or New York. (As an aside, our research showed that access was not the detractor we thought it might be. In other words, we believe the absence of direct flights from Dallas is outweighed by the positive points of this market.) We understand public relations is a big part of the effort, but promoting a package a week? Isn't that just inundating editors with information they don't want? The major goal of the marketing effort is to drive business in the lodging sector, so offering vehicles that encourage our audiences to book is critical. And these are not stories we're pitching to editorial staffs; these are attractive packages, activity-based, that we're sending to publications that like to list such packages in special sections. How does the creative address campaign strategies? Aren't we just selling sex? As one might expect, the display advertising graphics and copy received the most comment. (Although a relatively limited portion of the overall marketing plan, they are the most visible reflection of it.) It is somewhat challenging to respond to this in a brief such as this, without reiterating the research findings and strategies that logically led us to this point. But in short, we believe that to achieve success, we need to do more than list the attributes of the resort. We also need to do more than deny that we are expensive, exclusive, and inaccessible. These strategies have been employed in the past, and are not driving incremental new business. We have to hit our targeted audience where they hve. and they've told us the element that distinguishes a successful experience for them is how they feel on vacation. This group could essentially go anywhere; they make vacation decisions based on how intense and sensuous they know their experiences will be. We also know that the most attractive photos and the best copy are useless if no one is looking at them. If we are going to employ display advertising at all. it has ~o draw attention or we've wasted our limited resources. ASPEN CHAMBER RESORT ASSOCIATION 2001-2002 MARKETING PLAN PROPOSED BUDGET PRESENTED TO ASPEN CITY COUNCIL SEPT. 10, 2001 INCOME Lodging mx revenue S 440,000 Co-op funds S 140,000 TOTAL INCOME $ 580,000 EXPENSE Advertising - media buys $ 168,000 *Committee expense $ 1,500 Contract labor *administration ~ 8,500 research $ 48,000 marketing .plan S 1,500 package development S 12,000 cmmpai~n site $ 28,500 *Legal and accounting $ 10.000 Postage and printing - direct mail $ 156,000 Professional fees production/graphic design $ 26,000 agency research $ 12,000 marketing plan $ 18,500 package development $ 38,000 campaign site $ 6,500 community relations $ 15,000 Travel $ 10,000 Contingency $ 20,000 TOTAL EXI~ENSE $ 580,000 * Chamber reimbursement