HomeMy WebLinkAbout02. 5.17.18_VLMDAC Minutes_FINALPublic Notice
Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council
Thursday, May 17, 2018
Grand View Room
8:30 – 11:00 AM
Packet: https://bit.ly/2jIlmCl
VLMDAC Members Present:
Phil Metz (Vail Resorts)
Laurie Mullen (West Vail Liquor)
Jessie Klehfoth (VRD)
John Dawsey (CME) - Phone
Cindy Krieg (Doubletree)
Skip Thurnauer
Jenn Bruno (Town of Vail)
Dave Chapin (Town of Vail)
Also Present:
Mia Vlaar (Town of Vail)
Laura Waniuk (Town of Vail)
Carlie Smith (Town of Vail)
Jessica Sweetin (Vail Resorts)
Hannah Eflin (Vail Resorts)
Yann Benjamin (Vail Resorts)
Kristin Yantis (MYPR)
Sandra Perrig-Holst (VVP)
Anna Robinson (VVP)
Meggen Kirkham (SITE)
Hannah Green (Cactus)
Ainslee Fortune (Cactus)
Sarah Berkheimer (Phone - Cactus)
Mike Lee (Phone - Cactus)
Jack Affleck (Affleck Photo)
Paul Abling (Walking Mountains Science Center)
Sarah Franke (Vail Valley Foundation)
Mac Garnsey (Vail Valley Foundation)
Chris Cremer (Alterra Mountain Group)
Erica Cannava (Manor Vail)
Matt Walsh (Vail Resorts Central Reservations)
AGENDA
• April 2018 Monthly Financial Report (5 minutes), Carlie Smith
Lodging Tax $1.5M – tracking down $94K YOY. Expenses are at $748K (21% of total budget). July 3rd
budget meeting will include some discussion of reallocation.
• Approval of April 19, 2018 Minutes (5 minutes), Board
Motion/Second/Pass (Skip Thurnauer/Cindy Krieg/Unanimous)
• Colorado Classic Update (15 minutes), Sarah Franke & Mac Garnsey, Vail Valley Foundation
Review of CO Classic video. RPM will run the race events and VVF will tie in village activation with
Whistle Pig. This is a circuit race, as opposed to a separate start/finish. Estimate about 20K visitors
for this event. It falls during an identified need period – on a Thursday/Friday during the 3rd week in
August. Over 420 room nights booked and that is just for the teams. Estimate 500 additional rooms.
Review of 2017 highlights – see slides for details. There are women’s teams competing, racing the
same course as the men. Review of new media strategy – dropped NBC sports, picked up EuroSport
and Tour Tracker. Review of routes/course – see slides for details. Closure footprint will be quite
large from 9am-3pm on Thursday – there will need to be a lot of coordination and messaging
surrounding closures. Please contact Sarah with concerns or questions. Friday course is standard
time trial route.
Discussion RE: entertainment lineup – hoping to announce in the next week. Discussion RE: national
sponsorships through RPM, more details to come. Discussion RE: coverage/footage/etc. Discussion
RE: how are the rooms booked? Teams, media & support staff rooms and meals are booked by VVF
directly. Spectator will book through “plan your stay” page. Vail Resorts will mention at the
upcoming lodging meeting to encourage partners to offer competitive rates. Discussion RE:
additional opportunities for Town of Vail ROI? Discussion RE: any crossover between Denver
presence in Vail and vice versa?
• Creative Review (15 minutes), Cactus
Reminder of strategy shift – families with older kids/teens. Media began running on 4/16, so they
have results through end of April. Review of video stats – see slides for details. Discussion RE: review
of the mobile AI & how it works. Mobile AI is producing great results. Review of social video stats –
87% video completion rate. Discussion RE: YOY reporting once we get further into summer. May will
be a big month for digital media data gathering.
Introduced the 2018 influencers – active professionals and families. See slides for details. Chose
these influencers based more on the demographics, rather than geography. Target markets were
still a factor, but not the only one. Vail will own the assets and can use them as needed.
Review of new Canvas Ad microsite with video and 4 day itinerary that directs guests to Vail.com.
There is a second version with 4 features of Vail, rather than itinerary. Running 5/10 – 7/16. Review
of Instagram Stories: Targeted at destination teen with 8 second social content. Running 5/10 – 7/1.
Introduction of 2019 Summer Script Options – looking for board approval today so they can start on
asset capture this summer. See packet for scripts – “Over-Civilized” & “Rites of Passage”. Feedback:
Phil redirect to Cactus – what would you choose as our consultant? Discussion RE: key differences.
Over-Civilized focuses on the smaller moments, Rites of Passage is more bold, adventurous.
Important to embrace the spirit of whichever strategy is chosen. Discussion RE: asset collection.
Discussion RE: preferences of the advisory council. The Rites of Passage script seems like a bit of a
reach based on what Vail actually offers. Activities are interchangeable, but the theme is
challenge/achievement. Discussion RE: results of decision maker motivators – exploration is a big
motivator. Comparison to other “worldly” destinations may help break through the “sameness”.
Discussion RE: alternative options for Rites of Passage. Some familiar destinations, some unfamiliar.
Discussion RE: Rites of Passage may be too overboard. Discussion RE: Over Civilized lends itself to
more recognizably Vail assets. Discussion RE: which one complements “Watch Them Soar” spot for
2018? Over Civilized is too safe – might lend itself to fall messaging. Tighten up copy for Rites of
Passage, but we need to get outside the box.
Group is generally in favor of Rites of Passage, but needs to be aspirational, tighten up copy, big
focus on Vail imagery.
• Retail Plan Strategy (10 minutes) Cactus, Site
July still lagging in 2nd & 4th weeks, but up to -4% from -6%. Other resorts seeing the same lag, due to
how July 4th falls this year. Recommendation is to implement July lodging retail promotion. No
reallocation, just a shift in messaging. Suggested offer: buy 3 nights, get 1 free. Valid July 1 – 31, but
specific properties can narrow dates as needed. Gabe Shalley is meeting with American Airlines to
see if there is opportunity for air specials. Six lodging partners have signed on for the discount, VR
will remove Wed – Sun restriction. Overall, Central Reservations bookings are flat, but revenue is up
about $20k. Discussion RE: could the requirement just be Wednesday night? Discussion RE: why
July? We may be down YOY but will still be at 70% occupancy. Will discuss further at Lodging
Meeting. Discussion RE: What is a “good” rate of participation from lodging properties?
• Photo/Video Asset Plan Recommendation (10 minutes), Site
2019 Asset Acquisition – focused solely on families with teens. Will work within current production
budget ($91K). Will work with local talent rather than Denver – helps with costs, scheduling,
weather delays, etc. No vote needed since it’s within current budget. Next steps: finalize script in
order to narrow down assets. Formal plan will be presented at June meeting. Discussion RE:
motivators for switching to local talent? Denver talent seemed like it had worked very well. Primarily
budget driven. Scheduling is also a factor with kids out of school.
• Group Sales Update (5 minutes), Mia Vlaar & VVP
Discussion RE: more transparency on how Group Sales is going. New dashboard, with YOY stats. See
slides for details. Review of upcoming updates – see slides for details. Discussion RE: any new trends
to share with the group? Northern California is now on the radar – direct SFO flight and Jet Center
were very intriguing for them. Taking away the direct Houston summer flight didn’t have too much
impact but may in the future. Scottsdale/Flagstaff area is also starting to produce some good leads.
Discussion RE: KPIs are actual YOY (not calendar). The goal of the new dashboard is to provide detail
for those who want it, but really to tell the bigger story. Discussion RE: Can we split out room nights
in system to summer/winter. VVP focuses on Spring/Summer/Fall, not so much on winter, sot he
majority of room nights will be summer. Discussion RE: group booking window is getting shorter &
shorter, which affects forecasting. Can VVP report on leads that come in & are closed within 30 – 45
days? Can there be a report on the new lead generating services that we have invested in? Yes – will
report out quarterly, once there’s enough data.
• Website Update (5 minutes), Vail Resorts
Review of key milestones (Hannah Eflin) – see slides for details. Ahead of schedule for Epic
Discovery/Activities page – will now launch June 7th.
Email results – (Jessica Sweetin): April 2018 email results: not apples-to-apples YOY because content
is very different and more summer focused. Open rate is slightly down but sent more emails overall
(up 27%). Unsubscribe rate is down. Getting summer content out earlier than ever was a big win –
supports the push to market summer earlier. Discussion RE: how content for each email is
determined. Segmented by interest as well as target audiences. See slides for creative details.
Discussion RE: how does the council opt-in to get these emails? All very data driven, based on your
demographics and buying behavior. VR will send a package of all emails at the end of each month.
Review of email date changes & content (amount the same, dates shifted slightly – see slides for
details). Audience for incremental teen send was much larger than originally thought. Results have a
lag time because guests often refer back to them for booking for about 2 weeks.
• Other Business
NOTE: VLMDAC AUGUST MEETING NEW DATE & TIME (DUE TO COLORADO CLASSIC) THURSDAY,
AUGUST 23, 2 – 4PM, GRAND VIEW ROOM
• Adjournment
Motion/Second/Pass (Dave Chapin/Phil Metz/Unanimous)
• Upcoming Meetings:
o VLMDAC Meeting, June 21, 2018, 8:30 – 11:30AM, Grand View Room
o VLMDAC Meeting with Town Council, July 3, 2018 Council Chambers – time TBD