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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.1 Branding&PromoPlansForFood-wine-artti 1!/'~~~~~ AGENDA STATEMENT `~ ~ ~ PARKS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION ~~i~FOR~ MEETING DATE: March 12, 2012 SUBJECT: Branding and Promotions Plan for the New Food, Wine and Art Event Report by Paul McCreary, Parks and Community Services Director ATTACHMENTS: 1. splatter...not your ordinary food, wine & art festival (full logo graphic) 2. splatter...not your ordinary food, wine & art festival (logo variation for marketing collateral, i.e. web banner ad, T-shirt design) 3. Dublin CRUSH...what's not to love? (full logo graphic) RECOMMENDATION: Receive the report and recommend to the City Council the preferred event logo. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Funding has been proposed for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2012-2013 budget to implement the proposed plan with a net cost of $70,000 in the first year. This does not include the costs for Police, Fire or Public Works to provide support services for the event. Also not included are the one-time costs associated with the incorporation of the 30~' Anniversary Celebration fireworks show and main-stage headliner. DESCRIPTION: The City of Dublin is planning to launch a new food, wine and art festival to be held on September 22, 2012 at Emerald Glen Park. This event is being planned as a one day event attracting both a local and regional audience. In November 2011, City Council approved, in concept, an innovative spin on a food, wine and art festival. In addition to showcasing outstanding Tri-Valley wines, the diverse cuisine of Dublin and the region, and art and music in the beautiful outdoor setting of Emerald Glen Park, this event also proposed cutting edge activities representative of the primary aspects of the event. This proposed new event concept captures the excitement of the food entertainment industry with the inclusion of culinary performance stages and mobile food trucks as featured attractions. The event also captures the growing popularity and resurgence of Farmer's Markets and organic foods, and regional food-centric sensibilities such as, Alice Waters' "Slow Food" movement. Also part of this event concept is art as entertainment, with the creation of large-scale artworks on-site during the event. COPIES TO: ITEM NO.: 8.1 G:\PARKS COMMISSION\AGNDSTMT\2012\3-12 Item 8.1 Branding and Promotions Plan for New Food, Wine and Art Festival.doc This festival will take a novel approach to food, wine and art by presenting experiences where the processes of culinary and fine arts are the entertainment. The event will include more than a culinary and arts marketplace and staged musical performance. The event includes as its focal point staged culinary entertainment and artwork built on site for the audience to enjoy, and in some cases, participate in. This is something that is not happening on any sort of a regular basis in the Bay Area, and will be unique to Dublin. Suffice to say, this will not be your ordinary food, wine and art festival. This report provides an overview of the proposed promotions plan and provides several options for the new event identity. TARGET AUDIENCE The target demographic for this event is rather inclusive in terms of age range. But the event experience and the financial model for the event take into consideration attendance by customers who can participate in the fee-based food and wine sampling. The current City of Dublin Demographic Snapshot Report indicates that nearly 63% of the city population includes young adults through active seniors (24 to 64 years of age). Of this adult group, nearly 59% are between 25 - 44 years of age. This is also the fastest growing population demographic, based on a Parks and Community Services Strategic Plan and largely representative of the eastward development of the City. What is also known about this population segment is that they pursue active leisure and cultural activities and use internet-based technology to research their choices. As Dublin grows, festival and event programs provide a uniquely positive opportunity for new residents to engage in their community. Events also provide an opportunity to bridge the gap between existing and new residents. In order to retain the interest of the target audience, and from the standpoint of event longevity, it is important that the event be relevant from year to year. The ability to retool and reinvent an event and its logo from year to year is a tested mesthod of keeping events fresh and exciting to participants. The intention of the overall marketing plan is to also attract more of the active adult community to the event from the Bay Area and San Joaquin Valley regions. EVENT BRANDING PLAN The branding plan for this event is composed of three elements: the brand message, the logo or graphic identity, and the marketing strategy. The Brand The Message. Advertising mogul David Ogilvy defines a brand as, "the intangible sum of a product's attributes: its name, packaging, and price -its history, its reputation, and the way it is advertised. The intangible sum is the perception people have of a product. It's a combination of the visual, auditory and other sensory components that create recognition and memorability of a product or service. The brand doesn't tell you what a product is as much as prepare you for what you will experience. The brand is representative of who we acre and what we can offer. The brand conveys this idea in methods that make the customer choose Dublin's festival over the abundance of other festivals that one can select to attend on any given weekend. 2 of 5 So what are Dublin's attributes as it relates to this particular festival product the City should sell? • Dublin is a community ideally located in the Tri-Valley wine region. • Dublin is also in an area that, from an arts standpoint, is exceptional. Dublin is known for its world- class public art collection. The element of art is an authentic part of Dublin's progressive cultural identity. • Dublin is a community with a significant market segment that seeks active experiences as evidenced by the 2008 Parks and Community Services Strategic Plan. • Dublin is a community that already has the reputation for producing one of the largest themed festivals, the St. Patrick's Day Celebration, in a manner that sets the City apart from others in terms of event production. As Staff began to construct what this event will look like, it became clear that there are many progressive elements that will set this festival apart from the many food, wine and art festivals that take place regionally. The new event promises to be progressive, edgy and to have a "wow factor" by activating aspects of the elements of food, art and wine rather than creating a passive event experience. This is not a conventional event production. So as Staff further developed the concept for this event design, a guiding concept was to make a statement that this event is truly unique to Dublin and cannot be found elsewhere. In creating the Festival brand, Staff is intentional about conveying one consistent concept that all elements will relate back to. "This is not your ordinary food, wine and art festival." The Event Logo The logo is a key component of the brand. In general, a successful brand is memorable and aesthetically pleasing. It has a breakthrough quality, that is, it stands out in the midst of other logos. It evokes positive emotions and is an impetus for inquiry, curiosity, and discovery. As with most things creative, there is no "correct" answer. So the selection of a logo is somewhat of a multiple choice where no one answer is better than the others. It's just different. While both of these logos have in common a playfulness and unconventional graphic for a food, wine and art event, they offer two different approaches to logo development. The question is: which one best articulates that this is not your ordinary food, wine and art festival? • splatter...not your ordinary food, wine and art festival. The first option (Attachment 1 and 2) is the most dynamic and enduring option, and Staff's recommendation for the preferred logo. Splatter is common to all three elements of the event. Food splatters. Wine splatters. Art and paint splatters. Splatter is connotative of fun. And yet the presentation has a stylized urban edge to it. It is evocative of the environment the event-goer will encounter. Least conventional, it allows the consumer to write the story. It sells the expressive nature of all elements as art. It also has a more provocative first impression. It creates more immediate curiosity about the event. In non-measured field testing of these two event logos, "splatter" was well received among the target audience of 25 to 44 year olds. The comments were that it seemed "urban," "forward," and made the viewer curious about what they might find at the event. • Dublin CRUSH...what's not to love? The second option (Attachment 3) is intended to create an emotional connection with what one might encounter at the festival. Food, wine and art are all indulgences that people crave and "love." Love is synonymous with crush. There is also an added subtext of community pride. It's a Dublin crush...a crush on Dublin. The logo is a direct appropriation of the City shamrock brand. The shamrock is broken into three hearts, each one celebrating a focus 3 of 5 area of the festival. So the "crush" can be a love of place, my place, my town as well as love of the three indulgences celebrated at this festival. The preferred logo alternative will become the unique identity of the celebration and will remain a constant in promotional materials from year to year. This logo will be on all promotional materials such as the website, cable television ads, newspaper and magazine ads, e-newsletters, press releases, flyers and the poster. It will also be on event signs, decorations, nametags, staff shirts, etc. ADVERTISING. CALLING ATTENTION TO THE NEW BRAND Since there is a generational distribution in trends of where the various population segments find their entertainment and leisure information, the marketing and advertising plan includes a broad variety of outlets. Cross Promotions. This is an event that can gain momentum with pre-event promotions in partnership with the local restaurant and hotel communities. Promotional opportunities will be developed with the intent to include in the festival those restaurants who actually cannot physically participate at the event. Also, we have already had preliminary discussions with the Convention and Visitors Bureau to create on- line competitions for destination packages that include a stay in Dublin and promotional package for the festival. Radio Advertising. Radio advertising will be primarily on KKIQ in the Tri-Valley. Staff is exploring opportunities to expand radio advertising given the volume of commuter traffic in the Tri-Valley and Bay Areas. On air PSA's will be crafted to play with the selected event name. Electronic Promotions and Social Media. Our target demographic uses the Internet to search for event options. Therefore in addition to creating an official event webpage and electronic promotions in online event calendars, a Facebook page 'is proposed. We will also look for synergies with online travel and leisure sites. Television Advertising. We have already secured NBC-11 as a major. media sponsor. We also will also explore partnerships Comcast. Print Media. Press releases will lie widely distributed to publish human interest stories and calendar listings in newspapers, magazines and other specialized publications such as Via, Diablo, Sunset and Bay Area Parent Magazines. Staff is exploring additional opportunities to place ads in travel sections of regional print media, such as San Francisco Gate and Sacramento Bee. Festival a Newsletters. An event e-newsletter will be distributed featuring human interest stories and event highlights. Distribution will target groups and organizations that will likely share the newsletter with their members, such as businE;ss and tourism organizations, neighborhood groups and homeowner associations, educational institutions and organizations, non-profit organizations. The newsletters will also be emailed to over 12,000 households registered on the DublinRecGuide.com website. Other Promotional Resources. Staff will use all of the traditional promotional resources available such as the website, electronic reader boards, displays and flyers at City facilities, and mailings to businesses and residents. Promotional materials will also be distributed to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and the Tri-Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau. 4of5 RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Parks and Community Services Commission Receive the report and recommend to the City Council Receive the preferred event logo. 5 of 5 • •~ r t: ~,.. r ` !• ~ ~ .• t .'~~ ~' .;. .:.. ~.~ o ~) ~-, . ,.~ . ,. ~`~ ~~ ~o i ~; - ~ ~ ;,~ ~ ~t •~ rf ~~ ~, , ,~ e ~ ~ 1 ~„ .~ ~ ~.'~~ /, ~ ,_,,~ ~~,~ - ~, /fir ~. ATTACHMENT 1 .~ - ..5 . _ `_ O_ . * _ , . . ~~:,= ,. ~~•:;" ~~ H H n x z H • • ~. I ~~ ' • . :. ~- j ~`v. ~ . - : ~' ~• :. ~ :. .~ r~ i. "S ~~ ~ . ~. O .; ~~ ~ • ; AA ~ , ~• N ATTACHMENT 3