CA Review CKM
Meeting Date: Jan. 18, 2022
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Scott Chadwick, City Manager
Staff Contact: David Graham, Chief Innovation Officer
[email protected], 760-434-5992
Matt Sanford, Economic Development Manager
[email protected], 760-607-2923
Subject: Report from Visit Carlsbad on the Carlsbad is Calling Campaign
Districts: All
Recommended Action
Receive a report from Visit Carlsbad on the 2020/2021 Carlsbad is Calling campaign.
Executive Summary
The Carlsbad is Calling campaign, funded by the City Council as part of the early response to the COVID-19 crisis, was brought about in partnership with the City of Carlsbad Innovation & Economic Development Department, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, the Carlsbad Village Association, and Visit Carlsbad – the destination marketing organization for the city. The City Council allocated a total of $250,000 from the Economic Recovery and Revitalization Initiative funds toward economic recovery messaging in the tourism and hospitality sector. The funds were used to market and promote Carlsbad as a safe destination and to stimulate the return of tourism business to Carlsbad.
Discussion
Visit Carlsbad conducted the “Carlsbad is Calling” campaign from mid-September 2020 through June of 2021. In addition to the city funds committed to the campaign and tourism promotion, Visit Carlsbad allocated an additional $150,000 towards the campaign and other forms of advertising, including the creation of campaign content, pay-per-click funding, broadcast sponsorship, email sponsored campaigns and other tourism marketing efforts. The campaign was briefly put on hiatus from December 2020-January 2021 due to a surge in COVID cases that triggered additional state and county restrictions. City funds were leveraged together with Visit Carlsbad resources to execute campaign integrated marketing that included search engine marketing, desktop and mobile video, broadcast television, in-home connected TV, advertising retargeting based on traveler intent data, social media ads, digital radio spots, and dynamically targeted online banner ads.
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After the campaign concluded, Visit Carlsbad used a third-party evaluation firm to perform a marketing effectiveness study (Exhibit 1) that measured the results of the campaign, with outreach to the key destination markets where the media ran. The results showed the campaign was responsible for reaching 2.41 million households and brought 52,100 incremental trips to Carlsbad, providing a total of $35.1 million in incremental revenue to the city. Analysis by Visit Carlsbad determined that for every dollar spent on the Carlsbad is Calling campaign, $124 was returned to the local economy. Additionally, hotel occupancy increased
17.3% year-over-year between 2020 and 2021, with average daily rates also up 45%. Revenue per available room, a metric used in the hospitality industry to measure hotel performance, increased 70% year-over-year. This measure is calculated by dividing a hotel’s total room revenue by the total number of available rooms in the period being measured.
By all measures, the campaign was successful at bringing travelers to Carlsbad, marketing the destination as a safe place for family vacations during the pandemic and generating revenue not just for hotels but for other visitor-serving businesses, which had also been significantly impacted by the pandemic and the resulting public health orders. (All indicators for 2019 had shown a significant drop in tourism and hospitality revenue, threatening the viability of businesses in those industries.)
After the conclusion of the campaign, as COVID-19 case rates fell dramatically in the summer of 2021, Carlsbad tourism rebounded to levels higher than the seasonal average. However, due to increased case rates and concerns over new variants, the tourism industry in Carlsbad continues to experience pandemic-related challenges.
Fiscal Analysis
This is an informational item with no fiscal impact.
Next Steps
Staff will continue to work in collaboration with Visit Carlsbad to determine ways to support hospitality and tourism.
Environmental Evaluation
This informational report does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act under California Public Resources Code Section 21065 in that it has no potential to cause either a direct physical change in the environment or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
Public Notification
This item was noticed in keeping with the Ralph M. Brown Act and it was available for public viewing and review at least 72 hours before the scheduled meeting date.
Exhibits
1. Report – Visit Carlsbad 2021 Marketing & Media Effectiveness Research Jan. 18, 2022
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1 2021 Marketing & Media Effectiveness Research
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Exhibit 1
2 Marketing Efficiency
Incremental Impact
Advertising Evaluation
Traveler Profile
Project Overview
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3 Executive
Summary
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Marketing Efficiency
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Incremental Impact
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Return on Investment
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Advertising Evaluation
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8 Visit Carlsbad’s 2021 campaign
generated awareness in more
than half of the target market
households—translating to a
market reach of 2.4M traveler
households.
Visit Carlsbad 2021 Campaign
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) Summary
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9 Marketing
Efficiency
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10 Marketing Efficiency
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11 More than 70% of travelers in the target market have been exposed to some form of travel advertising.
Travel Ad Awareness
San Diego, CA
Palm Springs, CA
Santa Barbara, CA
Newport Beach, CA
Carlsbad, CA
Assisted Ad Awareness*
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12More than half of travelers saw a paid Carlsbad advertisement, with Display Banners and Video ads achieving the highest levels of aided recall.
Aided Ad Awareness*
Aided Ad Awareness by Medium
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13 Market Reach
Overall, the Carlsbad campaign
reached 2.4M Travel Households—
driven in large part by the LA
DMA.
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14 Media Expenditures
The Carlsbad campaign had a total
budget of just over $282,000, with
$255,000 going directly toward
consumer-facing ads.
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15 Marketing Efficiency
The Carlsbad campaign was
extremely efficient at a cost of just
$0.11-$0.12 per household.
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16 Incremental
Impact
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17 Incremental Impact
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18 The Carlsbad campaign generated incremental visitation in all three advertised markets.
Carlsbad Conversion Rates by Ad Awareness in 2021
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19 Incremental Visitation
Without the marketing efforts of
Visit Carlsbad, there would have
been 52,000 fewer visits to the
area since September 2020.
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20 Incremental Revenue
Party spending averaged $674 on
each of those incremental visits to
the area—providing for
incremental revenue of $35.1M for
the Carlsbad area.
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21 Return on Investment
With an investment of just over
$280k, the total return on the
marketing investment was $124 for
every dollar spent.
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22 Incremental Room Nights
The 2021 Campaign generated 22.5k
incremental room nights from those staying
overnight in Carlsbad at a Hotel, Motel,
B&B, Inn, Condo, Cabin, Cottage, Vacation
Rental, Campground, RV Park, Resort, or
Airbnb that would not have occurred
otherwise.
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23 Advertising
Evaluation
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24 There was a significant increase in the appeal of Carlsbad’s ads in 2021—driven by higher income families with children.
% Top 2 Box Appeal of Ads
% Top 2 Box Appeal by Consumer Segment
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25 The 2021 ads performed even better making Carlsbad more appealing to travelers—especially 35-54 year olds.
% Ads Make Carlsbad Seem
More/Much More Appealing
% Makes Carlsbad More Appealing by
Consumer Segment
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26 The increases in awareness and impact of the campaign is likely due to the significant increases in relevance of the ads among targeted travelers.
% Ads are Somewhat/Very Relevant
% Top 2 Box Relevance by Consumer Segment
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27 Travelers across all segments agreed that the ads fit very well with the Carlsbad brand. Families with children were especially impressed with the brand fit this year.
% Ads Fit Somewhat/Very Well
with Carlsbad Brand
% Top 2 Box Brand Fit by Consumer Segment
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28 Differentiation scores saw the most significant increases over the 2019 campaign which likely impacted the high relevance for consumers.
% Ads are Somewhat/Very
Differentiated
% Top 2 Box Differentiation by Consumer
Segment
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29 Travelers were also significantly better able to identify the ads as being for Carlsbad—especially families with children.
% Pretty/Very Easily Identify
Carlsbad w/ Logo Removed
% Top 2 Box Identification by Consumer
Segment
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30Travelers still agree that the ads make Carlsbad look like a great getaway and are more likely than ever to want to get more information about the area after seeing the ads.
% Agree/Strongly Agree with the Following Statements
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31 Travelers were significantly more likely to take actions such as searching for information and booking a trip after seeing the 2021 ads – compared to their actions in 2019.
After Seeing These Ads Travelers Probably/Definitely Would… Jan. 18, 2022
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32Post-ad exposure intent to visit Carlsbad increased by 12 points, with intent to visit in the future highest among San Diego residents.
Lift in Intent to Visit After Seeing Ads
Intent to Visit Carlsbad in the Next
12 Months
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33 Traveler
Profile
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34 Carlsbad and Santa Barbara were the only two destinations to see an increase in visitation over the past 3 years.
Destinations Visited in the Past 3 Years
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35 Even before seeing advertisements for the area, travelers were significantly more likely to indicate they planned to visit Carlsbad in the next 12 months than they were in 2019.
% Probably/Definitely Will Visit Destinations in the Next 12 Months Jan. 18, 2022
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36 Area Activity Participation
Dining at local restaurants is by far
the favorite activity to participate
in when visiting Carlsbad. This is
followed by Carlsbad Village and
Boutique Shopping.
28% | 21%
22% | 16%
18% | 13%
Functional Drivers of Visitation
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37 Overnight visitation increased significantly since 2019, as did the number of nights in the area.
Overnight Visitation
Nights in the Area
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38 Travelers staying overnight were much more likely to choose outlying areas like Oceanside or San Marcos instead of Carlsbad this year.
City/Area Spent the Night In
Overnight Accommodations
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39Not only has Carlsbad increased visitation to the area it has also continued to deliver on the expected experience. Recent visitors are more likely than ever to recommend the area to family/friends. 42%
Net Promoter Score
48%
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40 Carlsbad’s current Brand Advocates are slightly older than those most impacted by the ads this year—indicating that Carlsbad’s future visitor may begin to look different if this trend holds.
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41 GET IN TOUCH
WITH US
GET IN TOUCH
WITH US
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