City Advertising and Promotion commissioners received an update from Paradise Marketing at the CAPC’s June 30 regular meeting. The meeting had originally been scheduled for June 23 but was postponed and this was the first meeting with the return of Greg Moon on the commission.
A representative of Paradise Marketing, Rudy Webb, phoned in through Zoom to show the marketing plan Paradise had in mind for Eureka Springs from July through December and was divided into regional and “out of market” plans.
$50,000 is the media budget for the regional plan with the goal to target a younger audience made of Gen X and millennials. The representative clarified that did not mean Paradise would forgo other demographics, but their plan kept a younger audience strongly in mind.
Paradise’s regional marketing plan was split with 32 percent or $12,534 to digital advertisement, 35 percent or $17,518 to radio, and 33 percent or $19,948 to print. Webb also said that they would look for partnership marketing to help drive visitors. This would mean Paradise paying to have a regional personality who has visited Eureka Springs to speak positively of their experience.
At nearly triple the budget with $139,693.75, the “out of market” plan is meant for areas within a 6 – 8 hour driving radius, excluding the radius of the regional plan. Webb said they would use “conquest marketing” to increase visibility online which meant that if an individual searched for similar destinations, they would receive ads to Eureka Springs as well.
The media budget was divided with 13 percent or 18,400 dedicated to “evergreen” content which means the advertisements would always be relevant rather than specific to seasons or fads, 68 percent or $94,300 to digital advertising, seven percent or $9,789.66 to print, and 12 percent or $17,204.09 to digital fees. These expenditures continue the trend since the start of the 2020 pandemic of the CAPC spending more than previous years on marketing through Paradise, rather than in-house as these plans were approved unanimously through the commission.
Commissioner Moon asked Webb how Eureka Springs compared to other destinations and Webb said that according to data of other Paradise markets, Eureka Springs had bounced back quickly.
Re-vote bonanza
Commissioners revoted on all items from the May 26 meeting. In a phone call to Chair Jeff Carter, he would not say whether this was because previous commissioner Patrick Burnett’s votes were considered invalid with Greg Moon retaking his seat on the commission through court order. He pointed to the Municipal League to answer any questions regarding the lawsuit still pending through the District Court against various CAPC commissioners and a member of the Municipal League did not respond by press time.
Items revoted on include:
- April 2021 Budget – Commissioner Melissa Greene first, commissioner Carol Wright second, passed unanimous.
- $25,000 for Festival of the Arts in November – Greene first, Wright second, passed with Moon voting ‘No.’
- $25,000 to Music in the Park events – Passed unanimously.
- $40,000 Folk Festival budget – Passed unanimously.
- Drumming in the Park – Passed unanimously.
- $7,500 for Fourth of July fireworks with Parks paying the other $7,500 – Passed unanimously.
- $10,000 for Mardi Gras which would come from Special Events budget – Greene first, commissioner Harry Meyer second, passed unanimously.
- Reimbursing intern Molly Horton 57.5 cents per mile to drive from Branson to Eureka Springs for work – Passed unanimously.
- $7,200 to help assist the Eureka Springs Historical Museum – Passed unanimously.
- Approval of social media and website line items in the budget – Moon questioned why the CAPC didn’t have someone locally working on the website. Paradise Marketing has a $125 minimum charge and hourly rate for website changes and Moon said that someone local could do it at $15 an hour. Finance Director Rick Bright explained that website and social media control was contracted with Paradise and that without breaking or requesting they change the contract, that this would last until the end of the year. The item passed with Moon voting ‘No.’
Other Items
- Former mayor Beau Satori questioned in Public Comments if commissioners were scrutinizing invoices from Paradise Marketing, citing high costs for seemingly small changes to the CAPC website and said that he would like to see Jeff Carter’s term as Chair expire.
- Jeff Carter was revoted in as Chair with Moon and Bobbie Foster voting ‘No’ and Carter being his own fourth ‘Yes’ vote. Commissioner James DeVito was not in attendance.
- Commissioners motioned to form a committee to create a job description for the Auditorium Director.
- Molly Horton updated commissioners on Music in the Park which would start with Fourth of July celebrations. Music in the Park will last weekly through Sept. 17 with music on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday each week.
- Commissioners agreed to allow Nancy Paddock to organize the Folk Festival activities with a promoter fee of $5,000.
- Commissioners agreed to hold a workshop on July 8 to discuss the Auditorium and cleaning and maintenance needs. That meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Auditorium.
- Commissioners did not approve the April 28 regular meeting minutes with Foster, Moon, and Carter all abstaining citing that they had not been there for the meeting.
- The May 2021 budget was approved.
- Commissioners will begin interviews of a new Tourism Director soon with Carter wanting to bring the two candidates to Eureka Springs in the next few weeks.