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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/01/2003, C6 - ISSUANCE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) FOR TOURISM ADVERTISING CONTRACTOR FOR COMMUNITY PROMOTIONS council °°° °m ► �3 j acEnba uEpoat °®N CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO FROM: Wendy George,ACAO Prepared By: Shelly Stanwyck,Economic Development Manager g' 111-1 SUBJECT: ISSUANCE OF REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS(RFP) FOR TOURISM ADVERTISING CONTRACTOR FOR COMMUNITY PROMOTIONS PROGRAM CAO RECOMMENDATION Approve the Promotional Coordinating Committee's (PCC) recommendation to issue a RFP for Tourism Advertising Services and return to Council with recommended advertising contractor and contract on September 2,2003. DISCUSSION Background Increasing the City's Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) is one of the major work programs included in the 2003-05 Financial Plan. The City's Community Promotions Program is a comprehensive program that includes the PCC's oversight of the development of a tourism advertising and promotional campaign. The City applies a diversified approach to this effort. In the past, the City has awarded four separate contracts focusing on providing visitors center services, public relations, direct advertising and regional advertising and public relations. Historically, the direct advertising contractor has been filled through the RFP process. Barnett, Cox and Associates is the current contractor and their term lasts until August 31, 2003. At the June 17, 2003, meeting, the PCC focused on the completion of three major tasks to establish the foundation for accomplishing the goals for the Community Promotions Program in 2003-05 (see attachment 1). First, the PCC approved a draft Tourism Marketing Plan 2003 (to be considered by Council at this same meeting). The draft Tourism Marketing Plan 2003 establishes the objectives for the City's potential contractors, including the direct advertising. Second, after reviewing and confirming the identified goals and objectives for marketing the City as a tourist destination, the PCC then discussed and determined how they propose to allocate the Community Promotions funds amongst the various contracts. Third, the PCC reviewed, and is recommending to Council that the attached Request for Proposals for Advertising Services be issued as presented. Summary of the Workscope The RFP lists the specific advertising services sought by the City. Implementing the goals and objectives of an adopted Tourism Marketing Plan is a critical function. In addition to the typical services sought of an advertising contractor, such as preparing and implementing an advertising Cie- ( campaign, the RFP requires the development of a focused image or tagline be developed as the City's Community Promotions "brand". This brand will help the City establish an identity separate from San Luis Obispo County as a whole. It also includes potentially working with an outside consultant on an advertising effectiveness or "conversion" study, and providing "fulfillment" of materials requested by potential visitors. Next Stens Once the RFP is issued, potential contractors will have several weeks to respond. The PCC will conduct interviews and make their selection on Wednesday, August 13, 2003. Staff anticipates Council will consider the PCC's recommended contractor for approval at its September 2, 2003 meeting. FISCAL IMPACT The proposed contract amount is $176,900 for 2003-04 and $182,196 for 2004-05. This represents a significant portion, but not all of the Community Promotions Budget for 2003-05 ($359,096 of $754,500). ALTERNATIVES Deny or defer the RFP. Council could choose to deny or defer the PLC's recommendation to issue this RFP. Staff does not recommend doing so at this time. It is expected that by continuing to contract with an advertising agency, the City will realize the benefits of significant revenues in the form of TOT. Without an advertising contractor, the City would most likely see further declines to a revenue source we are presently seeking to enhance. Attachments 1. Draft Promotional Coordinating Committee Meeting Minutes of June 17, 2003 2. Workscope from the RFP (the complete RFP is available in the Council Reading File) Electronic File Path:G:\projcm\pcdrfp for ad contractorhfp agenda report � -a DRAFT ATTACHMENT 1 PROMOTIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES June 17, 2003 Council Hearing Room, City Hall San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Bob Griffin called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. with the follow' g members present: George Newland, Diane Hunt Roberts, Louise Justice, Debby Nick[ , Cate Norton and Wilda Rosene. Betsy Kiser and Shelly Stanwyck served as staff. Als present were: Jonni Biaggini, Maggie Cox, Carrie Head, Dave Garth and Lindsay Miller. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT Robert Mueller of the Days Inn and Super 8 Motels expresse is unhappiness with the City's Community Promotions Program. He feels a different mod should be used and relationships should be developed between local hotels and the arts c munity. Mr. Mueller wants the Monterey Street Area to be promoted as a destination 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the regular meeting of May 1 , 2003, the special Grants-in-Aid meeting of May 28, 2003 and the special meeting of June , 2003 were approved as corrected (Hunt Roberts/Justice, unanimous). 4. GRANTS IN AID Betsy Kiser announced that t proposed GIA allocation for 2003-04 would go before Council on July 1, 2003. Betsy will ordinate with Bob Griffin and Diane Hunt Roberts on the presentation. Staff distributed the er from the San Luis Vintners and Growers withdrawing their request for funding of the bill ard. As a result of this letter, the item was pulled from the Council's Agenda that ni t. Committee members and staff discussed the impact of this request and how there w nothing that could be done to recover the GIA money that would now go back into the re rve funds and not carry over as an encumbered GIA fund. Com ee members and staff discussed the intent of the GIA Subcommittee to review the gra parameters and application in the overall context of the PCC and Council's goals. 5. DRAFT MARKETING TOURISM MARKETING PLAN Marketing Subcommittee Chair, Debby Nicklas thanked the subcommittee members and staff for the tremendous efforts expended in preparing the updated plan. Debby focused the committee's attention on the Plan's proposed six objectives (that came out of the PCC's Retreat). There was little discussion, as committee members approved of the content as a whole and decided to forward any typographic or grammatical corrections to staff for incorporation into the final draft. Ct� � 3 PCC Meeting Minutes of June 17,2003 ATTACHMENT 1 Page 2 Rosene moved and Newland seconded a motion to approve the draft 2003 Tourism Marketing Plan and forward it to Council for consideration and adoption. Unanimous. 6. PROPOSED COMMUNITY PROMOTIONS BUDGET ALLOCATION 2003-05 Debby Nicklas summarized the Marketing Subcommittee's recommendat' ns regarding Community Promotions Funding allocations for 2003-05 as follows: Year Advertisina Chamber Chamber NICB Contractor - public -Visito,-s Relations Centcr 2003-04 $176,900 $39,800 $794000 $68,000 2004-05 $182,196 $40,990 $$1,370 $70,040 ■ The Marketing Subcommittee recommends using t entire "cola" for 2003-04 as increased funding to the Advertising Contractor so that a bra d/tagline can be created immediately • The Marketing Subcommittee recommends th 15% of the Visitors Center allocation or $11,850 (of $79,000) in 2003-04 and $12,20 of $81,370) in 2004-05 be earmarked for the maintenance and improvement, both aesth ically and operationally to the visitslo website. ■ The Marketing Subcommittee recomme ds providing a "cola" increase in 2004-05 of 3% to the Chamber-PR, Chamber-Visitors C nter and VCB contracts and providing an increase to the Advertising Contractor to total n allocation of $182,196 in 2004-05. Justice made a motion to accept the arketing Subcommittee's recommendations as outlined in the memorandum. Nicklas seco ed. Unanimous. An ad hoc committee of Nicklas, Norton, and Newland will meet to review t e contracts for the allocations. 7. RFP FOR ADVERTISING CO RACTOR Shelly Stanwyck summa, i d the status of the RFP and clarified that the current ad contract term had expired, and no ore term extensions were allowed under the contract so a RFP is necessary. Nicklas moved and orton seconded a motion to approve the draft RFP and recommend to the Council issuance the RFP as presented. Unanimous. 8. REPORT ON ARKETING Maggie Co layed two of the different radio interviews featuring our own Bob Griffin and Dave Garth tha an last month in LA and the Bay Area. The big hit of the current ad campaign was the Ad il, an electronic mailing to 50,000 names through the LATimes.com site. We ran out of car after the first day!!!!!!! Over 2,400 packets were mailed out in the past two weeks. The ay Area had very good response to our radio and print ads. The new medium, electronic Cu -4 ATTACHMENT 2 DESCRIPTION OF WORK The City of San Luis Obispo has traditionally conducted an advertising campaign to promote San Luis Obispo as a visitor destination to enhance the economic well being of City residents and businesses. The primary purpose of the campaign is to encourage overnight travel to San Luis Obispo from other parts of California. The promotional efforts are coordinated by the Promotional Coordinating Committee (PCC), a seven-member advisory body to the City Council. In addition to the advertising campaign, the City currently contracts with the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce for visitor services and additional non-advertising promotional and public relations services. The City also contributes to the San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau for promotion through countywide cooperative initiatives. Coordination with these programs will be essential for a successful campaign. The City has found that the public interest and welfare will be best served by the solicitation of marketing services to conduct a comprehensive campaign that includes direct advertising to target California markets, as well as alternative advertising methods, and which provides a means to clearly evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign. For the purposes of this proposal, the budget for direct advertising and marketing services is considered to be $176,900 in 2003-04 and $182,196 in 2004-05 This proposed budget includes funding for a high quality promotional document, currently the Chamber of Commerce Visitors Guide, to be used as part of the City's advertising "fulfillment" package, as well as the cost of "fulfillment" services required to respond to advertising requests. $12ei&S ry rec 1. Implementing the goals and objectives outlined in the City's 2003 Tourism Marketing Plan. 2. Planning, preparing and implementing an advertising campaign, on the City's behalf, subject to PCC recommendation and City Council approval. 3. By the end of 2003 develop a focused image or tagline that can be used as the City's Community Promotions Brand. 4. Providing account services such as, but not limited to, ad concept, design and production, media buys and placement, account budget and additional services as needed. Prepare and provide status reports on the account budget including standing to date during monthly reports. Also, checking, paying invoices and accounting for all such activity conducted on the City's behalf in any media. Agencies should indicate whether they intend to collect a flat fee or accept a commission. If collecting a fee, agencies are required to dedicate the commission amount to the purchase of additional advertising. 5. Potentially working with an outside consultant hired by the City to perform a "conversion study" to determine the effectiveness of the City's advertising program. 6. Establishing and maintaining an effective working relationship with the PCC. Liaison between the PCC and Contractor will be through the PCC Marketing Subcommittee. Scheduled meetings will normally be on a monthly basis with the PCC Marketing Subcommittee and Contractor to provide input, refine, and adjust campaign objectives as recommended by the PCC and any Marketing Plans for Community Promotions as adopted 3 SLP -S I by Council. _ ATTACHMENT 2 7. Providing the PCC with timely, written monthly reports, one week prior to the regular meeting, on the status of all aspects of the advertising campaign. Attending monthly PCC meetings to discuss campaign activities. 8. Planning and commissioning any research activity that the PCC or City Council may require, including suggestions for and methods of continuing evaluation of the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. 9. Coordinating activities of the advertising campaign and use of the Community Promotions Brand with services provided by the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce and the San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau. Establishing effective working relationships with staff of the organizations referenced above, and other City bodies, to achieve coordinated and efficient use of all available resources, avoiding a duplication of efforts. 10. Providing advertising "fulfillment" services in response to requests for material arising out of the City's advertising program. At the discretion of the proposer, advertising "fulfillment" may be subcontracted to another party such as a "fulfillment house" or the Chamber of Commerce. EACH PR OSAL PACKAGE MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS AND INFO TION TO BE CONSIDERED FOR SELECTION: 1. Statement o e proposed workscope. The workscope should: • Cover two fis years (September,2003, through June, 2005). • Summarize imple ntation of Tourism Marketing Plan. • Summarize the approac to developing a Community Promotions Brand. • State the general approach 'losophy) toward, advertising the City as a leisure and business travel destination. • State the general strategies for achi 'ng the above approach (i.e., include a proposed schedule of media placement and other tivities) • Include a budget for an advertising paign, Community Promotions Brand development, and a fee schedule for services to a provided. • Identify the agency program manager and key pers el responsible for the campaign, such as copy and design/production personnel, and an ubcontractors. 2. Resume of professional experience and samples of previous wo (presentation of portfolio, including work for existing clients and evidence of strategic thi 'ng and problem solving ability will be requested of those proposers who are selected interviews). These materials will become the property of the City of San Luis Obispo. 4 Ccs -� .