Indiana Tourism Development Looking For A Public Relations Agency
The Indiana Office of Tourism Development (IOTD) is looking to hire a public relations firm and top notch marketing company. They seek an agency to perpetuate the “Honest-to-Goodness” Indiana brand identity, attract more leisure travelers to Indiana destinations and increases travel- related revenue.
The organization is dedicated to enhancing the economic vitality of Indiana through leadership and resource support to the allied travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Its ambition is for Indiana to be a leading regional destination with growth annually exceeding that of adjacent states and ultimately making it competitive on a national and global scale. Tourism is Indiana’s sixth largest industry, employing 192,000 workers, generating $10.7B in consumer spending and attracting 73M visitors to Indiana destinations. Visitor spending in 2014 grew 3.3%, the largest rate of growth since 2008.
The Indiana brand experience is dynamic and diverse, characterized by assets and destinations that represent Indiana’s capacity for the following:
- Outdoor recreation and sport tourism
- Arts and cultural tourism
- Culinary and agritourism
- Heritage tourism
The chosen agency will develop seasonal and annual marketing strategies, creative campaigns and media work-product that combines paid advertising, public relations, promotion, owned assets, and social media to elevate Indiana’s destination qualities, attract visitors and increase traveler spending.
Messaging will target multiple audiences with whom IOTD communicates that include consumers in Indiana and surrounding states, trade, media and tourism organizations, business leaders and elected officials. To reach these audiences, IOTD engages in consumer-facing marketing campaigns, tourism research, sponsorships and destination development activities.
As the representative voice of travel, tourism and hospitality in Indiana, IOTD seeks the support of an integrated marketing communication agency to:
- Develop and employ direct-to-consumer marketing strategies through multiple media, audience segmentation, campaign targeting and pre/post data analysis to measure effectiveness
- Design and produce broadcast, out-of-home, print and digital asset
- Develop and implement digital advertising strategy
- Utilize marketing automation solutions for email and social media
- Develop sales and customer service materials, PR promotional tools and tradeshow assets
The vendor may also be required to subcontract for the following services:
- Printing
- Broadcast and print production services
- Photography and videography
- Copywriting
- Research
- Collateral fulfillment and postage
- Public relations support
- Data entry and management
- Product/customer database
- Publications and website production
- Advertising sales and content portal
- Media coordination services for special programs
- Other various consultants
IOTD spends approximately $2M annually on marketing communication services.
Proposals are due by April 7, 2016 to:
Indiana Department of Administration
Procurement Division
402 West Washington Street, Room W468
Indianapolis, IN 46204
PR firms with Indiana experience include Zeno Group, Porter Novelli (who was fired by the State), and Ketchum PR.
