Mississippi Issues Marketing RFP

The Hancock Chamber of Commerce in Mississippi is seeking an experienced company to create, develop, produce, and execute marketing tools for the Hancock County Board of Supervisors.

As current marketing goals, the Hancock County Board of Supervisors desires to:

• Utilize tools to better inform stakeholders, citizens, business owners, new residents and visitors about its various departments, actions of the county supervisors, and projects, programs, and activities;
• Position itself as a leading county in the region for primary and secondary home sales and visitation;
• Increase the marketing capacity of its properties, amenities and services to residents, visitors, the community, and business prospects;
• Continue to change its perception to new residents and visitors;

The Hancock County Board of Supervisors works in partnership with numerous agencies and organizations across a spectrum of interests and activities and regards effective marketing as an essential, foundational requirement for success. Marketing messages should be frequent, consistent, clear and professional. Marketing tools should be focused on generating exposure and information through a variety of sources that maximize targeted coverage and response.

The Hancock Chamber partners with the Hancock County Board of Supervisors by focusing on small businesses, retail sectors, economic development, relocation, and quality of life opportunities – all essential elements to support Hancock County’s marketing efforts. To support the County’s efforts, the Chamber recently launched three new marketing campaigns: Through the Hancock Chamber, Your Business Just Got Better. When you take the award-winning Hancock County Scenic Byways, Your View Just Got Better; and, when you move to Hancock County; Life Just Got Better.

Each campaign features a dedicated website, social media sites, and printed collateral materials:

The hancockMSMyhome.com site highlights the many positive attributes of living in Hancock County from affordable cost of living to high-performing schools. It includes testimonials from actual full-time residents and vacation home owners about what they love about living in Hancock County.

The gulfcoastscenicbyways.com site showcases Hancock County’s two scenic byways designations — the Byways to Space trail network and the Beach Boulevard Byway. These scenic byways feature captivating coastlines, winding rivers, pristine marshland teeming with wildlife, scenic bayous, peaceful pine forests, magnificent beaches, and tranquil trails lined with majestic live oaks. Hundreds of historic homes, heritage sites and landmarks add to the ambiance, attracting residents and visitors from across the country.

The hancockchamber.org site is the leadership hub, bringing together business, civic and government leaders, working toward common goals.

The Chamber team has the experience in branding, logo development, the production of websites and videos, collateral printed materials, and social media sites. The Hancock County Board of Supervisors is partnering with the Chamber to apply this experience to the continued success of Hancock County.

The selected firm will have extensive experience in creating government and private sector marketing tools similar to those listed below. The selected firm will research, strategize, create, design, develop, provide, and implement all required services to complete the following:

LOGO, BRAND IDENTITY, AND TAGLINE

• It is important that any marketing strategy for the County starts by creating an identifiable brand and tagline for the Hancock County Board of Supervisors and its properties, amenities and services.
• Three or four focus group sessions will be required to gather input and feedback from target stakeholders, businesses and residents to be best identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• The brand should be regionally recognized and meaningful to targeted markets.
• An iconic logo should be developed that captures the qualities, capabilities, and amenities of Hancock County.

WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT

• The Hancock County Board of Supervisors will launch a new website that is easy to maintain, navigate and access. The website should clearly and professionally showcase the capabilities, amenities, resources, projects, and activities of the County.
• It should include new photography (provided by the Hancock Chamber and other sources), fresh copywriting and content, current cutting edge videos, and relevant blogs.
• A new vanity URL that incorporates the new tagline may also be secured or the current www.hancockcounty.ms.gov may be used.
• A new Content Management System will be necessary.
• Secondary “hidden” redirect sites may also be secured to increase visitation.

The website system must achieve the following goals:

• Content -. Some existing content can be updated but new photography (provided) and fresh copywriting will be required.
• Design site layouts – Develop the hypertext structure and organizing the content for ease of use.
• Cohesive graphics. Design a cohesive graphics design (visual theme, color scheme, etc.)
• Promotional materials. Create promotional materials (logos, color schemes) to create the site’s graphical design.
• Navigational tools. Design the navigational tools-buttons, menu bars, icons etc.
• High bandwidth. Solution must have capacity of handling video applications and graphics for multiple accesses to the public.
• Hosted Facility. Facility must offer the highest level of redundancy in servers and back-up power.
• On-site services. Create various on-site services and features to include built-in search features, site maps and current online payment systems.
• Tracking. Implement tracking software to produce user defined site log reports.
• SEO. An aggressive targeted “natural” or unpaid (“organic”) SEO for the new website with terms and phrases (keywords) that generate traffic, increases hits through the site, and markets the unique value of the organizations will be included for 120 days after the initial site launch.

SOCIAL MEDIA SITES

• Social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) shall be secured with relevant content and video and staff shall be trained to consistently maintain engagement with prospects, businesses, stakeholders, the media, residents, and the community at large.

Proposal due on AUGUST 15, 2016:

Linda McCarthy
Hancock Chamber of Commerce
100 South Beach Blvd., Suite A
Bay St. Louis, MS 39520