This RFQ has been issued to seek qualified firms who have a working knowledge of the tourism industry and can demonstrate the necessary experience to produce messaging and ad design and provide placement strategy for our leisure travel market.
Background:
The Tupelo CVB is a research-driven destination management organization with annual collections of around $5 million. In the midst of the Covid19 event, we are estimating at least a $1 million budget shortfall. Post Covid-19, we, along with every other destination around the world, will need to be prepared to inspire travel and capture our share of the market to help aid in economic recovery for our town and hospitality industry. Traditionally, our leisure program has been based on a two to six hour drive market and the messaging has been inspirational and geared toward weekend getaways. Group business has traditionally been strong. We have a sales team working sports, meetings, and motorcoach business to re-book postponed and lost business. International FIT and Groups are reached in partnership with the State of MS, Memphis/Mississippi part- nership and Travel South and will have their own set of barriers to overcome with international travel and longer lead times required. We have a relationship in place with Turner Public Relations who works PR for Tupelo on a national level and pushes stories based on the campaign narratives of culinary, quality of life and Elvis evolution. These themes, of course, normally coincide with our leisure messaging.
Scope of Work:
The Tupelo CVB wishes to employ an outside agency to craft messaging, pro- duce ads – whatever form they take – traditional print, digital, radio, broad- cast, OTT or others, and to recommend an overall placement strategy to aid in the recovery after Covid-19 through leisure travel. Available Resources An employee will be designated as your contact and will coordinate any materials needed or questions answered with all other CVB employees. Timeline
• May 5, 2020 – Qualifications due from interested agencies
• May 8, 2020 – Zoom interviews with chosen agencies
• May 11, 2020 – Agency chosen and contract negotiations begin
• June 1, 2020 – Contract presented for approval to the Tupelo CVB Board
• June 2, 2020 – Tupelo City Council approves contract in CVB board minutes
• June 3, 2020 – Work begins for a limited duration decided in contract negotiations Response to RFQ Your response to this RFQ should be submitted in the following format, labeled accordingly:
A. Statement of Qualifications Provide a written state- ment for your firm’s quali- fications for providing the work as described in the Scope of Work.
B. Tourism Experience Provide a written statement of your involvement in the tourism industry, specifically with DMO clients, industry memberships and resources.
C. Organization, Ownership and Management
1. Name, address and telephone of the entity that will be contracted with and all trade names to be used.
2. Name, address and telephone numbers of the organization’s principal officers and other owners
D. Organization’s Structure and Experience
1. Organizational chart of company and any sub- contractors
2. Total number of employees – full and part- time. Include employee information for all sub- contractors that would be employed on the project.
3. Short history of the company and any subcon- tractors to be employed on the contract.
4. Names of employees who will work on account and their role in the devel- opment and names of employees of any subcon- tractors who will work on the account
5. Summary of qualifi- cations for each person who will work on the account
6. Hours of operation that staff will be available and any satellite offices
7. Experience as it relates to messaging, ad design, and placement strategy. Case histories should be recent and include organization’s activities, subcontractor’s activities, as well as examples of work.
E. Client Information
1. Current clients in declining order of size
2. Name your two most recent past clients and reason for termination
3. Name any travel/tourism clients and their current status
F. Account Gain and Loss
1. Indicate if the agency has had a contract termi- nated for non-perform- ance over the last five years with either litigation determining the agency at fault or no litigation due to inaction on part of the organization.
2. List of accounts gained over the last two years and why your organization was awarded the work
3. Three references that are current accounts with contact names and phone numbers Selection Process Proposals that meet all the requirements of the RFQ will be evaluated by a review committee based on the following selection criteria:
• Tourism Industry Experience
• Qualifications to do the work
• References from past clients
• Evaluation of prior work
Due Date:
May 5, 2020
Address:
KIM HANNA
CITY OF TUPELO
P.O BOX 1485 TUPELO, MS 38802
Telephone: (662) 841-6487
Relevant agencies worth considering include Zimmerman and Shift Communications.