The City of Rancho Mirage (“City”) invites proposals from qualified, competent, knowledgeable, and experienced marketing agencies that will provide strategic planning, brand development, marketing, advertising, social media strategy and design and assist the City of Rancho Mirage marketing department with drafting and finalizing a 4 year strategic marketing, communications and events plan, establishing brand positioning and guidelines and the creation of 3-4 brand campaign concepts the City’s marketing department can select and build out for use in the coming years and administer the duties and responsibilities set forth in this Request for Proposals (“RFP”) for the benefit of the City of Rancho Mirage (“City”).
Background:
The City of Rancho Mirage is in the Coachella Valley, near Palm Springs, California. Situated between Cathedral City (to the West) and Palm Desert (to the East). Rancho Mirage has a population of approximately 18,000 residents. Median age is 64 years old and Median income is $80,000. The Coachella Valley is a seasonal resort area within Southern California. Rancho Mirage seeks to encourage new business, domestic and international tourism and maintain the high quality of life and services to residents. The City of Rancho Mirage has an opportunity to create a 4-year strategic plan and define its branding and positioning.
FUTURE
Recently, the City approved of a project that would provide for a mix of resort hotel, residential, commercial, and open space/recreation uses oriented around a Grand Oasis Crystal Lagoon. The Project would allow development of up to 1,932 residential units, – 2 400 hotel/resort units, and 175,000 square feet of nonresidential development, including combined restaurant and entertainment destinations, retail, and service space. This next generation community, located south of Gerald Ford Drive and east of Bob Hope Drive, will be a world-class destination that includes a series of elegant desert neighborhoods and artfully designed park spaces, together with a vibrant Town Center featuring shopping, dining, entertainment, galleries and high-end resort hotels. The entire community will be organized around a 34-acre swimmable clear water Crystal Lagoon®, known as the Grand Oasis, surrounded by picturesque desert landscapes and sandy beach shorelines. The Grand Oasis will feature numerous opportunities for aquatic recreation, including rowing, sailing, stand-up paddle boarding, and a professionally managed public beach park as the focal point of the Town Center. More details will be unfolding on this exciting project in the months ahead. The City of Rancho Mirage celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023. The Rancho Mirage Writers Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2023. The Rancho Mirage Observatory celebrates its 5th year anniversary in 2023.
Scope of Work:
Preference will be given to agencies providing a broad range of services and an understanding of the unique nature of city and tourism marketing and branding. Work within the City’s Pillars of Focus, Tourism, Community Relations, Economic Development and Public information.
Stage I: Research, Discovery and Strategic Planning (September 2020 – October 2020)
• Significant primary and secondary research and analysis – locally, domestically and globally
• Perception analysis of Rancho Mirage domestically, including comparison to other cities/regions
• Various workshop sessions with Rancho Mirage marketing department
• Review of current branding and previous brand audits for basis of recommendations
• Identify key areas of focus and priorities by each year
• Identify specific objectives and tactics to be deployed for all areas including branding, communications, events, content creation, social media, database management, marketing, advertising, key partnerships and sponsorships
• Recommend Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and qualitative assessments to monitor success
Stage II: Brand Identity Concepts and Final Campaign Development (November 2020 – December 2020)
• Ideation and presentation of multiple brand and visual options
• Development and presentation of multiple, preliminary brand identity options – including color palettes, taglines, mission statement, event alignment and other associated elements
• Recommendations for print, digital and additional brand assets
• Refinement of final brand identity
• Complete branding buildout of finally selected campaign to include all source files
• Production and launch of final brand identity release including video, social, photo, ads, etc.
Stage III: Brand Guidelines and Standards of City and Tourism Campaigns (January 2021 – February 2021)
• Production of final brand toolkit and style guide
• Comprehensive presentation of the brand essence with embedded source files of logos, brand themes, advertisements, etc.
4 Deliverables:
Stage I: 4-Year Strategic Marketing, Communications and Events Plan (September 2020 – October 2020)
• This plan should be a comprehensive detailed road map of the objectives and tactics associated with each area of opportunity across each core pillar, as well as marketing, communication, and events platform.
• This plan must include detailed specific and measurable results and KPI for year over year evaluation
• This plan should be in presentation format to ensure key stakeholder’s stay informed of current and future strategy.
Stage II: 3-4 Brand Campaign concepts for approval and then a full developed brand campaign with the selected concept.
(November 2020 – December 2020)
• The provider shall produce 3-4 branding and marketing concepts in a presentation style to propose to the Rancho Mirage marketing team and potentially City Council.
• The provider will then be expected to develop the final concept into a comprehensive brand theme and organized source files for the City of Rancho Mirage marketing department.
Stage III: Brand Guidelines and Standards (January 2021 – February 2021)
• Production of final brand toolkit and style guide
• Comprehensive presentation of the brand essence with embedded source files of logos, brand themes, advertisements, etc.
The Proposal Should Address the Following Questions:
• What process will the provider use to gather data and what type of analysis will be carried out? • What is the anticipated timeframe for completing the scope of work and the cost associated with each milestone/stage? 5
• What additional tools and information will be necessary to complete the scope of work?
• How does the provider communicate project progress?
• How does the provider address obstacles and challenges that may arise during the project?
Due Date:
4:00 P.M. MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2020
Address:
City of Rancho Mirage Attn: Gabe Codding, Marketing Director and Hayley Tice, Marketing & Events Specialist 69-825 Highway 111 Rancho Mirage, California 92270
Relevant agencies to consider include Magrino PR and Hunter PR.