Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada Issues Marketing RFP

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has issued an advertising and marketing RFP. The RTC is a political subdivision of the State of Nevada, with responsibilities that include the operation of fixed route and paratransit services in the Las Vegas Valley. The RTC purchasing procedures are governed by the Nevada statutes and by various federal statutes and regulations, as administered by the Federal Transit Administration.

This scope for the RTC ADVERTISING AND MARKETING SERVICES contract will provide support for all RTC program and services. These programs and services include RTC transit services and all programs and services included therein including RTC Fixed Route Service, RTC ADA Paratransit Service, RTC Senior Transportation Service; the RTC’s Freeway and Arterial System of Transportation (FAST) initiatives including ramp meters, dynamic message signs, and signal coordination; Metropolitan Planning Organization functions including Southern Nevada Strong, bicycling/pedestrian education programs, roadway planning, funding and construction; and activities related to Transportation Investment Business Plan (TIBP), Freight Rail, and transportation technology and innovation.

GOALS:

The RTC’s Government Affairs, Media and Marketing Department oversees the day-to-day implementation of the below stated goals for the agency. Company will serve as an extension of this team to provide marketing, advertising, branding and creative design services for the following agency-wide goals:

• Enhance the RTC brand and educate the community and increase awareness of the various services offered by the RTC, described above;
• Promote travel mode choices made by residents and visitors in efforts to enhance access, improve mobility and mitigate traffic congestion by increasing use of alternative transportation;
• Explore and enhance economic development opportunities including transportation technology and innovation;
• Include minority population segments in all marketing and advertising, taking Title VI into consideration;
• Attract, retain and increase ridership on all public transportation services offered by the RTC;
• And collaborate with community stakeholders to develop public/private partnerships to advance local and regional initiatives.

SERVICES OVERVIEW:

Company will provide a number of services to successfully meet the RTC’s goals. These could include the following:

1. Brand management / advertising and marketing strategy
2. Creative and promotional material development
3. Digital marketing
4. Administrative function, tracking and measurement

SERVICES OUTLINED:

1. BRAND MANAGEMENT / ADVERTISING AND MARKETING STRATEGY: Company shall create, execute and manage, at the approval of authorized RTC representative, an advertising campaign that employs strategic advertising elements including, but not limited to, print media, broadcast media, digital media, Internet media, direct mail, multi-cultural media and initiatives, geo-targeted media and initiatives, and out-of-home media.These advertising and marketing strategy activities shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
   • Advertising and marketing strategy including, but not limited to, paid advertising and placement (including value added), including placement justification on why proposed ad buy is cost efficient and best representation of the agency with its goals and mission;
   • Strategic development, presentation and implement project-specific advertising and marketing plans to strategically support major initiatives that include traditional media, digital, and paid social media;
   • Overall strategic direction for the campaign (goals, objectives, geographies, targeting segments, creative messaging strategy, etc.);
   • Determine target audience insights and consumption habits based on syndicated research, historical campaign results and knowledge of the RTC’s brand;
   • Provide detailed strategic digital media plan and rationale deck, highlighting strategy, tactics, evaluation criteria, partner slides, success metrics and next steps, including pixel strategy and best practices for implementing, site refresh schedule that may impact pixel placement;
   • Provide media recommendations and market research including media trends, market conditions and competitive spending and demographics/psychographics data;
   • And leverage outside partnerships and relationships to do more than just placing ads but negotiate trade promotions to demonstrate added value being provided to the agency beyond added value incost.
2. CREATIVE AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL DEVELOPMENT:
   Company shall develop advertising creative (advertisement concepts, brand styles, collateral pieces as required) to support general RTC branding and agency goals. These creative development activities shall substantively include:
   • Campaign development including, but not limited to, research and consume testing, logo design; branding, campaign development and copywriting;
   • Promotional material development including, but not limited to, video production, graphic elements such as logos, maps, brochures, posters, and other collateral materials;
   • Provide total-market, strategic, creative services to include development of conceptual creative directions and fully-integrated campaigns and campaign management;
   • Development of comprehensive RTC brand style guide and managing its evolution;
   • Production services to update or enhance existing RTC materials including, but not limited to, Transit Guide, Pocket Guide, Transit Strip brochure, general signage, maps, brochures, fliers, posters, fact sheets, programs, etc.;
   • Copywriting services for ads, collateral and radio spots;
   • Provide translation services for Hispanic ads and news articles at no additional cost to the agency;
   • Develop and design effective creative for social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.)
   • Managing print production schedule and press checks as requested;
   • Creation of promotional microsites as appropriate per promotional campaign;
   • Provide digital assets such fonts, stock photography and music in a cost effective manner that is seamless for the agency to download and access without any extrasteps;
   • Select brand appropriate stock photography and recommend use, and create photo composites as requested;
   • Create photo shoot concepts and recommendations to correlate with the new brand direction; recommend photographers, gather bids and select photographer; work with the photographer  on site during shoot to provide art direction and guidance;
   • Development of merchandising branding and creative services;
   • Develop and create videos and social media clips of special events and projects promoting the agency, including event recaps, promotional pieces and more;
3. DIGITAL MARKETING:
   Company shall create and manage a digital marketing strategy including tactics such as the following:
   • Website development and strategic advertising efforts;
   • Recommendations for website design strategies and web best practices;
   • Analytic audit and SEO recommendation of RTC website on a bi-monthly basis;
   • Development of a custom WordPress theme for the RTC website and any additional project- specific landing pages or microsites, and work with the RTC web teamto implement and launch it in 2017;
   • Search Engine Marketing (SEM) in the form of a Google AdWords campaign and other SEM tactics included but limited to Bing, Yahoo and MSC search;
   • Create, execute and manage online display ad campaign targeted to our respective audiences per campaign which may entail run of site (ROS) tactics, as well as contextual, predictive and other viable tactics to enhance our efficient reach through digital media including native advertising, video advertising (pre-roll, in-feed, post-roll, etc.), cross device and cross-platform opportunities;
   • Creation of promotional microsites as appropriate per promotionalcampaign;Create and manage a Blogosphere and “viral” webpresence;
   • Create videos for posting;
   • Create collateral for posting (e.g., cover photos, profile photo, etc.);
4. ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTION, TRACKING AND MEASUREMENT
   The RTC must reach a multitude of different audiences, each requiring different messages and approaches. Company will submit regular reports tracking and measuring results of marketing activities. Reports shall contain items such as, but not limited to, the following:
   • Budget development and monitoring
   • Billing coordination
   • Integrated reporting and optimization
   • Provide digital tracking and measurement on an as needed basis (e.g., weekly, monthly or quarterly);
   • Analysis of trends and opportunities, and campaign on-going effectiveness as compared to overall established and pre-agreed annual goals
   • Web server hosting services and maintenance;
   • Administer online newsletter management system such MailChimp;
   • General Advertising metrics (i.e. CPM, CPP, etc.) from a third party ad server for digital media campaigns
   • Run audits, verifications, return on investment analysis, and provide proof of purchase (POP)
   • Online analytics of SEM campaign (PPC, CPM, etc.)
   • Online analytics of any lifecycle marketing campaign (open rate, click through rate, etc.)
   • General assessment of overall marketingactivities and tracking of any promotional campaign (offer redemption, etc. provided such metrics are available)

Proposal due by January 19, 2017

Regional Transportation Commission
Attn: Manager of Purchasing & Contracts
600 South Grand Central Parkway, Suite 350
Las Vegas, Nevada  89106-4512

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