Renton Community Marketing Campaign RFP Issued

On behalf of the Renton Community Marketing Campaign (“RCMC”) partners, the City of Renton is seeking to contract with a world-class, innovative and cutting-edge vendor to provide digital marketing services and development to promote Renton as a destination for tourism, recreation, business opportunity and investment.

We seek a partner to provide the following: 1) Digital media planning and buying, 2) Website development and maintenance, or both.

The City of Renton is a thriving community of just over 104,000 residents located in the heart of the Puget Sound region, just 6 miles from SeaTac International Airport, 8 miles from Downtown Bellevue and 11 miles from Downtown Seattle. As a major employment center for the region, Renton hosts such major manufacturing companies as Boeing, PACCAR, Mitsubishi Aircraft and Alliance Packaging; finance and banking institutions such as the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco; healthcare sector leaders such as UW Medicine’s Valley Medical Center, Providence Health System, and Kaiser Permanente; regional shopping destinations such as IKEA, The Landing, and Fry’s Electronics; and, national headquarters of the world famous Wizards of the Coast entertainment company and the Seattle Seahawks (including its training facility).

Background:

In 1997, the City, in conjunction with the Greater Renton Chamber of Commerce, Renton Technical College, UW Medicine|Valley Medical Center, Renton School District and the Renton Visitor’s Connection launched a community marketing campaign. The mission was to collectively market the Renton community to recruit quality companies and diversify Renton’s employment base. Like any successful company, Renton needs to continue to be on the cutting edge to market its products and services. When companies or residents look at locating in Renton, they look at the community as a whole: schools, parks, housing, amenities, higher education, public safety, health, and medical care.

Our goal is to collectively market our product, Renton, to help us maintain a healthy community. Stakeholders developed a brand and a series of websites to promote a consistent identity that built on the appeal of the community’s residential, educational and business opportunities and positioned the community for future success. These tools capture our community and the innovation and creativity of all key stakeholders. By leveraging marketing dollars, the stakeholders collectively promoted Renton as an outstanding place to work, live, learn, shop, visit and play.

The RCMC has been a success. Over its course, many new investments have been made, the employment base has diversified, and Renton’s image has been elevated throughout the region. Nevertheless, after nearly 20 years into the campaign, it is time to reassess our efforts, refocus our messaging, grow our network of followers and take our campaign to the next level.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The RCMC’s goals and objectives in issuing this Request for Proposals (“RFP”) include:

1. Analyze Renton’s competitive position, opportunities and target market.

2. Position Renton as the community of choice for visitors, residents and businesses.

3. Position the City as an attractive, affordable tourist destination in the Seattle region.

4. Develop strategies to increase the visitor count particularly during the shoulder and winter seasons.

5. Develop strategies to promote business growth and investment in Renton to drive increased business travel.

6. Provide a special focus on developing strategies to promote Downtown Renton as a visitor destination and place to do business.

7. Work within the RCMC’s advertising and marketing budget to maximize exposure at a reasonable cost.

The objective of the City, working through the RCMC, is to award a one (1) year agreement, with two (2) one-year renewal options exercisable at the City’s sole discretion.

Scope of Work:

The selected agency will be expected to service the marketing, branding, and public relations needs of the RCMC partners in the development of the campaign; collaborating with additional vendors and the in-house marketing team to execute the marketing strategy. The following includes a sample of the required services:

1. Agree on the strategy development scope and cost (or for future-year refresh)

2. Create the strategy with KPI identification and accountability

3. Agree on the execution scope based on budget approved by RCMC

4. Execution with monthly reporting and KPI accountability

Marketing themes include:

· Attract new residents

· Attract new businesses

· Attract more visitors and tourists

· Attract more business travelers

· Attract more business meetings and conferences

· Attract more website visitors

· Promote business growth The geography targets include:

· International

· Domestic

· Region

· Renton (for promoting business growth, business meetings, and website visitors) Campaign management, including:

1. Themes and stories to tell

2. Press engagement & earned media

3. Social engagement

4. Website engagement

5. Online advertising

6. Traditional advertising

7. Search Engine Optimization and Content Marketing

8. Reporting, transparency, and KPIs reviews

Due Date:

February 24, 2020

Address:

Renton City Hall, 1055 S Grady Way, 6th Floor, Renton, WA 98057.

Zeno Group and Edelman PR are agencies worth considering for this assignment.