Trenton Downtown Association Issues Marketing/Advertising RFP

Trenton Downtown Association (TDA) is a special improvement district (SID) in Trenton’s downtown commercial area which is dedicated to making the capital city a more competitive location for business owners and an engaging center for workers, residents, and visitors. The organization is searching for a full service marketing/advertising agency to take over most of the marketing services of the organization.

Scope of Work:

The Trenton Downtown Association has a current menu of marketing/advertising needs that cover its day-to-day effort to revitalize the downtown business district. Those needs also cover three large special events and the operation of an art gallery. We operate a web site: www.destinationtrenton.com that attempts to highlight Trenton activities/offerings. In addition, we send out a weekly email blast that promotes upcoming events. Currently, we farm out our design requirements with independent contractors who work directly with TDA’s internal marketing manager. We are looking to consolidate our marking to create consistency and efficiency with all our promotional initiatives. The successful firm should be a full-service firm that provides all traditional marketing services including design, concept development, branding, coordination of campaigns, development of original copy, media planning and purchase. TDA is also looking for web site redevelopment and maintenance services and a full range of public relation services. Our annual marketing budget ranges from $125,000 to $150,000. Of that amount, approximately $80,000 is spent on marketing services. The three events that we operate and market are:

                Capital City Farmers Market: This successful farmers’ market takes place every Thursday starting in mid-May and ending the last Thursday in October. The market is held in Mill Hill Park, a beautiful downtown park and operates from 11 am to 2 pm. It has approximately 25 vendors and attracts 2,000 – 4,000 per week.

                Levitt AMP Trenton Music Series: TDA produces a 10-week free concert series every Thursday evening at Mill Hill Park starting the last weekend in June and ending the last weekend in August. Each concert features a different genre and includes a regional headliner and local    opening act. In addition, to the music entertainment, the series includes family activities and an on-site mural program. Attendance at the concerts fluctuates from 500 to 1,300.

                So, you can get an understanding of the types of marketing components and social media campaigns we utilize to promote our events the following is a breakdown for what we will require for the 2019 Levitt AMP Trenton Music Series:

CREATIVE DIRECTION AND GRAPHIC DESIGN:

                                Create a new look/design for Levitt AMP Trenton Music Series to leverage 2018 success. Develop a themed marketing campaign that includes the following components;

• Posters
• Flyers
• Pre-Concert Promotional piece (post card, poster or ad)
• Banners
• Website Banners
• Lawn Signs
• Print Ads/Weekly Template
• Ad Mats
• Social Media Images/Web Graphics
• Billboard Design
• T-shirt Design
• Digital banners*:
• 2 Cover Images** needed for Destination Trenton and 10 events (12 total)
• Digital images:
• FB – 1 Cover Image and 10 events (11 in total)
• Twitter – 1 General and 1Lineup Image and 10 events (12 total)
• Instagram – 1 Cover Image and 10 events (11total)
• FB – Images for weekly ads (12 total) *Cover image as the generic event design ** 2 are needed to meet the 2 different size requirements for Destination Trenton

MARKETING AND PROMOTION:

                                Develop a comprehensive marketing plan utilizing social media, traditional and guerrilla                                                 marketing methods as well as newspaper ads and interviews, radio mentions and mass                                                flyer/poster drops.

Marketing Components:

• Weekly email blasts
• Print Ads for Media publications including but not exclusive to: US 1, Downtowner, Times and possibly others

Social Media Components & Schedule:

Facebook:

• Main Sponsored Ad for entire series
• Sponsored posts for each event
• Sponsored Ad for each event
• Minimum of 5 posts for each week (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter)

                                Patriots Week: A week-long annual celebration of Trenton’s critical role during the Revolutionary War. In 2018, 55 events took place during the last week in December. Those events included two battle reenactments, tours, lectures, exhibits, 3 bus tours, and a pub crawl. Approximately, 9,000 attended this year’s celebration.

                                The successful firm will also create a marketing program including logo design for the BSB Gallery that TDA operates and is located at 143 East State Street. The gallery hosts six to eight exhibits each year and needs promotional services for each exhibit.

                                In addition, we need marketing support for our day-to-day efforts to bring new                                                               businesses to the Capital City. We would like to produce a new informational piece                                         highlighting TDA capabilities and the incentives that are available to companies                                                          interested in locating in downtown Trenton.

                                All of the good work we are doing here needs to be supported by a strong public                                             relations campaign.

Due Date:

February 28^th, 2019.

Address:

Tom Gilmour

Executive Director

Trenton Downtown Association

16 East Hanover Street Trenton, New Jersey 08608

Agencies to consider for this assignment include Hunter PR and M Booth PR.