Western Connecticut Tourism Issues Marketing RFP
Purpose:
The Western Connecticut Tourism District (WCTD) is requesting proposals for marketing services, digital media planning, and advertising services related to the remainder of the 2019-2020 Fiscal Year (April 15, 2019– June 30, 2020), and then carry through the 2020-2021 fiscal year. The WCTD seeks a qualified marketing agency to provide strategic media planning, purchasing, creative, survey assistance, analysis services and reporting in line with the marketing goals of our organization.
The objective of the WCTD’s marketing campaign is to:
• Increase visitor traffic to western CT by utilizing CTVisit.com
• Work in concert and provide regional support to the State Office of Tourism (COT)
• Build awareness of the 63 town/city region as a destination
• Increase visitation, when appropriate, to the region’s arts, culture and tourism assets
• Coordinate and build synergies with other arts, culture and tourism marketing organizations in the region
• Monitor, track and analyze campaigns allowing for “pivot points” to keep activities on track
• Measure and benchmark the marketing, PR and communications activities
• Analyze and optimize ROI
Background:
The WCTD was established under Sec. 10-397 of the Connecticut General Statutes, and is funded by the state of Connecticut Office of Tourism. Membership in the WCTD consists of the following municipalities: Ansonia, Barkhamsted, Beacon Falls, Bethel, Bethlehem, Bridgeport, Bridgewater, Bristol, Brookfield, Burlington, Canaan, Colebrook, Cornwall, Danbury, Darien, Derby, Easton, Fairfield, Goshen, Greenwich, Hartland, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield, Middlebury, Monroe, Morris, Naugatuck, New Canaan, Norwalk, New Fairfield, New Hartford, New Milford, Newtown, Norfolk, North Canaan, Oxford, Plymouth, Prospect, Redding, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Salisbury, Seymour, Shelton, Sharon, Sherman, Southbury, Stamford, Stratford, Thomaston, Torrington, Trumbull, Warren, Washington, Waterbury, Watertown, Weston, Westport, Wilton, Winchester, Wolcott and Woodbury.
Mission Statement
The mission of the WCTD is to stimulate economic growth by promoting and marketing the region and its sixty-three (63) member municipalities as a premier leisure, business and travel destination.
Scope of Work:
The WCTD is seeking a marketing partner to serve as our online media planning resource – inclusive of strategic digital media direction; market analysis; media negotiation and purchasing; budget management; creative content creation; ongoing & post-buy analysis and reporting.
The selected agency will be required to provide the following services:
• Evaluate organizational marketing, public relations and social media plan
• Develop and implement an advertising program that will achieve the overall organizational objectives
• Identify and recommend the optimum use of advertising media to maximize the impact of a specified budget
• Work with internal and external teams to place advertising in appropriate mediums
• Track and report on the success and impact of all campaigns on a regular basis agreed upon by both parties
• Develop and implement surveys for market research
• Creation of creative for use in advertising to be approved by Connecticut Office of Tourism
• Paid social media promotion
Budget
The approximate digital advertising budget for the remainder of this fiscal year is $200,000. The total budget will need to cover all campaign elements including planning, agency fees, production, paid media and any other elements related to services provide.
Capabilities and Requirements
Responding agencies should have at a minimum the following:
• Relevant experience in working with destination marketing organizations or tourism related businesses
• Strong research and planning capabilities
• Sound budget stewardship
Proposal Content
Provide the following information in your proposal to better provide us with insight into the capabilities, capacity and philosophy of your agency.
YOUR AGENCY Provide a brief description and/or outline of your agency and team including:
• Where are your corporate offices located?
• What is the size and organizational structure of your agency?
• Who is on your leadership team?
• Who will be a part of the WCTD account team?
o Please share their individual backgrounds and history.
• How many years of related experience does your agency have working with destination marketing organizations and/or tourism-related businesses?
SCOPE OF SERVICES
• Briefly describe your agency philosophy, specifically your planning and buying approach
• Briefly describe your agency’s entire capabilities
• Do you plan to outsource any of your work? Describe how this relationship would work with the account.
YOUR APPROACH
Describe your approach to create a suitable strategic media plan:
• How do you solicit input from the client?
• Describe how you manage typical agency to client communication.
•Describe how your agency evaluates the success of a campaign.
Describe your approach to recapping and analyzing a media plan:
• What tools do you use to track performance? How is that relayed to the client?
YOUR PRICING
Provide the overall total cost for all services provided and specific breakdowns. Outline your specific billing structure, including any pro-bono work or concessions that you are willing to provide. Proposals will need to include a cost breakdown of this partnership, including commissions and any additional fees.
Due Date:
May 15, 2020
Address:
Merry Macary via email atadministrator@visitwesternconnecticut.com
Tourism PR firms include Hawkins International and Magrino PR.
