Agenda Item: 7
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
CONSENT CALENDAR
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: August 27, 2024
SUBJECT: TOURISM MARKETING DISTRICT ADVERTISING CONTRACT DEPARTMENT: Economic Development
PRESENTER: Evan Thomason
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager or designee to award a one-year contract to Lundmark Advertising + Design to provide marketing and advertising services for the Tourism Marketing District for an annual amount not to exceed $357,000.
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute up to four additional, one-year renewal options beginning in year two, not to exceed the annual contract amount plus an adjustment consistent with the appropriate Consumer Price Index, upon request of the contractor, and contingent upon the appropriation of funds by the City Council in the annual budget for such Fiscal Year.
3. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute all contracts and associated documents, or modify the award in the event that issues of impossibility of performance arise, and execute all documents subject to City Attorney approval.
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clarita (City) Tourism Marketing District (TMD) funds various services and activities to promote the City as a tourist destination. These include developing marketing strategies to increase visitor attraction, advertising and public relations programs focused on business and leisure travel to Santa Clarita, attending conferences and conventions to promote the City to event planners, and securing other activities and events that bring business and tourism to Santa Clarita. Tourism Marketing District funds are generated from a two percent assessment of hotel room stays in the nine local hotels that are part of the TMD.
The City is seeking a full-service advertising agency to assist with the overall brand strategy and various marketing needs of the TMD on an annual basis. In addition to marketing to leisure travelers, focus is placed on attracting meeting planners and sporting event rights holders to produce events in Santa Clarita that have a positive economic impact on local businesses. The anticipated advertising campaign would run from fall 2024 to spring 2025.
Aside from the advertising component in the scope of work, other services provided by the agency include search engine optimization (SEO), graphic arts, and focused promotion and publicity outside the annual advertising campaign.
The City’s Purchasing division, in collaboration with the Economic Development division, issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a full-service advertising agency to assist with the City’s overall brand strategy and various marketing needs. The RFP was publicly advertised from May 7 to June 4, 2024, on BidNet, the City’s e-procurement platform. The RFP was downloaded by 85 vendors, and four proposals were received.
An evaluation panel comprised of staff from the Economic Development division reviewed and scored each of the proposals using the following criteria:
• Experience in developing and managing comprehensive multimedia advertising strategies for Destination Marketing Organizations - tourism programs • Demonstrated capability of developing professional creative content that differentiates a Destination Marketing Organization from its competitors • Experience in conducting research for Destination Marketing Organizations • Cost of services provided
• References
The following shows the results of the rankings by the evaluation panel:
Reporting of the results of the digital advertising campaign are to be collected on a regular basis and outcomes are to be measured against travel industry standards, including, but not limited to, overall impressions, click-through-rate (CTR), number of clicks, and engagement and lead generation. Results would also be measured against previous advertising campaigns and hotel measurables such as occupancy percentage and average daily rates (ADR).
Staff recommends the City Council award the contract to Lundmark Advertising + Design (Lundmark), which achieved the highest overall score. Lundmark was awarded the contract for the previous City tourism advertising campaign with positive results and work performed that met the City’s standards and performance expectations.
Rank Company Score (100 possible)
1 Lundmark Advertising + Design 97.67
2 Hylink Group 87.67
3 Ntooitive Digital 57.67
4 True Digital Marketing, Inc. 7.33
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
Upon approval of the recommended actions, adequate funds will be available in the amount of $294,000 in Expenditure Account 3603504-516104 (TMD/Advertising); $28,000 in Expenditure Account 3603504-516102 (TMD/Professional Services); $20,000 in Expenditure Account 3603504-516105 (TMD/Promotion & Publicity); and $15,000 in Expenditure Account 1003601- 516105 (Art Programs/Promotion & Publicity) to support the award of this contract.
ATTACHMENTS
Lundmark Proposal
Lundmark Cost File