Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 03-18-1997 - 8g t 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Action Agenda Item No. ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: March 18, 1997 SUBJECT: RFP AWARD; MARKETING,ADVERTISING AND DESIGN SERVICES FOR THE CHAPEL HILL/ORANGE COUNTY VISITOR'S BUREAU DEPARTMENT: Purchasing and Public Hearing: No Visitor's Bureau Budget Amendment Reqd? No ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Pam Jones, ext. 2650 or Request for Proposal Shelley Green 968-2060 Telephone Number- Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 967-9251 Mebane 227-2031 Durham 688-7331 PURPOSE: To consider awarding an RFP for providing Marketing, Advertising and Design Services for the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitor's Bureau BACKGROUND: Approximately 20% of the Visitor's Bureau annual budget is spent on marketing, advertising, and the production of collateral materials that help to promote the community as a destination for leisure and business travelers. This is an integral part of the Bureau's annual workplan and has previously been accomplished by soliciting bids on each individual project. In an effort to streamline the acquisition process, thereby allowing quicker delivery of the finished product to the consumer, it is proposed that a single point of service be established to serve this need. Additionally, this approach will ensure that the consistency of the end product will be become more reliable in reflecting the image of the area which it will promote. The recommendation to select Sheer Associates, Chapel Hill was based on a Request for Proposal solicited jointly by the Visitor's Bureau and Purchasing staffs. Interviews were held with two of the three respondents and while both were qualified, Sheer Associates more closely met the needs of the Bureau. The proposed term of the contract for these services would be from April 1, 1997 through June 30, 1999. The annual expenditures anticipated are $35,000 through June 30, 1997; $85,000 for FY 1997-98; and $95,000 for FY 1998-99. If the Board chooses to award this RFP, a contract will be prepared which reflects the terms of the Request for Proposal attached to this abstract. Following the appropriate attorney and staff reviews, it is requested that the Chair be authorized to execute the contract without further Board action. RECOMMENDATION: The Manager recommends award of the proposal to Sheer Associates, Chapel Hill; and authorization of the Chair to sign on behalf of the Board, contingent upon Attorney and staff review. 4 2 I. About the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau and this Account A. Scope The Chapel FWOrange County Visitors Bureau invites your firm to submit its best proposal to provide marketing, advertising and design services to the Bureau. The type of services needed may include any or all of the following: design and production of brochures, guides and other collateral pieces; other creative services including illustrations, photographs and copy writing; marketing research;web site design; design and production of advertisements; media research, placement and coordination; and other related services. It does not include the actual printing of brochures which will be bid out separately according to Orange County purchasing procedures. B. Anticipated Projects to be Completed in the Next Two Years 1. Updating and reprinting our 32-page visitor's guide. 2. Updating and reprinting our 8-panel lure brochure. 3. Updating and reprinting our 16-page sports and meeting planning guide. 4. Designing and producing a brochure shell. 5. Designing and producing a postcard. 6. Designing and producing a web site. 7. Designing interstate highway welcome signage. 8. Reviewing current logo applications(letterhead, business cards, etc.)and updating the look, plus providing new art work reflecting address change. 9. Assistance in the creation of a marketing program to generate visitations during shoulder-and off-seasons(which may include a direct mail piece, advertisements, etc.) 10. Design and production of various advertisements to reach target markets. 11. Placements of said advertisements. 12. Several market research studies to provide useful data about our current and potential visitors. 13. Produce a direct mail postcard series for meeting planners. 14. Design and produce a mural for the bureau's trade show booth. C. Mission and Purpose Tha mission of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau is to develop and coordinate visitor services in Orange County and to implement marketing programs that will enhance the economic activity and quality of life in the community. The purposes for which the Bureau is organized are: 1) To position Orange County as a desirable meeting or vacation destination to selected visitor markets, with careful consideration of the needs and assets of the communities that comprise Orange County. 2) To work in cooperation with community organizations to achieve an effective, coordinated and comprehensive marketing program with high quality collateral materials, program, and services. a 3 3) To serve as a county-wide leader in developing strategies for consistently providing quality services to the travelers who visit Orange County. 4� To encourage longer stays, increased spending and repeat visits of travelers to (range County. 5) To examine the range of visitor services available, to identify unmet needs and to encourage private businesses to meet those needs, as appropriate. 6) To operate in a manner that contributes to the economic development and quality of life in the communities that comprise Orange County. The Bureau has four full-time staff members including an Executive Director, Director of Sales, Communications Specialist and Administrative Assistant with an annual operating budget of$430,000. II. Instructions to Bidders A. Pre-Proposal Meeting A pre-proposal meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 21, 1997 at 10:00 am in the Executive Board Room at the Omni Europa Hotel. Bureau personnel and an Orange County purchasing agent will entertain questions about the RFP and this account during this time. Attendance at this meeting is strongly encouraged. The Bureau regrets it will be unable to honor further questions concerning this RFP after the pre-proposal meeting. B. Proposal Format Proposals will be received from each bidder in a sealed package(one original and four copies). The original shall be signed and dated by an official authorized to legally bind the agency. C. Delivery of Proposals All proposals shall be mailed or hand-delivered by Febniary 4*directly to: Proposal# 5047 Attention David Carrell,Purchasing Officer Orange County Government 132 East King Street P.O. Box 8181 EMsborough,NC 27278 967-9251, ext. 2650 D. Oral Presentation The Visitors Bureau will review all proposals and invite a few qualified bidders to make an oral presentation. Qualified bidders will personally be notified of this date and time, which has tentatively been scheduled for the week of February 24-28, 1997. It is estimated that a time frame of no more than 60 minutes will be set aside for each presentation. 'c Y 4 I Ownership Rights We require that all materials created by the agency on the Bureau's behalf become the sole property of the Chapel HiWOrange County Visitors Bureau. Likewise, if an agency utilizes the services of an outside vendor, the freelancer used must agree to perform"work for hire." The Bureau requires all rights and privileges for future promotional(non-commercial uses)of its materials and will not pay commissions on secondary uses. V. Evaluation of Proposals and Award of Contract The Executive Director of the Visitors Bureau and appropriate staff members will evaluate the proposals received and consider the following factors in selecting an agency: A. Experience and qualifications of the bidder's proposed personnel in advertising and design services as listed in this RFP. B. The overall quality of the proposal relative to that offered by other firms. C. The proposal content, as outlined in section VI of this RFP. D. The agency's ability to provide a quick turnaround on smaller projects(i.e., advertising designs for trade show programs)that frequently present themselves within 90 days of their due date. E. The agency's ability to provide consistency with and maintain the overall quality of our current collateral materials, as demonstrated in the oral presentation. The award of a contract to one bidder does not mean that the other proposals lacked merit, but that with all factors considered, that proposal was deemed to provide the best value to the Bureau and the County. VI. Proposal Content The proposal sLsll contain the following information: A Nmme of agency. B. Address of agency. C. If branch office or affiliate agency, list name and address of home office. D. Name, mailing address, and telephone number of the firm's authorized agent. E. Date founded. 5 F. List of branch offices. G. Iast of agency principals and the dates they joined the agency. H. List of active accounts and the year they were acquired. I. List of accounts lost during the past three years and the reasons. J. List of any accounts similar to the Visitors Bureau. K. List of key personnel of the agency who would be assigned to the Visitors Bureau's account, their previous pertinent experience, and total number of years experience. L. List of the number of professionals on staff, their assignments or areas of specialization and responsibility. M. Description of your agency's procedure for"feedback"or reporting to the client. Attach any sample forms. N. List of all in-house services that your company provides, such as public relations, market research, photography, etc. O. List of the services that could not be done in-house and would have to be subcontracted to other professionals or free-lancers. P. Reasons you feel your agency is particularly well-qualified to handle the marketing, design and advertising needs of the Chapel FOOrange County Visitors Bureau. Q. Whether or not you would be amenable to have some of your major accounts as enumerated in your response to part H contacted as references. R A statement agreeing to give the Chapel Ii'ilUOrange County Visitors Bureau sole rights of ownership of all materials created. S. A statement outlining 1. Areas of concentration, specialty. 1 Media buying strengths. 3. Market research strengths. T. Please state your most realistic response time to requests for this account. U. List of any national, regional and local awards and recognition of work. y 6 V. List of your hourly rates for the following services: (Required; please state not applicable if you do not offer a specific service.) 1. Account supervision 2. Account coordination 3. Public relations supervision 4. Public relations coordination 5. Concept development 6. Copy writing 7. Copy editing 8. Proofreading 9. Market research 10. Art direction 11. Mechanical or computer-generated art 12. Photo supervision 13. Print production supervision 14. Print production coordination 15. Broadcast/video production 16. Illustration 17. Media research 18. Media planning 19. Media buying 20. Media coordination 21. Word processing 22. Electronic publishing 23. Out of pocket expenses VII. Resulting Contract Terms and Conditions A This contract shall be effective for a period of two years beginning on or about March 1, 1997 and ending on or about February 28, 1999 and shall be renewable for up to two additional one-year periods at the option of the Visitors Bureau. B. The contract may be canceled without cause by the Visitors Bureau upon thirty days written notice. IV. Terms and Conditions for Proposal Submission A Award or Rejection All qualified proposals will be evaluated, and an award will be made to the firm whose offer is deemed to be in the best interest of the Visitors Bureau. The Bureau reserves the unqualified right to reject any or all offers if determined to be in its best interest. B. Decline to Offer Any firm which receives a copy of the RFP but which declines to make an offer is requested to send a formal"Decline to Offer" to the issuing agency. Failure to respond as requested may subject the firm to removal from consideration in future requests for proposals. C. Cost for Proposal Preparation Any costs incurred by bidders in preparing or submitting proposals are the bidder's sole responsibility. The Visitors Bureau will not reimburse any firm for any costs incurred prior to the award. D. Elaborate Proposals Elaborate proposals in the form of brochures or other presentations beyond that necessary to present a complete and effective proposal are not desired. E. Reference to Other Data Only information which is received in response to the RFP will be evaluated; reference to information previously submitted will not suffice. F. Time for Acceptance Each proposal must state that it is a firm offer which may be accepted within a period of 90 days. Although the contract is expected to be awarded prior to that time, the 90-day period is requested in order to allow for unforeseen delays. G Right to Submitted Material All responses,inquiries or correspondence relating to or in reference to this RFP, and all other reports, charts, displays, schedules, exhibits and other documentation submitted by the bidders will become the property of the Visitors Bureau when received The Bureau will not bear any costs for returning said items. H. Changes to Proposals Any change to a proposal which is received after the closing date on the cover sheet of this RFP and which is not specifically solicited by the Visitors Bureau will be rejected. I. Authority to Bind the Agency's Firm Bidders shall submit the name, address and telephone number of the person(s)with the authority to bind the firm and answer questions or provide clarification concerning the firm's proposal.