Old Town Advertising Marketing and Public Relations Services

The Vendor is required to provide comprehensive, year-round marketing, advertising, and public relations services for old town.
- Responsible for developing and executing initiatives that drive foot traffic, enhance visitor engagement, and boost economic activity, all while ensuring brand alignment with the city’s overall tourism strategy.
- Strategic Planning and Performance Measurement
•    Develop and implement approximately 6 to 8 multi-channel marketing campaigns annually. 
•    Campaigns should be designed to sustain momentum, drive consistent engagement, and allow flexibility for opportunistic or quick-turn initiatives. 
•    Examples may include promotions targeting local audiences, highlighting distinct old town districts, and reinforcing key brand themes. 
•    Each campaign should include strategy development, audience targeting, media planning and buying, creative production, implementation, and performance evaluation. 
o    Ensure focused inclusion of priority cultural assets, such as western spirit: town museum of the west, in campaign planning and content development, particularly in relation to district-focused promotions and efforts to increase cultural tourism.
•    Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each campaign, including:
o    Foot traffic increase in old town 
o    Social media growth and engagement (e.g., follower count, shares, comments)
o    Website traffic and behavioral data
o    Advertising reach and ROI (e.g., cost per engagement, impressions, audience demographics)
o    Post-event data collection (e.g., intercept surveys, short in-person interviews)
o    Economic outcomes (e.g., merchant sales)
•    Provide a standardized reporting template and shared dashboard for the city to track campaign results and performance trends timely and over time.
•    Annually update the old town brand perception research to inform marketing strategy and content development.
•    Participate in business communication and engagement efforts related to marketing, including attendance at stakeholder meetings, workshops, or activations at the request of the City.
- Advertising and Creative Development
•    Design and execute multi-channel advertising and promotional materials, including:
o    Digital (e.g., social media, programmatic, CTV, paid search)
o    Print (e.g., brochures, magazines, direct mail)
o    Out-of-home (e.g., billboards, transit, street banners)
o    Video and audio (e.g., TV, radio, streaming)
o    Experiential marketing (e.g., activations, pop-ups)
o    Merchandise and giveaways
•    Maintain and evolve the old town brand across all campaigns, ensuring consistent tone, quality, and adaptability across districts and demographics.
•    Propose refinements to existing brand guidelines, if needed.
•    Provide creative content throughout the year for non-campaign initiatives (e.g., program ads, banners).
•    Conduct pre-launch creative testing (e.g., a/b testing, stakeholder feedback, focus groups, or surveys) for major campaigns, as determined in coordination with city staff. 
•    The level of testing should be scaled appropriately to the campaign’s size, visibility, and strategic importance with the goal of ensuring message relevance, audience alignment, and creative effectiveness.
•    Develop campaign materials optimized for each platform and demographic segment
- Website & Digital Content Management
•    Manage and maintain OldTownScottsdaleAZ.com and potential other specialty websites as identified by the city, including:
•    Design, create, and manage content, ongoing content updates, and page layouts.
•    Implement search engine optimization (SEO) best practices and performance tracking.
•    Ensure accessibility compliance (ADA) and strong UX design.
•    Integrate 3rd party platforms as needed (e.g., events calendar, merchant directories).
•    Provide quarterly analytics with insights and recommendations.
- Social Media Management and Influencer Partnerships
•    Manage old town official social media accounts.
•    Develop a comprehensive content calendar with high-quality visuals, stories, reels, and videos that reflect seasonal priorities and district diversity.
•    Identify and manage relationships with social media influencers and content creators.
•    Monitor trends, community conversations, and engagement to inform content strategy.
•    Provide monthly performance reports with analysis and optimization recommendations.
- Public Relations
•    Plan, manage, and evaluate a minimum of four (4) strategic public relations campaigns annually. Campaigns should be timed based on seasonal relevance, major initiatives, or strategic opportunity and include proactive media outreach, story development, and earned media tracking, to enhance old town public image among local, regional, and visitor audiences.
•    Coordinate media relations, press coverage, and media events.
•    Manage responses to negative publicity, urgent issues, or unexpected events in collaboration with city staff.
•    Coordinate interviews and media opportunities related to events and campaigns.
- Audio-Visual Production
•    Provide photography, videography, and creative production services approximately 4–6 times per year.
•    Handle all aspects of video and audio production, including scripting, editing, talent sourcing, and permitting, as needed.
•    Deliver all raw and edited content to the City. 
•    All creative content becomes the property of the City for unrestricted future use.

- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: August 27, 2025