Public Relation Services

The vendor is required to provide public relations services that are being requested, inclusive of strategic counsel and account support, media relations, social media and content development, photography, videography, graphic design, tracking, analysis, reporting, and onboarding.
- Public relations services
•    Public relations services must include the types of services outlined in this section including both tourism and economic development and economic development examples where possible.        
- Strategic counsel and account support - the contractor must:
•    Provide strategic counsel and work collaboratively with commerce teams to further key messages and develop and grow media relationships;
•    Participate in regular meetings with commerce staff, as well as other commerce vendors and partners, to provide updates on projects, cross-department collaboration opportunities, and strategic partnerships;
•    Provide quality, consistent and experienced account support including, but not limited to:  regular, timely communication, project updates, team meetings, accounting and invoicing functions, and;
•    Assist with in-state trainings and meetings to help commerce educate statewide partners on best ways to work with media, content creators, and influencers. 
•    This may include in-person meetings, assistance with presentations, etc.
- Media relations, social media and content development - the contractor must:
•    Create, develop, implement and manage an annual media outreach strategy (consumer and industry outlets), including ongoing media pitching, fulfillment of media requests, social media campaigns, media and pr activities (receptions, blitzes, deskside appointments, influencer meetups, etc.) in target media and geographic markets to support commerce campaigns, initiatives and publicity efforts;
•    The annual media outreach strategy must include a plan, as reviewed and approved by commerce, that includes daily, monthly or quarterly outreach to key journalists, media outlets and influencers to develop strong relationships with media. 
•    A draft plan must be delivered to commerce within thirty (30) days of contract award and an approved plan must be accepted by commerce before plan implementation;
•    Create and manage an editorial calendar containing timeframes and contact lists to be used for pitching commerce programs and story ideas to journalists, bloggers, and media outlets with the goal of generating positive editorial coverage. 
•    All calendar events and timeframes must be made in conjunction with commerce’s feedback and written approval;
•    Create and manage recommended target market and media lists for print, social, digital and broadcast outlets. 
•    These lists, for different geographic and demographic audiences, must be developed in alignment with commerce’s brand and strategic objectives.  
•    Commerce must have access and editing rights to the calendar;
•    Produce and support media and consumer focused campaign activities in coordination with consumer advertising and commerce industry development programs. 
•    These activations must be developed in alignment with commerce’s brand and strategic objectives and could include announcing events, social media, media relations, or other creative methods with a goal to educate and engage the intended audience;
•    Strategize, plan, and develop content and execute social media to integrate into campaign and paid media efforts as directed and approved by commerce prior to execution;
•    Identify and execute emerging technology solutions in social media management, user generated content acquisition and other tools to increase social media efficiency, engagement and content development as directed and approved by commerce. 
•    Produce and copy edit content and copy for email newsletters, blogs, social posts and promotions, websites, and for collateral such as infographics, brochures, guides, reports, itineraries, media releases and media updates, as needed
- Photography services
•    Pre-project and event planning (overall campaign or event messaging and goal development, event logistics, social media distribution strategy, etc.);
•    Providing all high resolution digital still images resulting from each assigned public relations project for proofing and selection as necessary;
•    Photo editing services, including, but not limited to: color correction, cropping, augmentation, conversion, and sizing;
•    Providing a variety of finished photo assets. 
•    All assets created must be owned and licensed solely to commerce and in perpetuity, and;
•    Re-editing collected public relations visual assets for re-use in different public relations campaigns and on various platforms.
- Videography services
•    Pre-project and event planning (overall campaign or event messaging and goal development, event logistics, social media distribution strategy, etc.);
•    Providing all high-resolution video (this could include completed works, or b-roll) resulting from each assigned public relations project to commerce for proofing and selection;
•    Video editing services, including, but not limited to: color correction, cropping, augmentation, conversion, sound mixing, music licensing, video graphic elements and sizing;
•    Providing a variety of finished video assets. 
•    All assets created shall be owned and licensed solely to commerce and in perpetuity, and;
•    Re-editing collected public relations visual assets for re-use in different public relations campaigns and on various platforms.
- Graphic design
•    Infographics and other visual public relations assets, simple visual graphic design to integrate with photo and video assets for social media efforts, websites, consumer and industry newsletters, invitations, brochures, one-sheets, media support documents, clip books, training documents, tutorials, and presentations.
- Tracking, analysis and reporting
•    Track earned media coverage, engagement, reach and value of all print, digital, social and broadcast medias for monthly, quarterly, campaign specific and annual reports. 
•    Provide analysis of campaign activities including, but not limited to: all other campaign elements required to manage, execute and measure results of a comprehensive and integrated communication campaign; return on investment; qualitative measurements and any other forms of analysis deemed necessary by commerce.
- Budget of $75,000.00

- Contract Period/Term: 6 years
- Non-Mandatory Pre-Proposal Meeting Date: September 3, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: September 10, 2025