Marketing Services

The vendor is required to provide marketing services that are being requested, inclusive of brand management, creative services, photography, videography, website design, hosting and maintenance, social media and email marketing, media strategy, media buying, trafficking, market research and reporting, and account management.
1. Brand management
•    Possess knowledge and experience in brand management and brand strategy.
•    Provide recommendations and implantation of the brand into every aspect of marketing activity, including, but not limited to: media advertising, websites, digital content, activations, traditional publications, and collateral.
2. Creative services
•    The contractor must develop, provide, and execute integrated, multimedia campaigns, from concepts and themes through storyboard to final production, which align with and support commerce’s brand and mission, and design advertising and creative material(s).
•    Develop and create the following, including, but not limited to:
o    Broadcast spots and online video;
o    Digital display;
o    Online and search engine marketing advertisements;
o    Creative email templates, content, lead generation tactics, and supporting media ads;
o    Radio, print, out of home, and other media advertisements;
o    Copywriting for online and search engine marketing, digital display ads, email, social media, radio, television, print, and out of home advertisements;
o    Brand content, native advertising, and advertorial marketing;
o    Collateral such as reports, brochures, economic development and annual travel guide, sales material, and travel and trade show booths; and
o    Promotional items.
- Photography services
•    Pre-production planning (concept, storyboard, production book creation, talent and crew acquisition, permitting, etc.).
•    Providing all high resolution digital still images resulting from each shoot to commerce for proofing and selection.
•    Photo editing services, as directed by commerce, including, but not limited to: color correction, cropping, augmentation, conversion, and sizing.
•    Provide a variety of finished photo assets provided to commerce.  
•    All assets create must be owned and licensed solely to commerce and in perpetuity.
•    Commerce will contract for photography and videography services toward marketing specific efforts, like events or activations.  
•    These efforts will be promoted with paid media.
- Videography services
•    Pre-production planning (concept, storyboard, production book creation, talent and crew acquisition, permitting, etc.).
•    Providing all high-resolution video (this could include completed works, or b-roll) resulting from each shoot to commerce for proofing and selection.
•    Video editing services, as directed by commerce, including, but not limited to: color correction, cropping, augmentation, conversion, sound mixing, music licensing, video graphic elements, and sizing.
•    Provide a variety of finished video assets provided to commerce.  
•    All assets created shall be owned and licensed solely to commerce and in perpetuity.
•    Re-editing previous assets for re-use in different campaigns and on various platforms. 
•    Commerce will contract for photography and videography services toward marketing specific efforts, like events or activations.  
•    These efforts will be promoted with paid media.
- Website and digital tool development
•    Provide ongoing strategic planning, management, hosting, development, and implementation of all department websites and other online, interactive, and digital medium to ensure commerce’s online presence integrates and supports the overall brand and specific campaign efforts. 
•    Additional sites may be added in the future, based on business need.
•    Technical requirements for websites:
o    The websites must be hosted on a content management system that is approved by commerce.
o    The websites must be available twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week, except during scheduled maintenance.
o    The contractor must operate on a network offering adequate performance to meet the requirements and enhance or upgrade as required to maintain performance.
o    The contractor must be responsible for all equipment, labor, and services necessary to set-up and maintain the support of the websites.
o    The websites must log all activities for audit trail purposes.  
o    All logs must be kept for a minimum of thirty (30) calendar days or as defined by commerce.
o    The websites for continuity and data integrity.
o    The websites and maintain all the data; however, commerce must have full access to change any of the content as needed.  
o    All content created for the websites must be approved by commerce prior to public release.
o    Able to respond to needs for additional capacity without performance degradation as commerce’s needs scale.
o    The websites must respond to all user interaction within three (3) seconds unless otherwise approved by commerce.
o    The websites must be accessible from internet-connected devices (desktop and mobile) and must support the two (2) most current versions of major web browsers, including but not limited to google chrome, Mozilla Firefox, microsoft edge, and safari, as of the contract start date, ensuring compatibility with evolving standards.
o    The websites must maintain all data accurately and be GDPR compliant and allow updates for additional compliance requirements in the future.
o    Automated processes or resources in place to ensure malware is detected and prevented.
o    The websites must have a secure communication over the computer network via an extension of the hypertext transfer protocol (http) through hypertext transfer protocol secure (https).
o    Provide physical security controls over ingress and egress for their facility.
o    Employ anti-virus, anti-phishing, and other software that prevents malicious code or data from penetrating commerce websites.
o    Service level agreement (SLA) that ensures website availability of at least 99.9% uptime, response times under three (3) seconds, and timely resolution of issues (e.g., critical issues resolved within 4 hours). 
o    The SLA must be submitted with the proposal and finalized within thirty (30) calendar days of contract execution, subject to commerce’s approval.
o    The websites must be compatible with an optimized for mobile devices (android and apple iOS).
o    Commerce will provide access to the commerce-owned domains for the contractor to use as the portal for the websites for the duration of the contract.
o    The websites with commerce provided content as requested.  
o    Utilize website data collected to provide analysis and trend identification.
o    Provide all design, website architecture development and technical requirements including but not limited to coding, content management system development, plug-in integration and search engine optimization for all websites as directed by commerce.
o    The ability to design and develop other web-based tools including but not limited to interactive media and apps.
o    Advise commerce and provide website and digital tool best practices and functionality, including but not limited to user experience, design, architecture, development, and integrations with other technology solutions as directed by commerce through the PSO process.
- Media strategy, media buying, and trafficking
•    Provide a media plan with strategic recommendations that combine the appropriate media mix in order to achieve optimum outcomes from the advertising campaigns as outlined and approved by commerce in the project service order (PSO) process.
•    Provide media buying services which include: research and evaluation of all digital and traditional media and advertising channels; negotiation, added value and partnership opportunities, and procuring the media. 
•    Ad buys will be reimbursed at cost to the contractor, with all discounts provided by the invoicing entity forwarded to commerce. 
•    Traffic all creative assets to fulfill the media buys.
•    Negotiate with the various media outlets for cost-effective rates, favorable schedules and showing and bonus runs.
- Market research and reporting
•    Audience segmentation and targeting analysis; testing advertising concepts and creative;
•    Organizing and conducting focus group studies; and
•    Conducting research to determine audience perception and motivation.
•    Provide tracking, reporting, and analysis of all campaign activities, as well as all other campaign elements required to manage, execute, and measure results of a comprehensive and integrated marketing campaign.
- Social media and email marketing
•    The contractor must strategize, collaborate, develop, and execute content for social media and email marketing integrated within broader campaigns and media buys as directed by commerce through the PSO process.
•    Identify and advise commerce on social media and email marketing trends and management strategies to increase efficiency, engagement, content development, and campaign integration.
- Budget: $22,927,049

- Contract Period/Term: 2 years
- Non-Mandatory Pre-Proposal Meeting Date: September 8, 2025
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: September 16, 2025