Strategic Communications and Public Relations Services

The Vendor is required to provide a public relations agency committed to securing earned national media for the purpose of leisure travel to agency.
- This initiative is designed to complement city national advertising efforts, not replace them. It will focus solely on earned media—editorial coverage in respected travel, lifestyle, and interest-based outlets—rather than advertising or social media marketing.
- The right PR firm will help secure valuable media coverage that highlights all this 416-year-old capital city has to offer, from world-class art and culinary experiences to cultural events and outdoor adventures.
- Goals for Public Relations
•    Increase public awareness: increase overall awareness of city as a desirable tourist destination through targeted media placements, social media campaigns, and strategic partnerships.
•    Drive visitor engagement: encourage engagement with city tourism content across various platforms, leading to increased website traffic, social media interactions, and inquiries about local attractions and events.
•    Enhance brand perception: continue to improve the perception of city as a vibrant, diverse, and welcoming destination by showcasing unique cultural offerings, natural attractions, and festivals and special events through compelling storytelling and positive media coverage.
•    Generate measurable results: achieve quantifiable results such as number of media placements, number of media stays, total annual earned media value, etc.
- The sights, sounds, tastes, and interactions cultivate experiences that intentionally shape new perspectives and create a craving for more.
- Audience strategy — our audience strategy focuses on attracting established, discerning travelers who prioritize high-quality, premium experiences. We are engaging a diverse demographic—from active young professionals to affluent retirees—who prioritize frequent domestic travel and a high investment in their vacations. By tailoring our outreach to these sophisticated traveler segments, we ensure our brand resonates with those most likely to value and invest in everything our destination has to offer.
- Market strategy — our current market strategy is designed to balance the preservation of our most established regional, drive market territories to increase brand awareness in high-potential metropolitan fly markets
- This geographic outreach is also supported by high-impact initiatives—most notably leveraging the national momentum of the route 66 centennial—alongside a deliberate presence into the b2b sector for meetings and group attraction.
- Public Relations Strategy — develop and implement annual public relations strategies that align with seasonal marketing campaigns and editorial calendar cycles. Tactics may include, but not be limited to:
•    Promotions planning, PR/event planning, media familiarization (FAM) tours, media events/blogger/media dinners, integrated marketing strategies, etc.
•    Integration of agency public relations campaigns with paid and owned media plans.
•    Forge strong, positive relations with journalists, editors, and producers.
•    Update on an annual basis, or as requested by agency, to improve key performance metrics and apply the latest media relations trends, key lessons learned, and database assessments.
•    Actively and regularly participate in marketing strategy and marketing campaign review sessions with agency staff and other creative agencies.
•    All aspects of the public relations strategy and implementation are subject to approval by agency.
- Media Relations —
•    Pitch city to national, travel trade, influencers, local lifestyle and travel publications, as well as additional opportunities that fit the city brand.
•    Draft pitches, press releases, and other communication pieces as agreed upon and approved by agency, incorporating branded content as appropriate.
•    Manage distribution of communication pieces and track resulting media relations activity.
•    Make recommendations to showcase top-tier earned media for owned consumer-facing digital platforms.
•    Forge new and steward existing media relationships in collaboration with agency.
•    Coordinate with agency to communicate with influencers, journalists, editors, and producers to develop relationships and inspire coverage through social media and other digital engagement platforms.
•    Secure quality earned media impressions to strengthen city positioning amongst competitor markets.
•    Execute public relations tactics and collaborate with tourism industry partners as agreed upon with agency, including but not limited to media missions, FAM tours, and public relations campaigns.
- Metrics, Monitoring, and Reporting —
•    Provide monthly, quarterly, and annual earned media reports as well as overall impressions, return on investment (ROI), key performance indicators (KPIS), and ROI of hosted media events and campaigns.
•    Propose incremental annual goals and KPIS, to include impressions and value, positive sentiment, share of voice, media quality score, and conversion metrics.
•    Provide ongoing strategic recommendations established from monthly and quarterly metrics and analytics assessment.
•    Content creation — editorial calendar, press kit, press releases, blog posts, etc.
•    Special events — press conferences and media tours.
•    Monitor media trends and identify appropriate opportunities to pursue.
•    Garner exposure for the destination through all forms of media, including national print, radio, and digital promotions.
•    Occasional presentations during occupancy tax advisory board (OTAB) meetings.