Subject:
Title
Approval, re: Tourist Development Office (TDO) Proposed FY2022-23 Marketing & Media Plan, approval for the TDO Director to make Vendor Selections, Negotiate and Execute Agreements with Media and Advertising Vendors and contract extension with &Barr for advertising services
End
Fiscal Impact:
FY2022-2023 Marketing & Media Plan $9,779,982.00 (Fund 1441)/Disaster Funds $1,282,542.00 (Fund 1444)
Dept/Office:
Tourism Development Office
Requested Action:
Recommendation
It is requested that the Board of County Commissioners:
(1) approve the attached proposed FY2022-2023 Marketing & Media Plan for the Tourism Development Office (TDO) in the total amount of $9,779,982.00, including the selection of the media vendors listed in the presentation.
(2) It is requested that the Board approve the TDO Director to have the ability to select media and advertising vendors without a bid process, thus waiving Procurement Policy BCC-25, as well as negotiate and execute contracts, contract amendments, and any necessary contract extensions, with such vendors, upon review and approval by the County Attorney’s Office, Risk Management, and Purchasing Services in accordance with Administrative Order AO-29, up to and exceeding $100,000.
(3) It is also requested the Board approve the ability for the TDO to receive and accept revenue from cooperative advertising partners and grants from organizations (such as the Florida Sports Foundation).
(4) It is further authorized that the TDO Director be able to access Disaster Funds (Fund 1444) in the event of a state or local emergency declaration, natural or man-made disaster for the purposes of advertising/marketing/promotional costs of up to and exceeding $100,000.
(5) The Board approves and authorizes the Tourism Director to sign the renegotiated agency contract with &Barr for 3 years through September 30, 2025, upon review and approval by the County Attorney’s Office, Risk Management and Purchasing Services.
End
Summary Explanation and Background:
The Tourism Development Office (TDO) has prepared the attached proposed Marketing & Media Plan for FY2022-23 in the total amount of $9,779,982.00. The TDO Marketing & Media plan will remain flexible, and strategically built through seasonal campaigns and marketing partnerships, as market demands may cause changes to the plan throughout the fiscal year. To that end, it is important that the TDO Department Director have the flexibility to choose media and advertising vendors without going through a formal bid process, thus waiving Procurement Policy BCC-25, and negotiate and execute agreements with such vendors, upon review and approval by the County Attorney’s Office, Risk Management, and Purchasing Services in accordance with Administrative Order AO-29, up to and exceeding $100,000.00. The Tourism Development Council (TDC) unanimously approved this plan on July 27, 2022.
The TDO, when possible, uses unique cooperative advertising partners throughout the county, which translates to larger ad buys and representation; reduced trade shows and sales mission expenses are also realized. This allows a cooperative advertising program to share expenses between the business or entity and the TDO. Sometimes the TDO buys ads or media up front to include the Visit Florida guide and the Tourism Vacation Planner, as well as other programsand then seek reimbursement from partners. It also produces a visitor’s guide and seeks partners to help offset the costs of that guide. Some of our partners are the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex, Port Canaveral, Melbourne International Airport, City of Cocoa Beach, City of Titusville, City of Palm Bay, City of Melbourne, Cocoa Beach Hotel Motel Association, and Brevard Zoo, among others.
Some of the various types of advertising, marketing, and promotional initiatives in the FY2022-23 marketing & media plan are: vinyl and digital billboard campaigns throughout Florida and other targeted states; various signage and video at Orlando International Airport; television and streaming video broadcasts; visitor website enhancements; radio and streaming radio advertising; geo-targeted and traffic-focused digital advertising; search engine marketing; public relations; sports grant program; international marketing through Brand USA and other vendors; and strategic marketing partnerships. The goal of these Space Coast marketing initiatives is to draw state, national and international tourists and visitors so they can personally experience Brevard County. This also includes funding for research projects as defined in the attached PowerPoint of the marketing plan. Also, sports grants, as mentioned above, promote athletic events and draw tourists. They are awarded through an application process and tiered scoring by the TDC Sports Committee and then sent to be approved by the TDC and the Board. Partial sports grant reimbursement from the Florida Sports Foundation (FSF) or other entities is received by the TDO.
As in previous Fiscal Years, the Board requested action authorized the Tourism Director to select vendors without a bid process, thus waiving the County Procurement Policy BCC-25, as well as negotiate and execute contracts, contract amendments, and any necessary contract extensions, with such individual marketing and media vendors, upon review and approval by the County Attorney’s Office, Risk Management, and Purchasing Services in accordance with Administrative Order AO-29, up to and exceeding $100,000.00.
Note: the advertising agency, & Barr, was selected through an RFP process and many media vendors used to flow through this contract which followed an extensive review. This contracted relationship has been renegotiated and includes an annual fee of $936,000.00 for 7,200 hours annually for the next 3 years (through September 30, 2025) which is a reduced amount overall from the previous year’s contract which was a combination of hours (2,862) and a 15% percent commission of media ($1,009,560.00). This amount includes creative, production, account management, website hosting and maintenance, analytics/reporting, media services, and administration.
Types of media include digital, radio, cable and streaming TV, radio and streaming radio, and print ads. It is also requested the Board allow the TDO to receive money through the above cooperative advertising agreements and other revenue such as grants from the Florida Sports Foundation. The total estimated marketing & media advertising budget for FY2022-23, including production costs, is $8,736,328 and the total plan is for the $9,779,982.00 mentioned above.
This agenda also requests that during a declared state of emergency (County and/or State) the TDO Director, or County Manager, be able to access Disaster Funds (Fund 1444) in the event of a natural or man-made disaster or emergency for the purposes of advertising/marketing/promotional costs of up to and exceeding $100,000. These funds have been designated for this purpose and should be used to help with recovery in the event of a state of emergency or natural or manmade disaster.The fund balance in the disaster fund is $1,282,542.00 for 2022-23.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
Please send Board memo to Director, Tourism Development Office