Chamber DMO RFP Addendum No. 1.pdf

Addendum -Destination Marketing Organization Services - RFP

DATE: MAY 6, 2025 ADDENDA NO. 1

TO: PLAN HOLDERS

PREPARED BY: Nina Vetter

SUBJECT: City of Newport Destination Marketing Organization Services Newport, Oregon Lincoln County

Addendum No. 1 – Questions & Answers

City of Newport – Request for Proposals: Destination Marketing Organization Services The City of Newport has received questions from prospective proposers regarding the above-referenced Request for Proposals (RFP). In accordance with Oregon public contracting rules and to ensure transparency and equal access to information, the City is issuing the following responses. These questions and answers are provided for clarification purposes only and do not amend the original RFP unless expressly stated.

As a reminder Please acknowledge (and list) receipt of all addenda in your proposal submittal.

1. What is the size and disposition of the City leadership the vendor will be working with to develop the Destination Marketing Plan? Does the City currently have vendor(s) it uses to collaborate with for other marketing requirements? We currently have a contract with the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce for destination marketing content creation.

The vendor will primarily work with the City Manager, City Communications &

Community Engagement & the City Parks & Recreation Director.

2. What existing market research is the City conducting to define and refine target audiences, visitor personas, travel motivations, and regional trends – and at what cadence are the studies being conducted? We do not currently have this information.

3. What is the optimal frequency of regular engagements with stakeholders? How many stakeholders does the DMO currently have? We do not have this defined yet.

4. What current events do the City participate in to promote Newport’s brand? We participate in several events, including the Seafood & Wine Festival, surfing competitions and others.

5. How many events, campaigns and in-market activations on an annual basis are estimated to be required? What are current/past partnerships and sponsorships by the City and

Discover Newport? We do not have a target number of events/campaigns/in-market activations. The City/Discover Newport have sponsored events like the Barrel to Keg

Relay and Agate Beach Surf Competition in the past.

The City of Newport Public Works 169 S.W. Coast Highway Newport, OR 97365 phone: 541.574.3366 fax: 541.265.3301 www.newportoregon.gov

Coast Guard City, U.S.A. Home Port of NOAA Pacific Fleet

6. What is the estimated volume of creative content, copywriting, graphic design and production required on an annual basis? We do not have that information.

7. What is the current volume of assets in the DMO’s asset library? What is the current platform being used to manage the asset library, and is that provided by the City, or will the contractor need to provide an asset management platform? The City does not have that information.

8. Who manages the Discover Newport website? How does the City define “maintain and enhance the Discover Newport website”? Is the City seeking web design support, and does the City handle development? Is web hosting handled by the City? The Discover

Newport website is maintained by the DMO. The City does not handle web development nor web hosting. We would like the DMO to determine how they plan to maintain and enhance the Discover Newport website.

9. Is social media community management required? The DMO should handle all DMO-related social media. The City handles its own social media.

10. What is the anticipated annual paid advertising budget? We do not have a firm budget for this, at this time.

11. Does the City currently use a CRM or marketing automation platform? If so, what platform is used, and is it also utilized for managing the newsletter? Additionally, does the City have an existing CRM database for the newsletter, and if so, how large is the distribution list? We do not.

12. Please provide estimated quantity and frequency of deliverables within “A. Scope of

Services” so offerors can provide accurate cost estimates. We would like the DMO to be able to scope out the frequency of deliverables.

13. What is the annual budget that has been requested for this effort in City’s Annual Budget

Appropriations? We do not yet have a firm budget for this service.

14. Does this contract replace the contract the City issued to the Newport Chamber of

Commerce in June 2024 for Tourism Marketing Services? This contract is for DMO services. There was an RFP issued in 2024, specifically just for content creation, that the

Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce currently holds.

15. Confirming agencies are not required to be in-state? Yes, agencies are not required to be in-state, but must be licensed to do business within Oregon.

16. Can you share the allocated city budget for the first year of the contract? We do not currently have a set budget for this work.

17. Is media planning and buying expected as a part of this SOW? Yes.

18. Will city leadership help source and connect the agency with local stakeholders (i.e.

local businesses and hospitality vendors) or will the agency own all outreach? Yes.

19. Is there a list of identified stakeholders that want to be part of a marketing campaign? Not at this time.

20. In Point 3. Under Scope of Services, it mentioned stakeholder satisfaction and engagement survey scores–will the city be handling the engagement survey or is the agency expected to drive their own stakeholder survey? That is yet to be determined.

21. Has Newport executed any signature events in the past? If so, what was successful and what didn’t work? There have been several signature events, the largest being the Seafood and Wine Festival. We do not have enough data at this time to determine whether it was successful.

22. Do you have an example of creator collaborations you’ve liked that you’re able to share? Not at this time.

23. Do you currently have a monthly newsletter the awarded agency would support or is this a new initiative? We currently do not, but could work with the DMO on this if that is proposed.

24. Is the RFP asking for a redesign of the Discover Newport website or enhancing it to fit the updated brand campaign? We are not specifically asking for a redesign of the website, however, if the DMO agency selected proposes to do that, we are open to changes.

25. Re: Targeted Advertising–do you have your high-value visitor segments in key geographic and psychographic markets defined? Or is this up to the agency to identify? We do not have that identified at this time.

26. Do you have an overall budget assigned for the project? Not at this time.

27. Is there a specific format you would like to see the budget in? For the full two years of the contract? An annual budget? Monthly retainer? etc? We do not have a specific format

– please propose what you feel is best.

28. Is the county involved, or is this just a municipality project? The County is not involved with this project at this time.

29. Has the city done something like this before? Yes, the City currently has a contract with the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce for DMO services, which expires at the end of June 2025.

30. Is there a city/municipality you admire/have your eye on? Not at this time.

31. Are there key local events you want to drive traffic/attention to? Not at this time.

32. What are some of the shining stars of the Newport community you might want to highlight? We would like the DMO to propose focus areas/highlights

33. Where are the key geographic and psychographic markets? We do not have that identified yet.

34. What are the ROAS and conversion rate benchmarks from the past campaigns? We have not historically had these benchmarks.

35. What conversions were being tracked to calculate ROAS and conversion rates? We have not historically had these benchmarks.

36. Who are the people you're most interested in bringing to Newport? We do not currently have this information.

37. Do you know what they think of Newport now vs. what you want them to think? We do not currently have this information.

38. Do you have a perspective on the audience? Primarily Oregonians or Out of state? Age?

Mindset? We do not currently have this information.

39. What are the primary and secondary target audiences for Newport tourism? That is for the DMO to determine, in partnership with the City and will be guided by a future

Strategic Plan.

40. Are there emerging or growth audience segments (e.g. - multicultural ecotourists,) the

City of Newport wishes to prioritize, that have not been prioritized previously? Not to our knowledge currently.

41. How are visitor personas or audience segments defined and activated by season? This is not currently done, to our knowledge.

42. Are there existing insights into visitor motivations (e.g. - seafood, recreation, marine science) or behavior trends? We are not currently aware of this information.

43. Is there data available on audience spending habits beyond overnight lodging? We are not currently aware of this information.

44. What past campaigns or marketing initiatives have been most effective for the City of

Newport? Can that information be shared? We don’t have this information.

45. Are there any current or historical performance benchmarks we should be aware of (CTR, CPM, ROAS, etc.)? Historically, the City has used the transient room tax and hotel occupancy data to help determine performance. Those metrics may or may not be used in the future.

46. What has been the trend in off-season vs. peak-season visitation over the past 3 years?

We do not have this data. The DMO may have this data.

47. Are there any identified areas for improvement or optimization in past performance? Not as of now.

48. What tools or platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Datafy, Simpleview, CRM systems) does the City of Newport currently use for data tracking and campaign management?

Since the DMO does this work, the City does not do this.

49. How is campaign attribution managed today (e.g., last-click, multi-touch)? Are there any attribution challenges? I’m not aware of this information, but the DMO might have it.

50. Has the City of Newport conducted visitor segmentation, LTV analysis, or psychographic profiling? No.

51. What visitor behaviors (e.g., newsletter signups, return visits, on-site engagement) are most predictive of overnight stays, if you have that information. We do not have this information.

52. Should proposed budgets cover a full fiscal year with seasonal allocation, or should they be structured around specific campaign timelines? Full fiscal year.

53. Are media and creative budgets to be unified, or managed independently per initiative?

That is yet to be determined.

54. Are there anticipated opportunities to leverage or match local, regional, or state funding?

There may be, but we would rely on the DMO to help identify those opportunities.

55. Is there budget parameters established for this body of work? Can those be shared? At this time, we do not have a set budget for this work.

56. How is Newport currently positioned relative to other Oregon Coast destinations such as

Lincoln City or Cannon Beach? We do not have this information

57. What aspects of the Discover Newport brand (e.g. - one, design, values) are non-negotiable vs. open for evolution? All aspects are open for evolution.

58. Are there key thematic anchors the City of Newport wants future campaigns to amplify?

Not at this time.

59. Which content formats (e.g.- long-form video, influencer campaigns, user-generated content, podcasting) have shown success or remain underutilized? We do not have this information

60. Are there known content gaps or themes the City of Newport wishes to prioritize (e.g., sustainability, underrepresented voices, local culture)? Local culture and underrepresented voices.

61. What accessibility, DEI, or sustainability requirements must be considered across content development? No established requirements at this time exist.

62. Will the awarded agency lead creative execution fully or partner with other content vendors? Or internal resources Likely, partners with other content vendors.

63. What is the structure and composition of the Discover Newport Committee, and how often do they engage in campaign planning? The Discover Newport Committee does not currently have enough members to meet. The City is currently doing a review of this committee and its purpose, so we do not yet know what it will look like moving forward.

64. How is community sentiment currently gathered and tracked (e.g. - surveys, focus groups)? Typically, the City uses survey to gauge community sentiment.

65. Are there specific community concerns (e.g. over-tourism, housing impact, parking) we should be aware of as we develop messaging? Not at this time.

66. Are there formal or informal community engagement channels in place? The City has a community engagement team.

67. Which current or past events have had the greatest tourism impact or community value?

We do not have enough data to answer this question.

68. Are there event gaps or opportunities for new seasonal or signature events? We do not have enough data to answer this question.

69. How are event success metrics defined, attendance, press coverage, hotel impact, or something else? There has not historically been metrics established to gauge event success.

70. What frequency and format are expected for campaign reporting (e.g., dashboards, quarterly recaps, annual reports)? This is yet to be determined, but we are open to ideas from respondents on this.

71. Are there existing templates or KPIs that should guide our reporting framework? Or will that be established through this process? They will be established through this process.

72. What role does qualitative insight (e.g. - community feedback) play in performance evaluation? It will play a role, but the exact method is yet to be determined.

73. Are there competitive benchmarks or comparative markets the City of Newport uses for performance calibration Not at this time.

74. Is there an expectation for in-person meetings with City of Newport staff/leadership?

Yes, at some level.

75. Will creative assets and brand systems (logos, fonts, past campaign files) be provided upon award? Yes.

**END OF ADDENDUM**