Consideration and Approval of Emergency/Sole Source Purchase: Purchase of advertisements from Republic Media (Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, Sedona Publishing, etc.)

This action will allow the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) to place published and online advertisements in target markets in accordance with the media plan proposed during the annual FY 2014 budget process throughout the upcoming fiscal year. 

Subsidiary Decisions Points: None
 

The $85,000 for advertising with Republic Media is allocated in the CVB’s FY 2014 media plan and corresponding marketing budget (053-8402-650-2802).

Retain, expand, and diversify economic base

Yes. Each year the City Council reviews this sole source advertising purchase. Each year that it has been presented to City Council, it has been approved with no amendments.

Option A: Approve the purchase of advertisements from Republic Media Advertising       
Option B: Amend the FY 2014 Media Plan and corresponding Republic Media allocations.                        
Option C: Reject.purchase of advertisements from Republic Media Advertising.

Per the proposed FY 2014 Media Plan, the CVB places advertising with Republic Media outlets throughout the year.  In order to place these ads, the CVB must contract with these outlets early in the fiscal year.  By signing an annual contract with Republic Media, the CVB will secure much more favorable rates and reach potential travelers in the targeted markets. 

The CVB is responsible for executing an aggressive and targeted marketing campaign which will attract overnight visitation and increase BBB revenues. These BBB revenues are a critical component in creating a sustainable community, as they fund arts and science initiatives, beautification projects, economic development, parks and recreation programs, and future tourism promotion.

It is anticipated that the total media plan for FY 2014, as outlined in the attachment, will be approximately $525,000 as budgeted.  The cost of the Republic Media contract will not exceed $85,000.  The Arizona Republic is the state’s largest newspaper with a Sunday circulation of 463,000 and AZCentral.com is the newspaper’s corresponding website. In addition to these outlets, the CVB also places advertisements in La Voz, a Spanish language publication that is distributed in the Tucson and northern Mexico region, as well as Sedona Publishing outlets.

The CVB places advertising in more than 75 publications throughout the world, in addition to working with an online ad display network which places online ads throughout their network of websites, including Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook and more. These efforts are supplemented with a search pay-per-click (PPC) campaign and additional marketing, sales and public relations efforts.

By advertising with Republic Media and others, Flagstaff is promoted as a year-round visitor destination.  The goal of the CVB’s advertising is to increase overnight visitation to Flagstaff, thereby generating BBB tax revenues to be reinvested in the community.

Consult - The CVB budget, which included the proposed FY 2014 media plan, was presented to the Tourism Commission on May 28, 2013, and was recommended by the Commission..
Collaborate - The proposed media plan includes opportunities for cooperative marketing in order to gain coverage of Flagstaff as a destination and with our partners.