Okaloosa County Sealed Solicitation
Title: Marketing, Advertising, & Public Relations Services for Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department-DM
Deadline: 3/26/2025 3:00 PM (UTC-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Status: Awarded
Solicitation Number: RFP TDD 25-25
Description: It is the intent of the Okaloosa County through its Tourist Development Department to solicit proposals from strategic marketing and advertising agencies to provide Marketing, Advertising, and Public Relations Services.
The Okaloosa County Tourist Development Department (TDD) is known within the tourism industry as Destin-Fort Walton Beach FL (DFWB) and is comprised of the following departments:
Sales + Marketing
Visitor Information
Meetings + Events
Natural Resources
Destination Stewardship
Film Commission
Agency strategies and initiatives may be directed to any of these departments. DFWB is seeking the professional services of a qualified, full-service marketing and advertising agency, or a joint venture of multiple specialized agencies, to work with them in the development, implementation and evaluation of the strategic, integrated marketing programs to promote DFWB as a premier travel destination to state, regional, national and international markets. DFWB seeks an agency partner that can help develop and deliver an integrated program that maximizes paid, owned, earned, and shared media strategies, supports outreach and advocacy and delivers on our Mission.
The Mission of DFWB is to make time spent here, whether visiting, living or working, more valuable to all. Our Brand Promise is to get children outside, on the water to give their adventurous side room to grow. For more information on the department mission, brand promise and more regarding Okaloosa tourism efforts, visit myokaloosa.com.
This RFP aims to seek and retain an agency or agencies to work with DFWB’s teams in planning, developing, and executing marketing programs in domestic and international markets.
Documents:
| Documents as of 1/24/2025 |
|---|
| Login to view documents |
Addition 1
Posted: 2/26/2025
Type of Addition: Addendum
Overview: See addendum attached.
Documents:
Addition 2
Posted: 4/24/2025
Type of Addition: Award Information
Overview: awarded to Boone Oakley
Question 1
Posted: 2/4/2025
Question: Can an advertising agency with media buying and planning expertise in the out-of-home advertising space apply to be your OOH vendor in this project?
Response: see addendum attached
Question 2
Posted: 2/4/2025
Question: Who is the incumbent vendor? What is the budget? What are your 3-5 top pain points? Is subcontracting allowed?
Response: see addendum attached
Question 3
Posted: 2/18/2025
Question: • Will incumbent agency/agencies be pitching/included in this RFP process? • Please further clarify the June 2025 start date and the October 1, 2025 start date. Is this the result of agencies consolidation? • Based on the response above, please further clarify the assumed agency services and/or deliverables from June - October 2025? • Do you have segmentation models? If so, please provide. • How do you measure success of the program? Economic impact, lodging tax and occupancy levels, etc.? • Is there any flexibility in paid media being paid directly by DFWB? • What is your department’s structure/key points of contact?
Response: see addendum attached
Question 4
Posted: 2/20/2025
Question: 1. The current structure has a lead agency in place, is that agency staying and the new vendors would report to them or is the organization looking to change the lead as well? 2. Does DFWB own the intellectual property such as the social media pages and web sites or is it property of the agency? 3. Is the current website vendor remaining and what specifically is that company’s responsibilities 4. Is DFWB interested in developing a separate website - that's not mixed with their government site
Response: see addendum attached
Question 5
Posted: 2/21/2025
Question: Do pages allocated for the required forms count toward the total RFP page count. Can that be considered an addendum? Can forms be condensed to include multiple forms on one page? What is the reason for the bid at this time? What are the key elements that you are looking for to make a PR/AOR Agency change? Who is your current PR AOR and how long have they had the account? Are they participating in the bid process? Who is your current Advertising / Creative Agency? Are you all required to go to RFP at this stage of your engagement with your agency or was this an independent determination to go to RFP? Can you please provide insight into the budget and budget breakdown, including allocations for PR Agency Services and allocations for out-of-pocket expenses such as media travel, media events and activations and creator fees? What are some things about Okaloosa County that people don’t know? What would you say is your biggest challenge in attracting visitors to Okaloosa County? What area of Okaloosa County tourism do you consider to be ‘un-tapped’ and/or areas of focus you would like to see emphasized when building out the PR plan? What has been most successful with your Marketing and PR efforts over the past 18 months? How many media do you host a year? What would your homerun placement be in terms of media outlet and storyline? Beyond current attractions, are there any upcoming developments or new attractions to highlight? Which inbound markets are most important for tourism to Okaloosa County? Besides the markets you already are attracting, what other markets do you see as opportunities for increased visitation? Who are your primary demographic targets? Is there an emerging demographic you're hoping to tap into further? What are your high demand and shoulder season periods? Is there a recent strategic/annual plan you could provide to assist us in guiding our strategy? Can you share the list of any PR/Media industry events in which you currently participate? For paid media spend as outlined, “Paid media is paid directly to the vendor by DFWB at net cost, i.e. exclusive of commission.”, what level of media spend detail will be required/expected before payment can be submitted? How should media spend invoices be prepared for DFWB?
Response: See addendum 1 attached
Posted: 2/26/2025
Type of Addition: Addendum
Overview: See addendum attached.
Documents:
Posted: 4/24/2025
Type of Addition: Award Information
Overview: awarded to Boone Oakley
Posted: 2/4/2025
Question: Can an advertising agency with media buying and planning expertise in the out-of-home advertising space apply to be your OOH vendor in this project?
Response: see addendum attached
Posted: 2/4/2025
Question: Who is the incumbent vendor? What is the budget? What are your 3-5 top pain points? Is subcontracting allowed?
Response: see addendum attached
Posted: 2/18/2025
Question: • Will incumbent agency/agencies be pitching/included in this RFP process? • Please further clarify the June 2025 start date and the October 1, 2025 start date. Is this the result of agencies consolidation? • Based on the response above, please further clarify the assumed agency services and/or deliverables from June - October 2025? • Do you have segmentation models? If so, please provide. • How do you measure success of the program? Economic impact, lodging tax and occupancy levels, etc.? • Is there any flexibility in paid media being paid directly by DFWB? • What is your department’s structure/key points of contact?
Response: see addendum attached
Posted: 2/20/2025
Question: 1. The current structure has a lead agency in place, is that agency staying and the new vendors would report to them or is the organization looking to change the lead as well? 2. Does DFWB own the intellectual property such as the social media pages and web sites or is it property of the agency? 3. Is the current website vendor remaining and what specifically is that company’s responsibilities 4. Is DFWB interested in developing a separate website - that's not mixed with their government site
Response: see addendum attached
Posted: 2/21/2025
Question: Do pages allocated for the required forms count toward the total RFP page count. Can that be considered an addendum? Can forms be condensed to include multiple forms on one page? What is the reason for the bid at this time? What are the key elements that you are looking for to make a PR/AOR Agency change? Who is your current PR AOR and how long have they had the account? Are they participating in the bid process? Who is your current Advertising / Creative Agency? Are you all required to go to RFP at this stage of your engagement with your agency or was this an independent determination to go to RFP? Can you please provide insight into the budget and budget breakdown, including allocations for PR Agency Services and allocations for out-of-pocket expenses such as media travel, media events and activations and creator fees? What are some things about Okaloosa County that people don’t know? What would you say is your biggest challenge in attracting visitors to Okaloosa County? What area of Okaloosa County tourism do you consider to be ‘un-tapped’ and/or areas of focus you would like to see emphasized when building out the PR plan? What has been most successful with your Marketing and PR efforts over the past 18 months? How many media do you host a year? What would your homerun placement be in terms of media outlet and storyline? Beyond current attractions, are there any upcoming developments or new attractions to highlight? Which inbound markets are most important for tourism to Okaloosa County? Besides the markets you already are attracting, what other markets do you see as opportunities for increased visitation? Who are your primary demographic targets? Is there an emerging demographic you're hoping to tap into further? What are your high demand and shoulder season periods? Is there a recent strategic/annual plan you could provide to assist us in guiding our strategy? Can you share the list of any PR/Media industry events in which you currently participate? For paid media spend as outlined, “Paid media is paid directly to the vendor by DFWB at net cost, i.e. exclusive of commission.”, what level of media spend detail will be required/expected before payment can be submitted? How should media spend invoices be prepared for DFWB?
Response: See addendum 1 attached