Travel Alberta has issued an RFP for a marketing services company. The RFP comes as the tourism marketing body’s agreements with Venture Communications (which handles general marketing and media buying) and Village & Co. (social media strategy) are set to expire in March 2014.
Both Venture and Village & Co., which have worked on the business for three years and two-and-a-half years, respectively, have been invited to pitch on the assignment, said Royce Chwin, Travel Alberta’s chief marketing officer.
The review will involve a “competitive multi-process approach,” with Travel Alberta determining a shortlist following an evaluation of proposals. Those firms will be invited to make a second case study presentation.
Chwin said there are no changes planned to the “Remember to Breathe” positioning created by Karo Group and introduced in late 2011. That platform is still “in its infancy,” said Chwin.
“We’ve really started to grow that brand, and now [it’s a question] of how do we find a partner that will enable us to take it to the next step, how do we continue to punch above our weight with some really significant competitive budgets out there?”
Canada is Travel Alberta’s primary market, followed by the U.S., the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, South Korea and Australia. Alberta and B.C. are its primary targets in Canada, though Chwin said the organization plans to target Ontario “in a big way” in future marketing efforts.
California is Travel Alberta’s primary target market in the United States because of its direct access to the province and its “great base” of target customers, which has been borne out by research.
Travel Alberta’s marketing communications are aimed at two primary constituencies: free spirits and cultural explorers. Chwin described free spirits as “bucket list travelers” that love to share their experiences and are social media influencers, while cultural explorers will thoroughly immerse themselves in their travel experiences.
The goal is to have the review process completed by the end of the year, so that if new agency partners are selected they can begin early next year, said Chwin. The first work will likely appear late 2014.
