HomeMy WebLinkAboutCSD-14-029 - Municipal Asset Advertising Inventory
REPORT TO: Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee
DATE OF MEETING: April 28, 2014
SUBMITTED BY: Paul Pickard, Manager, The Aud & Arenas,
519-741-2200 ex. 5262
PREPARED BY: Jeremy Dueck, Supervisor, Sales & Business
Development, 519-741-2200 ext. 5264
Dylan Matthews, Business Analyst,
519-741-2200 ext. 7078
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All
DATE OF REPORT: April 15, 2014
REPORT NO.: CSD-14-029
SUBJECT: MUNICIPAL ASSET ADVERTISING INVENTORY
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RECOMMENDATION:
That the Municipal Asset Advertising Inventory be approved for future advertising
opportunities on the identified municipal assets attached as Appendix A to CSD-14-029;
and,
That authority for approving other City assets for future advertising opportunities be
assigned to the City’s Corporate Partnership Program Steering Committee.
BACKGROUND:
Glossary of Terms:
The following glossary of terms is intended to ensure a common understanding of the concepts
discussed in this report:
Advertising (as defined in the City’s municipal advertising policy)
– the sale to an
external company, organization, association or individual of advertising space on a
municipal asset for the purposes of influencing, educating or informing the public.
Municipal Assets (as defined in the City’s municipal advertising policy)
– facilities,
vehicles, equipment, programs, services, publications, websites or events, owned and
operated by The City. This includes assets owned and operated by the City’s Enterprises.
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Sponsorship (as defined in the Municipal Sponsorship Strategy)
– A marketing-
oriented, mutually beneficial contractual agreement between the City and a third party where
the City leverages a municipally owned asset (e.g. building, program, service, special event)
to receive financial support in exchange for recognition, exposure, activation opportunities,
and/or other marketing benefits for the third party.
Timeline of Previous Council Approvals:
On December 10, 2013, City Council considered the Municipal Sponsorship Strategy and
approved several recommendations regarding the development of a Municipal Partnership
Program. At that time, City Council also approved the following recommendation specifically
related to future advertising opportunities:
“That staff be directed to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to engage the services of
an outside vendor to support increased advertising sales through municipal assets such
as: corporate publications (e.g. Your Kitchener, Leisure, Best of Times); municipally
owned and operated websites, and; facility/vehicle advertising (e.g. parking garages,
aquatics facilities, fleet vehicles).”
As part of the 2014 budget, City Council approved the inclusion of $45,000 in new revenues to
be generated through increased advertising on municipal assets such as corporate publications
(e.g. Leisure), municipal websites, fleet vehicles and facility signage (e.g. parking garages,
aquatics facilities).
On March 3, 2014, City Council approved a new Municipal Advertising Policy and a revised
Municipal Website Policy. By approving these two policies in advance of releasing the
advertising RFP, potential bidders will have a clear understanding of the policy parameters
under which they should develop their proposals, and the standards by which the City will
determine whether or not an advertisement is acceptable.
REPORT:
The City’s Municipal Sponsorship Strategy considers 4 general types of advertising
opportunities the City may be able to capitalize on in the future: (1) publication advertising, (2)
online advertising, (3) interior/exterior signage advertising, and (4) other advertising
opportunities.
In order to effectively proceed with an RFP to engage a third party vendor in the sale of
advertising on municipal assets in each of these 4 categories, it is important to ensure that a
detailed inventory of assets is clearly defined and approved by City Council. Approving this
inventory of municipal asset advertising opportunities will ensure maximum transparency to the
public and will provide certainty to potential bidders on the RFP. As part of their response to the
City’s RFP, bidders will be required to provide revenue projections. Those projections will be
much more accurate by providing the bidders with a clearly defined list of municipal assets the
City deems acceptable for future advertising.
Appendix A of this report outlines the municipal assets staff is recommending as an initial
offering for a third party advertising RFP. In addition, in order to provide the flexibility required to
respond to requests from the private sector for advertising on other municipal assets, staff is
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also recommending the Municipal Partnership Steering Committee be given the authority to
consider opportunities not included on this inventory. Under this recommended system, staff
would not actively market assets other than those listed on Appendix A, but the City would be
open to considering other ideas from the private sector. Any proposal for which the committee
feels further direction is required would subsequently be presented to City Council for direction.
The Municipal Partnership Steering Committee is sponsored by Michael May, DCAO,
Community Services and led by Paul Pickard, Manager, The Aud and Arenas. It is supported by
Dylan Matthews, Business Analyst and Jeremy Dueck, Supervisor, Sales & Business
Development. Committee Members include: Laura Johnston – Director, Communications; Josh
Joseph – Traffic Technologist, Hans Gross – Director, Asset Management; Cynthia Fletcher –
Director, Facilities Management; Kim Feere – Manager, Kitchener Market.
RFP Process:
The RFP process has been broken into two stages. Once the inventory of municipal assets has
been finalized and approved by City Council, the process to enlist a third party advertiser will
move forward to Stage 2.
Stage 1
– Issue a Letter of Interest (LOI), posted April 8, 2014 – the overall goal and
objectives of the advertising initiative, with the broad categories of assets will be
provided in order to determine: the level of interest in the initiative; the skills and
qualifications of the interested parties; the degree of specialization from interested
parties.
Stage 2
– Using the information gathered in the LOI process, staff will issue an RFP (or
possibly multiple RFPs) with a defined list of assets, providing as much information as
possible with regards to audience reach, demographics, web analytics, and user
information related to each asset. A list of major competitor exclusions will also be listed
in the RFP to ensure compliance with the council approved Municipal Advertising Policy
and the guiding principles for municipal sponsorships which were approved by City
Council in December 2013.
Subsequently, staff will review all proposals submitted and report back to Council with a
recommendation to award the third party contract(s).
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
Generating non-tax based funds for the municipality through increased advertising contributes
to the City’s strategic objective of reducing its reliance on taxes by exploring new sources of
sustainable revenue.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
City Council have approved the inclusion of $45,000 in new revenues to be generated through
increased advertising on municipal assets such as corporate publications (e.g. Leisure),
municipal websites, fleet vehicles and facility signage (e.g. parking garages, aquatics facilities).
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
As part of the community survey recently completed by Environics, Kitchener residents were
asked about their level of support for corporate sponsorships. According to that survey, 84% of
residents either strongly supported, or somewhat supported, generating revenue through
corporate sponsorships. When residents were told these sponsorships “could mean more
promotional activities – such as advertising, product placement and naming”, 58% said that fact
had no impact on their level of support and 28% said it made them more supportive of corporate
sponsorships in the future. According to Environics, “these reactions are generally consistent
across regional and demographic groups.”
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
Michael May, Deputy CAO
Community Services Department
Attachments
Appendix A – Advertising Inventory
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Appendix A
Advertising Inventory
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