Request for Proposal Tourism Toronto Email Marketing Services 1

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Tourism Toronto requests proposals for

Email Marketing Services

Beginning Q1 2013

Please refer to Appendix B (p. 22) for Questions with Answers (Q&A)

Date of RFP Release: November 12, 2012 Deadline for Submissions: November 23, 2012 4PM EST

Company Profile

Tourism Toronto is the official destination marketing organization for Torontos tourism industry, operating in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture. Tourism Toronto (a.k.a. Toronto Convention and Visitors Association) focuses on promoting and selling the greater Toronto region as a remarkable destination for tourists, convention delegates, and business travellers. Officially operating as a not-for-profit agency, Tourism Toronto has over 1,200 members and is a partnership of public and private sectors. Executive Summary

Tourism Toronto (TT) is seeking an email marketing company to consult, plan and develop and implement an effective email marketing and customer relationship program to

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increase our customer database and improve lead-generation and online booking revenue. Funding for an expanded 2013 program to be approved within the 2013 operating budget. The execution of the contract is expected to begin within 2 weeks of approval and is expected to take place in the first 3 months (Q1) of 2013. Objective

The purpose of this RFP is to have the successful proponent:

Migrate our existing customer database (approximately 45,000) as required Increase conversion rates Implement effective customer tracking with comprehensive reporting Recommend best practices as they pertain to our industry to maximize our

customer value Implement approved strategy using proven platform

Tourism Toronto currently sends out a monthly e-newsletter with events, promotions and other content from our website (seetorontonow.com). We do not currently send out dynamic content or segment our database. The proponents should present recommendations for approaches that would best suit our business in creating better customer relationships and increasing sales. The Appendix provides a draft contract (Master Terms of Service Agreement) that will be used to govern the relationship between the client and the successful proponent. Project Phasing Within the proposal, each proponent should outline the major phases of project activity and project deliverables for each phase of the project. Project activity should include the following tasks (to be included within the proposed timeline and phasing) and accomplished by the Proponent within the Scope of Work and proposed fees. 1. Migration

Migrate our existing customer databases from our current system to recommended platform

Platform should either be proprietary to the proponent or best solution as a value-added reseller

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2. Email Marketing/Customer Relationship Strategy Creation of a comprehensive short and long-term strategy for Tourism Toronto

to grow its customer database and improve overall relationships to increase conversions

Ability to implement strategy

3. Implementation Manage and execute implementation of all solutions recommended in

approved strategy Integrate and automate solutions with Wordpress backend and technology

used in our booking engine system (Meridian Systems)

4. Tracking and Reporting Comprehensive tracking of customer data as determined by approved strategy Provide regular clear and helpful reports to help Tourism Toronto with

continuous improvement of customer acquisitions and engagement

5. Ongoing Maintenance/Support Propose a schedule for ongoing costs that may include design and

development of emails Outline costs for email broadcasts and any other useful services we may

require

Proponent Qualifications

Proponents considered for this project will be able to demonstrate the following credentials/expertise: 1. Excellence and experience in the email/interactive marketing space 2. Experienced, professional in-house project team (including Project Manager) to meet

all project deadlines 3. Proven use of current technologies and standards, and best practices 4. Demonstrated ability to become intimate with a brand and as a result, be able to

recommend strategy accordingly, for that brand.

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Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1) A complete understanding of email/digital marketing trends and

best practices including:

Demonstration of qualifications outlined in Proponent Qualifications

section above.

A description of the proponents business(es)

A description of the services the proponent has previously and/or is

currently delivering, with an emphasis on relevant experience for creating

comprehensive and effective strategies; including:

o example(s) of case studies the proponent has created for

other experiential brands

o a list of clients to whom the proponent has provide a full

breadth of services

Score Weight: 30%

2) Proven approach for implementation

A description of approach, to ensure all those involved with the project are

well coordinated and fully informed of progress and deadlines, for the

project to run smoothly, on time and within budget.

Score Weight: 25%

3) Dedicated consulting, strategy and team

Outline roles and responsibilities of the proponent and all of its agents,

employees and sub-contractors who will be involved in providing the

services (as outlined in the Objective section above), along with the

identity of those who will be performing the roles identified, and their

relevant expertise

Score Weight: 25%

4) Social Media & Other Interactive Integration including a brief description of proponents methodology related to the integration of social media and other interactive features that might be a part of a full email/digital marketing strategy.

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Score Weight: 10%

5) Proposed Costs, including:

Estimates for all elements of the projects as listed above within the

Objectives section

Estimates for any and all additional fees that may be incurred including

(but not limited to):

i. Technical development

ii. License fees

iii. Legal fees

iv. Administration fees

v. Other fees that will impact Tourism Torontos email marketing

Score Weight: 10%

Tourism Toronto is not obligated to select the proponent with the lowest proposal cost. We will evaluate the proposals in a comprehensive manner based on the above-listed criteria.

Submission Details

Proposals must be sent via hard copy or PDF file by email and should be addressed to:

Tourism Toronto 207 Queens Quay West Suite 405 Toronto, ON M5J 1A7 Attention: RFP SUBMISSIONS Tourism Toronto Email Marketing Services, Lynn Crymble Director, Social Media & Content Development OR lcrymble@torcvb.com Attention: RFP SUBMISSIONS Tourism Toronto Email Marketing Services

All respondents are responsible for following up with the contract person indicated in the RFP via email sometime before the submission deadline to confirm that their submission has been received. If no response is received, please call 416-203-2600 to verify receipt. Once a proposal has been submitted, changes to it cannot be accepted. However, respondents may submit a new proposal to replace the original, provided the new one is

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received before the deadline. Questions

Questions may be directed to Lynn Crymble, Director, Social Media & Content Development, at lcrymble@torcvb.com. (please follow up via phone if you do not receive a reply) The deadline for questions is November 19, 2012. On November 21, 2012, an updated RFP will be posted on the RFP page of the Tourism Toronto website: http://www.seetorontonow.com/rfps.aspx, with responses to any generally applicable questions listed for the clarification of all respondents. Selection of Winning Vendor

It is expected that the winning vendor will be selected by December 7, 2012. The winning vendor will be notified both by email and by phone. Please note that a contract with the winning vendor is conditional on internal Tourism Toronto approval. Summary of Key Dates

Deadline for questions: November 19, 2012

Proposal submission deadline: November 23, 2012 4pm EST

Notification to vendors selected for oral presentations: November 29 , 2012

Oral presentations: November 30 December 5, 2012 (if required)

Notice of intent to award contract: December 7, 2012

Expected date of due diligence and contract development: December 21, 2012

Expected start of contract/engagement: TBD 2013. The execution of the contract is expected to begin within 2 weeks of approval and is expected to take place in the first 3 months (Q1) of 2013.

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Rules/Rights

A contract with the winning vendor is conditional on internal Tourism Toronto approval.

Under no circumstances may a family member of a Tourism Toronto employ