The Valleys Marketing Campaign 2012-2014:

Marketing Communications Brief

This specification outlines the additional marketing communications requirements for phase 2 of the Valleys tourism marketing campaign www.thevalleys.co.uk. The contracts for the Public Relations and Website development elements of the overall campaign have already been awarded. This specification outlines our remaining marketing requirements for a third element of the Valleys tourism campaign. This is an integrated campaign and therefore all companies involved in the delivery of the components will be required to work together in close cooperation to achieve our overall aims. (To help guarantee this, and provide overall coordination for the campaign, the partners are also appointing a marketing coordinator through a separate procurement process.) The budget for this third element is £170k and the contract will run from 7th November 2012 until 31st March 2014.

1. Background

1.1 This tender brief has been issued by Capital Region Tourism on behalf of the Valleys Regional Park (VRP) Marketing Partnership to develop the second phase of a campaign to help achieve the tourism marketing objectives related to the wider programme of activities. The campaign will adopt “The Valleys – Heart and Soul” brand, previously adopted as the public facing positioning for the Valleys as a destination. In addition to its own resources, the partnership has received funding for the campaign from the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government. Please refer to www.thevalleys.org.uk for further background information.

1.2 The Valleys as a destination includes some or all of the local authority areas of Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. These local authorities also form the main partners in the marketing element of VRP. Within the overall Valleys destination parts of Swansea and Powys are also included. The existing consumer facing website for The Valleys can be found at www.thevalleys.co.uk

1.3 The VRP partnership has successfully secured European Convergence Funding under the Environment for Growth priority, specifically focusing on tourism as a theme. The project is one of a series of Convergence Funding bids aimed at developing the tourism product within Wales and in particular within the South Wales valleys area based specifically on environment and heritage.

1.4 The vision of this programme, developed in full partnership with its local authorities and other stakeholders, is that by 2020 the area will be: a culturally rich, dynamic network of vibrant and safe communities, a place where people want to live, work and play with a sustainable, high quality of life and a thriving population, helping to drive the success of south east Wales as an internationally recognised Capital Region.

1.5 Phase 1 of the Valleys marketing campaign commenced in December 2009 with the overall aim to position the region as a credible and desirable short break destination. This was to be achieved by challenging perceptions and helping both visitors and citizens to think differently about the area. The campaign aimed to expand the reach and impact of previous marketing activity by targeting new audiences within a one hour drive of the destination to help increase visitor numbers and spend in the local economy. A comprehensive tourism website www.thevalleys.co.uk was created to showcase The Valleys, and over 100,000 holiday guides over two years were produced and distributed.

1.6 Evaluation research from Phase 1 of the campaign concluded that 70% of people from Swansea, Cardiff and Newport believe The Valleys is a great place for a day out. The campaign website, www.thevalleys.co.uk attracted approximately 11,000 visitors each month and has received more than 175,000 unique visitors to the site since launch in January 2010.

1.7 Over £1m worth of media coverage was achieved through Public Relations activity, and social media activity generated more than 2158 followers on Twitter and 4259 fans on Facebook. A customer database of more than 31,000 people has also been created. For further information please see http://www.thevalleys.co.uk and http://www.thevalleys.org.uk

1.8 Following a review of the Valleys marketing campaign 2009-2012, the partners have agreed that a new approach is required for Phase 2 of the campaign commencing September 2012. The change in approach involves a switch in focus away from the internal target market in Wales towards the staying visitor.

1.9 The Valleys Marketing sub group has agreed that the primary target market areas for Phase 2 of the campaign should include (but not exclusively) the M4 corridor, the Midlands and SW England. Within these target areas, we are seeking potential visitors with a leaning towards softer activities for the generalist rather than the specialist. Furthermore, in line with both Visit Wales and the Valleys branding, there is a need for the Valleys to be different and to provide a real alternative to the obvious short break choices. In addition, other campaigns which the Valleys will link to, such as Cognation (mountain biking), are tackling the more specialist markets.

1.10 In line with Visit Wales’ target market, the Valleys will primarily focus on attracting overnight stays from the independent explorer market which is defined by Visit Wales as follows….

“They (Independent explorers) are free minded and don't follow the herd. They enjoy planning their own trips so they can discover new places and have authentic personal experiences. They like to learn about the local culture and the way of life of the places they visit and immerse themselves in it. Traditional package holidays and well trodden tourist trails are not for them. They like to explore places that are still undiscovered. They're looking for the Real Alternative destination. And it’s in Wales that they’ll find it.”

1.11 ‘Heart and Soul’ Branding

Another element of the VRP project is the development and evolution of a brand for the Valleys to represent the core values of the destination. Alignment with the ‘Heart and Soul’ brand is obviously a key factor to consider in all tourism communications.

There are 3 core values of the brand:

‘Real’ – the spirit of the people:

 Honest, down-to-earth and unpretentious

 A straight talking people that wear their hearts on their sleeves

 Proud of The Valleys’ history and culture

 A sense of belonging

‘Human’ – the spirit of the place:

 A human scale to it – a place that’s famous for the warmth of its welcome

 A great sense of community and family

 A beautiful place that’s not a remote wilderness

 A place that has been shaped by people and human activity

‘Energetic’ – the Valleys attitude and culture. An injection of energy into the brand and its communications, reflecting:

 the increasingly vibrant culture identified in The Bevan Foundation Report

 the wide range of outdoor activities in an environment that’s green again enthusiastic and committed work force for inward investing businesses represents an element of challenge to The Valleys to adopt a positive energetic attitude to continue the area’s regeneration.

The ‘Heart and Soul’ proposition in summary:

 The Valleys aren’t just about stunning landscape and industrial heritage, they’re also about the people who call it home.

 A passionate people, who are proud of their past and positive about their future.

 You’ll find the quickest wits, the biggest characters and the warmest of welcomes in The Valleys.

 Valleys people are real, hard-working and filled with the simple, honest values of family and community.

 The Valleys are the very essence and ‘Heart and Soul of Wales’ – a great place to live, work or visit.

Please see http://www.thevalleys.co.uk/heartandsoul/downloads for more information.

1.12 Please note that the marketing communications element of The Valleys marketing campaign excludes PR, the management of social media channels and the development of the new Valleys website (which will be complete by 1st December 2012). It is expected that this third element will be a multi channel integrated campaign including, social media, direct response, print media, digital media, online and offline advertising.

2. Aims & Objectives

Aims

There are a number of overall aims that we are striving to achieve through the delivery of the tourism marketing campaign:

1. To contribute to the Sustainable Futures strategic outcome “Communities are regenerated across Wales”, and to pro-actively promote the comprehensive range of visitor facilities and cultural activities resulting from the Valleys Regional Park ERDF Project.

2. To ensure that the tourism marketing campaign contributes to the overall regeneration of the Valleys area whilst improving its image for local residents, visitors and potential inward investors, increasing awareness of the Valleys as a credible tourism destination.

3. To deliver an effective tourism marketing campaign that reaches and converts its desired audience resulting in an inflow of visitors to the Valleys area.

4. To deliver creative and innovative tourism marketing activity, where possible, to help project a more positive contemporary image for the Valleys as a destination.

5. To ensure that all partners are fully engaged in marketing activity and given full opportunity to influence and shape campaign direction and activity.

6. To develop a thorough understanding of the realistic visitor market potential for the Valleys and an appreciation of the barriers, perceptions and challenges facing the destination in a highly competitive tourism marketplace.

7. To achieve increased pride in The Valleys through activities, engagement and publicity focussing on the promotion of tourism assets.

8. To deliver consumer communications through the appropriate marketing channels by procuring experienced third parties to assist in delivery as and when required.

9. To manage and generate tourism destination content for distribution through the marketing channels, enhancing and adding value to agreed activity.

10. To ensure that achievable and meaningful targets are devised for each marketing channel and to evaluate the success of all activity

11. To facilitate a process whereby Valleys marketing initiatives are sustained in the period following the end of the Phase 2 campaign.

Specific outcomes:

By the end of the campaign (March 2014) there will be

1. 5% Increased awareness in the market of The Valleys as a credible tourism destination (as measured by on and off-line traffic)

2. 75% Visitors who rate The Valleys highly as a destination for short breaks,

3. Increased footfall at attractions, increased occupancy in serviced and non- serviced accommodation and increased visitor spend 2% above the average for Wales,

4. 5% Increased community engagement and involvement in the campaign and the projects it runs as measured through take-up of the VFR element of the campaign).

Draft Targets:

By the end of Phase 2 of the campaign, we will achieve the following objectives:

1. An overall return on investment of 15:1

2. 65% of our target audience rating our marketing communications (in each channel) as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’.

3. 100% of our internal stakeholders rating our campaign as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’.

4. 65% of local residents stating that our communications are positively changing the image of the area

5. 100% of our partners rating our campaign account management as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’.

6. 60% of our staying visitors stating that they are highly likely to return to the Valleys in the future

3. Requirements

We are seeking to let a contract for a specialist marketing agency for the Valleys involving the development and implementation of a creative, pro-active multi- channel, integrated tourism marketing campaign.

Some elements of the work may need to be sub-contracted where particular tourism expertise and experience will be required. It is essential that specific tourism expertise is provided for this element of the contract to complement in house resources if required.

The successful company will be required to:

3.1 Develop and implement a creative proactive and costed campaign plan in line with the partners’ agreed overall marketing activity plan

The plan will need to be agreed with partners for the campaign period with specific focus on:

 Setting clear targets and performance criteria for each element of the campaign for both online and offline activity.

 A range of digital and traditional creative marketing activity including sub campaigns to target ‘troughs’ in tourism activity.

 Advisory services including strategic marketing support, web contacts promotion, direct mailing, B2B, digital marketing and social media.

 Design, artwork and production control services for all promotional materials.

 A media planning, scheduling and buying service in accordance with the advertising programme agreed by VRP, to include online, press, specialist trade media etc as appropriate.

 Management services to facilitate for the proposed marketing activity including production and print programmes, digital marketing, social media, and a full administration service involving issuing status reports and regular contact reports. Reporting monthly on progress, identifying content requirements on a monthly basis and collaboration with partners to generate necessary content are essential.

 To work closely with the website contractor and to manage and update web content and also customer interaction, including requests for information and queries.

 Provision of a bilingual copywriting and proof-reading service as required

3.2 Monitoring and Evaluation

 Evaluation of all marketing, press and media coverage. The successful contractor may also be asked to provide a monthly summary on the Valleys campaign.

For all activity, we expect the successful contractor to provide day to day, general client liaison (other than that specifically related to a briefed project) free of charge - this will include travel to and attendance at meetings etc.

All jobs/project costs must be agreed in writing in advance and these must include, where applicable, VAT and delivery charges. Some element of speculative work will be required, which will need to be costed and agreed in advance of delivery.

3.3 Design, Print and Marketing Distribution- The Valleys Staying with Friends and Relatives (SFR) campaign

‘Staying with Friends and Relatives’ or SFR is a recognised tourism activity that potentially contributes massively to the local economy. The main motivation for a SFR tourist to visit a particular area has little to do with the intrinsic strength or appeal of the destination, but is merely due to friends or relatives that happen to live at the location. This means that marketing communications have a limited impact on generating SFR visits, but could be significant in encouraging day visits and spend throughout a destination if hosts are targeted with the necessary information.

SFR activity is widespread across all demographics and economic profiles, with the majority of visitors tending to stay with their hosts rather than in local accommodation. However, in recent years, SFR activity has begun to overspill into the accommodation sector, but the greatest spend remains to be associated with dining out, day visits, retail and an increased demand for local provisions to cater for extended family etc.

There is an opportunity in the Valleys to produce an activity related guide that could be used to inform residents (and visitors) of the wealth of options that exist locally. The campaign will need to consider who to target, which distribution channels, how to evaluate the success, and also what key messages and content to utilise. There may also be a need to incentivise data capture and to consider capitalising on any potential citizen journalism opportunities that could emerge. Care must be taken however to complement and coordinate with existing campaigns aimed at day visitors such as Southern Wales Attractions Partnership.

The contractor will be expected:

 To develop proposals for this campaign activity to be agreed by the partners. It is expected that no more than £20,000 is allocated to this element of the campaign during the first 12 month period.  To decide on realistic targets for the SFR campaign and how to evaluate the success.  To encourage participation in the campaign by providing and communicating an appropriate incentive to Valleys residents engaged with SFR activity.  To design and print the required quantity of activity guides in the preferred format to be agreed by the Valleys marketing partnership.  To identify appropriate outlets and channels that meet the campaign’s needs and to provide a distribution and delivery plan for approval. This plan needs to identify and include outlets both inside and outside of the Valleys area.  To review existing data available and develop a ‘clean’ database of identified outlets and individual contacts.  To propose an annual cycle of distribution for outlets individual contacts that takes into account the size, nature and location of outlets.  To add additional call cycles with extra contact with specific outlets should the need arise within the existing contractual arrangement.  To provide evidence of relevant field experience, an in depth knowledge of the tourism market in Wales and literature distribution expertise.  To establish an effective monitoring system for each contact, recording details of literature/quantities distributed.  To ensure that campaign literature is distributed with information regarding display and shown prominently within outlets.  To produce a report at the end of each call cycle, detailing contacts made and stock distributed, analysed by outlet and geographical location..  To produce an end of year analysis including figures evaluating the degree to which the campaign has increased dispersion and spend throughout the Valleys.

The cost estimation for the above services must be inclusive of packaging, stock delivery, travel and other costs involved in undertaking this work. Some additional project work associated with this contract may be required from time to time.

3.4 Direct Response Marketing - The Valleys Holiday Guide

The destination holiday guide or brochure has been a familiar tool for Tourism Marketing Areas (TMAs) in Wales to help showcase their tourism assets. They have over the years been essential in direct response marketing efforts, being used as fulfilment items in response to potential customer enquiries and requests.

The current Valleys brochure is a full-colour A4 publication. There is a detailed accommodation section containing standard ‘advertisements’ and listings which are free to all graded accommodation operators in the area.

In 2010, 75,000 brochures were printed with 11,981 sent out by via Visit Wales requests for Spring Campaign; 27,500 were sent directly to postal database contacts; 251 were sent via website requests and 34,547 were distributed to Tourism Information Centres (TIC’s), attractions, service stations etc.

The design and content of the brochure was revised in 2011 and 40,000 brochures were printed and a wider distribution was achieved: 27,000 postcards were sent to the existing postal database contacts; 31,867 brochures were distributed to TIC’s, attractions, service stations etc and Visit Wales requests; 50 copies were sent to each of the Top 50 attractions; 5,581 via requests from the website and UK Holiday Guide and 3,000 were allocated to Get Smart distribution in the Midlands.

The consumer database that forms an important channel for holiday guide distribution contains approximately 17,000 clean postal addresses and 14,000 clean e-mail contacts. The postal addresses have received postcards and subsequent brochures, the email addresses have received regular e-newsletters. The e- newsletters were developed as a way of communicating with the growing e-mail database and keeping The Valleys front of mind for potential visitors. An e-mail was sent out quarterly around seasonal events and specific themes.

To complement the Holiday Guide and direct marketing activity, an iPhone and Android app for the Valleys was created to showcase the independently written top 50 Valleys essentials. The app has evolved and now includes geo-caching trails too.

In view of timescales the partners are directly and separately commissioning design and production of the 2013 brochure as an urgent task.

The contractor will be responsible for:

 Effective and timely distribution of the 2013 brochure  Production of monthly e-newsletter.  Production of approximately 10,000 postcards for targeting clean mail addresses in the consumer database and/or new bought-in data fitting our target market profile.  Identify new development opportunities for the smartphone applications and to continue to promote their availability.  To review the 2013 brochure and audience/channels and make recommendations for 2014

3.5 Consumer Database and Website Management

We want to develop and enhance our individual and outlet database to facilitate e- communications. We want to ensure that our database contacts are cleaned regularly, that we extend and expand our contacts and that we seek innovative online solutions for the delivery of communications.

The contractor will be responsible for:

 Working closely with the specialist web provider to ensure that the delivery of on-line activities is integrated within the overarching campaign  Capturing, managing and maintaining the contact database in line with data protection and commercial confidentiality  Facilitating and evaluating the distribution of bespoke e-marketing and print materials  Working with the web contractor to distribute on-line material  Regular review and update of website content  Monitoring interaction with the website and responding to queries and requests for information  Providing a bi-lingual service as required

4. Timetable

Quotations returned by: Midday on Tuesday 23rd October 2012

Shortlisting by: Monday 29th October 2012

Interviews: Wednesday 31st October 2012*

Contract awarded by: Wednesday 7th November 2012*

Inception meeting: Friday 9th November 2012*

* provisional target dates

5. Welsh Language Requirements

The successful contractor will need to ensure that services provided through this contract are compliant with the Welsh Language Scheme for the Welsh government. A copy of the Scheme can be found at: http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/welshlanguage/publications/06wlangscheme/?lan g=en http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/welshlanguage/publications/06wlangscheme/?lan g=cy

6. Submission

Please send an electronic version of your submission to [email protected] by midday on the date specified in section 4. Three hard copies of your submission should also be sent by the date specified to:

Capital Region Tourism / Uwch Ranbarth Twristiaeth North Lodge Dyffryn Gardens St Nicholas Vale of Glamorgan CF5 6SU

We ask that all submissions agree to the following format and exclude any company promotional material. Any additional company brochures etc can be included but please note they do not form part of the evaluation.

To assist with the evaluation process, your submission should be structured by adhering to the proposed format below (weighting 5%):

1) Completed tender form (See appendix for blank form to be completed)

2) Introduction

3) Background (about your company)

4) Methodology. Please outline the approach you would adopt in delivering each of our requirements outlined in section 3, and in addition include in this section your response to:

Innovative and creative approach: We would like you to provide innovative and creative ideas on your approach to deliver this contract in a written proposal (max 1,000 words). Concentrate on how you would use the various channels available to maximise the generation of bed nights in the destination. (25% weighting)

Evaluation: Please set out how you would evaluate this project (max 700 words) (10% weighting)

Understanding of the tourism industry and traditional and specialist marketing channels: Please demonstrate your understanding in these areas outlining any communication challenges and possible solutions (max 800 words) (weighting 10%).

5) Scheduling and costs (20% weighting)

Requirement/Fee Cost (exc VAT)

Daily rates for the core team and subcontractors £

Monthly rates for the core team and sub £ contractors

Average number of days per month needed £

Cost per hour for attending meetings in the £ Valleys area

Development of a monthly media summary £

Any additional costs, including: Hourly rate £ (unless specified) • Creative Services – such as design and writing

• Studio Services

• Strategic Planning on specific projects, inc digital marketing strategy

• Provision of production services/estimates/preparation of print tenders, liaison with printers, proofing

• Maintenance/update of social media channels

• Filming and editing

• Management fee for sub-contractors (overall cost)

• Literature development (cost per issue):

o Management (for planning, client meetings, supplier supervision)

o Editing, subbing and proofing

o Originating and writing copy (inc interviews)

o Miscellaneous costs

o E-newsletter

o Management fee for sub-contractors (overall cost)

• Literature distribution:

o Packaging, stock, delivery, travel and admin (per 1,000)

o Desk research

o Fieldwork (Daily rate)

o Management fee for sub-contractors (overall cost)

• Web and Contact Database:

o Database enhancement and management (monthly charge)

o E-distribution (per mailing)

o Evaluation (daily rate)

o Online contact development (daily rate)

o Management fee for subcontractors (overall cost)

Please confirm your total contract cost per annum. The figures quoted will be capped at that level for the duration.

Financial Year Cost (Exc VAT)

2012/13

2013/14

Total Cost

6) Previous relevant experience Please provide examples of similar campaigns that you have delivered and what they achieved for the client. No word limit. (20% weighting)

7) Staff resource. Please provide an outline of the core team who will be delivering the project and pen profiles for each team member, including sub contractors, outlining how their experience and skills will meet our requirements (no word limit) (10% weighting)

8) References

Please note that you may be required to attend an interview on the date specified in section 4 above to present your submission. The client reserves the right to award the contract based on submission alone.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Your agreement to operate within the full terms and conditions of this contract must be signed and returned to the client Capital Region Tourism. The agreement documentation should be attached to the correspondence from the client inviting you to tender or provide a quotation for tourism services.

OTHER CONDITIONS

Intellectual Property and Copyright

All databases and other materials including data, developed in connection with this contract will be the property of Valleys Regional Park (VRP) and partners.

On termination of the contract the contractor will be required to make available to VRP and partners or to a third party nominated in writing by VRP, all database information in an electronic format (disk, digital file, etc) suitable for transfer to an appropriate database. If so requested the contractor shall provide a hard copy of the same database information.

All materials, including reports, press releases, address lists, visit sheets, computer programmes and database provided or developed in connection with this contract are the property of VRP and are not to be used in any other connection, without the prior permission of VRP who may recall them at any time.

All design and artwork, copy, scans and other materials prepared by or for the contractor for use, or intended use, in relation to the performance of this contract will be assigned to and shall vest in the Crown absolutely, and must not be used in any other connection by the successful bidder without their express written permission.

Compliance

Contract bidders must provide proof that they are registered under the terms of the Data Protection Act and comply with health and safety regulations, environmental legislation and ethical best practice.

Client Liaison

The client for this commission is Capital Region Tourism, a joint sponsor in the VRP Project, acting on behalf of and in close partnership with the local authority and other relevant partners.

Your will be required to work closely with the Contract Manager and wider team in Capital Region Tourism, the website contractor, the Welsh Government Communications team, and the Valleys Regional Park Marketing Sub Group.

The Marketing Sub Group will hold monthly meetings and the successful contractor will be expected to attend these meetings to report on progress and to gain approval for their proposals for the campaign.

All activities will need the approval of the Contract Manager and Partnership before they can be developed and delivered. All copy will need to be approved by the Contract Manager.

Contact information for the team will be provided.

Performance Review

Please note that as the contract will be in place for c.16 months the partners will set formal review periods after 6 and 12 months to assess progress against this specification, the resulting successful tender proposal and the agreed campaign plan, targets and contract agreement derived from them in negotiation with the partners. These reviews will address both qualitative and quantitative performance and give both parties an opportunity to reassess the future course of the contract. In the case of a dispute CRT’s normal contract procedures will apply. APPENDIX: FORM OF TENDER

Name of Supplier/Tenderer …………………………………………………….

Date ………………………….

Tender for: The Valleys Marketing Campaign 2012-2014: Tourism Public Relations and Social Media

To: Capital Region Tourism

I have read and examined the tender documentation for the above and hereby offer to execute and complete the services identified in accordance with the Conditions of Contract for the sum of:

(words)

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…………………………………………………………………………………………

(£) ………………………………………………………..

(Excluding VAT)

Dated this……………….……day of…………………………….2012

Signature …………………………………………………….………….

Name in Capitals……………………………………………………..…

For and on behalf of (full name & address of supplier)

…………………………………………………………………………….

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