City of
Common
Council Report
Meeting
Date:
August 21, 2012
Item
No.:
Recommendation: That
the Council authorize staff to negotiate exclusively with Savage
Communications, LLC to provide marketing and branding services for the City.
Background: Since 2007, the Community Development
Authority has taken a more active role in marketing of our community. In that year, after going through an RFP
process, the City contracted with Celtic, Inc., a local advertising and public
relations firm to undertake marketing and branding efforts on behalf of the
City. Over the course of the last few
years, Celtic assisted the CDA in establishing its own website, developing an
email marketing campaign and producing collateral print graphics for the City to
use. That was the initial phase of what
was planned to be a much larger engagement with this firm. Unfortunately, our resources at that time
prevented the City from fully implementing that plan.
There continues to be
a need for branding and marketing our community. Given the number of catalytic projects
underway in our community (Drexel Town Square, Lakefront, 27th
Street) we have a rare opportunity to create a very strong brand for our City.
The City is a member
of the Milwaukee Gateway Aerotropolis Corporation as well as the Airport
Gateway Business Association (AGBA), of which I serve on the Board of
Directors. During my work with AGBA,
which goes back several years, I have had the opportunity to witness an
organization grow from a start up to a major player in regional economic
development circles. A major part of
that success can be attributed to the proactive and innovative marketing
strategies that had been developed by their marketing partners, Savage
Solutions.
Savage Solutions is a
local firm that provides a comprehensive, integrated, approach to marketing and
branding. Based on my experiences with
this firm, I felt that they would be a great partner for the City. As such, I arranged for the firm to meet with
the Mayor and Alderman Ruetz (then a CDA member) to see if they shared my
enthusiasm for this group. Based on that
meeting, Savage Solutions made a presentation to the entire CDA. At that August 1st meeting, the
CDA voted to authorize staff to further investigate and take steps to engage
Savage Solutions to provide marketing and branding services to the City.
The initial marketing
and branding firm was selected through an RFP process. However, the City Attorney has confirmed
that, with the Council’s consent the City may negotiate with this firm
exclusively, without going through an RFP process. If the Council concurs, staff will work with
this firm to develop a professional service agreement and scope of services
which would be brought back for Council approval at a later date.
Fiscal Impact: A scope of services and project agreement
will be negotiated and brought to the Common Council for approval at a later
date. It is anticipated that the bulk of
funding for this initiative will be provided through Fund 31 – Economic
Development, which is supported largely through the use of hotel-motel room
tax.
|
Prepared by: Doug Seymour, AICP Director of Community Development |
Respectfully submitted, Gerald Peterson, ICMA-CM City Administrator |
|
Fiscal Review by: Mark Wyss Finance Director |
|