To approve an expenditure for Advertising Agency Services contract effective December 13, 2023 through September 30, 2024 in the estimated amount of $1,032,914 with five (5) one-year automatic renewals in the estimated annual amount of $1,289,409, for an estimated total amount of $7,479,959, from Atkins International, LLC for Visit Plano; and authorizing the City Manager to execute all necessary documents. Removed from the agenda by staff.

Visit Plano has been working with The Atkins Group for 13 years. We have found them to be one of the leading agencies in Texas to address the needs of Visit Plano. They are also currently working with Plano Event Center and Plano Economic Development which gives us some cost savings and shared opportunities to work together.

After reviewing The Atkins Group past work and projects with Visit Plano it is clear that their expertise and creative approach align with Visit Plano’s marketing objectives.

The Atkins Group can boast about having a strong profile, featuring well-known brands in our industry. They have consistently delivered measurable results in terms of brand, visibility, and sales conversions.

The agency is known for its “out of the box” ideas, ensuring that our brand will stand out in a crowded marketplace. Their approach to storytelling is both engaging and relevant to our target demographics.

Visit Plano’s interaction with their team, especially the account manager, has been seamless. They are prompt to address inquiries, respective to feedback, and proactive in suggesting solutions.

We are making this recommendation to enter into this service agreement because this would be the best recommendation for us to make. This conclusion was based on several reasons.  The most obvious reasons include the current relationship the City of Plano has with the agency through agreements with Visit Plano, Plano Economic Development and Plano Event Center. In addition, Visit Plano will be doing a full Tourism Strategic Plan in 2024 and we don’t feel that it would be in our best interest to change the ad agency before this plan is completed. Finally, the agency is doing outstanding work on our behalf as noted above.

If this is not awarded by council, we will have to see if we can get an extension to the current agreement and/or go without an ad agency which would have a devastating impact on Visit Plano’s marketing efforts. We do not have the bandwidth in-house to take on these processes. We would expect to see a decrease in overnight visitors which is currently at 3.5 million for 2021-22. This drop in visitors would have a negative impact on the over $75 million in local and state taxes generated by visitors to Plano, which would then impact our hotels, restaurant, retail and so on.

The City is exempt from the competitive bid process for this purchase as allowed by Texas Local Government Code Chapter 252 Subchapter B Section 252.022(a)(4). (City of Plano Internal Contract No. 2023-0700- XR)

Funding for this item is available in the FY 2023-24 Visit Plano budget and is planned through FY 2028-29 as well. This contract for an advertising agreement will begin December 13, 2023 and will end September 2029. The estimated total amount to be spent is $7,479,959 with expected annual expenses of $1,032,914 in FY 2023-24, and $1,289,409 annually for FY 2024-25 through FY2028-29. All future year expenditures will be made within the annually approved budget appropriations.

Approval of this item supports the City's Strategic Plan Critical Success Factors of Welcoming and Engaged Community, Residential and Commercial Economic Vitality, and Excellent, Innovative, and Accountable City Government.