South Dakota, home of the Badlands and Mount Rushmore, is reviewing its PR and marketing accounts with an RFP open through late April.
Lawrence & Schiller of Sioux Falls is the nine-year incumbent on the $7.5M-a-year pact, but the South Dakota Dept. of Tourism says it is open to the best proposals regardless of an agency’s location.
The tourism entity has broken down the account into two components: advertising, branding, research and PR, and a second part focused on digital marketing, web development and social media.
The state today (March 27) kicked off a new marketing campaign, “Your American Journey,” to replace its long-running “Great Faces. Great Places” campaign.
Jim Hagen, secretary of the Dept. of Tourism, said the previous work served the state well but noted “success sometimes leads to complacency.” He added: “The department decided it was time for a fresh perspective; time for something that would reach visitors on an emotional level.”
L&S’ contract runs through late November.
Deadline for proposals is April 27. View the RFP at http://www.sdvisit.com/RFP/index.asp.