11.    Visitor and cultural services multi-channel marketing initiative


SERVICES CULTURELS ET D'ACCUEIL AUX VISITEURS - INITIATIVE DE MARKETING À CIRCUITS MULTIPLES

 

 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

 

That Council:

 

1.                  Endorse the Visitor and Cultural Services Multi-Channel Marketing Initiative which seeks to shine a spot light on Ottawa’s Arts and Cultural events and activities as outlined in this report;

 

2.                  Authorize staff to issue a Request for Proposals for the development of a City web portal which integrates the event calendars of Ottawa Tourism, National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa into a new comprehensive calendar to serve as the primary reference point for arts, culture and heritage events in the city;

 

3.                  Authorize staff to issue a Request for Proposals for the development of comprehensive marketing and sponsorship strategy to support the new City web portal and calendar of events;

 

4.           Authorize staff to issue an Expression of Interest for the development and deployment of electronic ticketing kiosks to be located at strategic high-traffic locations within the City.

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS DU COMITÉ

 

Que le Conseil :

 

1.         appuie l'Initiative de marketing à circuits multiples pour les services culturels et d'accueil aux visiteurs, qui vise à mettre sous le feu des projecteurs  les événements et activités artistiques et culturels d’Ottawa, comme il est décrit dans le présent rapport;

 

2.         autorise le personnel à publier une demande de propositions en vue de l'élaboration d'un portail Web intégrant les calendriers des activités de l’Administration du Tourisme et des Congrès d’Ottawa, de la Commission de la capitale nationale et de la Ville d’Ottawa en un nouveau calendrier général qui constituerait le principal point de référence pour les événements à caractère artistique, culturel ou patrimonial dans la ville;

 

3.         autorise le personnel à publier une demande de propositions en vue de l'élaboration d'une stratégie complète de commercialisation et de commandite afin de soutenir le nouveau portail Web et le calendrier des activités;

 

4.         autorise le personnel à publier une demande de déclaration d'intérêt en vue de l'élaboration et du déploiement de billetteries électroniques devant être situées à des endroits stratégiques et achalandés de la ville.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DOCUMENTATION

 

    1. Planning and Growth Management, Deputy City Manager’s report dated
      01 May 2006 (ACS2006-PGM-ECO-0001).

    2.  

Report to/Rapport au :

 

Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee

Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique

 

and Council / et au Conseil

 

1 May 2006 / le 1er mai 2006

 

Submitted by/Soumis par : Ned Lathrop, Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint,

Planning and Growth Management/Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance 

 

Contact Person/Personne ressource : Michael Murr, Manager

Economic Development and Strategic Projects/Développement économique et Projets stratégiques

(613) 580-2424 x25195, Michael.Murr@ottawa.ca

 

City Wide

Ref N°: ACS2006-PGM-ECO-0001

 

 

SUBJECT:

Visitor and cultural services multi-channel marketing initiative

 

 

OBJET :

SERVICES CULTURELS ET D'ACCUEIL AUX VISITEURS - INITIATIVE DE MARKETING À CIRCUITS MULTIPLES

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

 

That the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee recommend that Council:

 

1.         Endorse the Visitor and Cultural Services Multi-Channel Marketing Initiative which seeks to shine a spot light on Ottawa’s Arts and Cultural events and activities as outlined in this report;

 

2.         Authorize staff to issue a Request for Proposals for the development of a City web portal which integrates the event calendars of Ottawa Tourism, National Capital Commission and the City of Ottawa into a new comprehensive calendar to serve as the primary reference point for arts, culture and heritage events in the city;

 

3.         Authorize staff to issue a Request for Proposals for the development of comprehensive marketing and sponsorship strategy to support the new City web portal and calendar of events;

 

4.           Authorize staff to issue an Expression of Interest for the development and deployment of electronic ticketing kiosks to be located at strategic high-traffic locations within the City.

 

 

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique recommande au Conseil :

 

1.         d'appuyer l'Initiative de marketing à circuits multiples pour les services culturels et d'accueil aux visiteurs, qui vise à mettre sous le feu des projecteurs  les événements et activités artistiques et culturels d’Ottawa, comme il est décrit dans le présent rapport;

 

2.         d'autoriser le personnel à publier une demande de propositions en vue de l'élaboration d'un portail Web intégrant les calendriers des activités de l’Administration du Tourisme et des Congrès d’Ottawa, de la Commission de la capitale nationale et de la Ville d’Ottawa en un nouveau calendrier général qui constituerait le principal point de référence pour les événements à caractère artistique, culturel ou patrimonial dans la ville;

 

3.         d'autoriser le personnel à publier une demande de propositions en vue de l'élaboration d'une stratégie complète de commercialisation et de commandite afin de soutenir le nouveau portail Web et le calendrier des activités;

 

4.         d'autoriser le personnel à publier une demande de déclaration d'intérêt en vue de l'élaboration et du déploiement de billetteries électroniques devant être situées à des endroits stratégiques et achalandés de la ville.

 

 

BACKGROUND

 

The City has made it a Corporate Plan priority and an important strategic direction of the 20/20 Arts and Heritage Plan to engage in a partnered effort to broaden public access to local arts, culture, heritage and festival events by developing a sophisticated information, communication, and box office capacity that complements the promotional activities of individual groups. Ottawa has a number of event calendars, none of which are comprehensive enough to appropriately inform both tourist and local resident audiences of Ottawa’s vast scope of cultural activities and events. If Ottawa is to further its strategic goals to be a creative city and draw greater local and international attention to culture in Ottawa, as well as assist artists and organizations to be more self-sustaining, it must not only create a permanent infrastructure for its artists to perform, but make it easy to buy tickets, review venue seating options and locate facilities.

 

As a result, the City of Ottawa set out in 2005, in conjunction with its community stakeholders, to assess potential collaboration opportunities, identify planning needs, funding models, cost sharing and ultimately a preferred approach and implementation plan.

 

There is a national and global trend for local governments to collaborate with provincial and federal levels of government as well as with private and non-profit organizations in order to further their arts and culture goals. A good example is Toronto’s “To Live with Culture” initiative which showcases the vibrant and diverse cultural activities happening in the city each and every day. One reason for this trend is the recognition that there is a strong correlation for City regions that are leading centres of arts and immigration and their ability to attract knowledge-based industries and talent. In addition, the World Tourism Organization estimates that cultural tourism is growing at a rate of 15% per year and that 37% of all international travel includes a cultural component. The Canadian Tourism Commission estimates the North American market to be 49.1 million people, representing a large existing and potential market for cultural tourism.

 

 

DISCUSSION

 

The overall objective of the Visitor and Cultural Services Multi-Channel Marketing Initiative is to better promote Ottawa’s dynamic arts and cultural sector by increasing visibility and awareness, improving access and providing enhanced information on events and activities. The Corporate Plan’s Prosperity Agenda includes this as a specific action to proceed with in 2006.

 

To address this objective, a steering group was created in 2005 to assess the feasibility of establishing a multi-faceted approach for “getting the word out” to targeted audiences virtually through a web portal and by enhanced physical visitor information services. Members of the steering group included representatives from the City’s Economic Development and Cultural Services Branches, Council for the Arts in Ottawa, Ottawa Festival Network, Council of Heritage Organizations in Ottawa, Arts Ottawa East, Ottawa Tourism and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation.

 

In concert with the City’s research and analysis, the Steering Group was tasked with assessing the feasibility and opportunities for establishing:

 

 

A series of activities were undertaken to determine the feasibility of proceeding with the web site, electronic ticketing kiosks and physical visitor information centre. These included interviews with the various stakeholder groups, best practice evaluation, location analysis, scenario evaluations and operating plan and business plan analysis. These activities were undertaken to determine whether an appropriate working model could be developed and to identify revenue-generating opportunities that could meet the initial capital and ongoing operational costs associated with the web site, e-ticketing kiosks and physical visitor information centre.

 

Findings and Recommendations

 

Following extensive interviews and significant stakeholder input, the Steering Group concluded that:

 

 

Table 1 - Financial Model- Virtual, Ticketing Kiosks, Physical Centre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Web Portal and Event Calendar  (Phase 1)

Phase 1 will focus on the development of a web portal and comprehensive event calendar that will serve as the premiere source for Arts and Culture events information in the City.  Associated with this will be an e-commerce capability and an effective marketing and sponsorship strategy to launch the site.

 

An agreement in principle and commitment has been reached with Ottawa Tourism, National Capital Commission (NCC) and the City in which to collectively and strategically populate a comprehensive database of cultural events and activities. The creation of this comprehensive database is a significant ongoing contribution to the total costs of this initiative. Each organization will see increased efficiency and cost savings by agreeing to collect and input a part of the overall database.

 

This database will serve as the basis for a common calendar of events that can be developed and shared between the NCC, Ottawa Tourism and City of Ottawa.  It is intended that the National Capital Commission, Ottawa Tourism and the City will embed the common database in their respective web sites as they see fit with each organization able to emphasize the events it wishes to feature on their own web site.

 

It is intended that the City will examine Ottawa.com as the most likely location for the web portal to feature the common calendar of events and provide access to Ottawa’s local arts and culture scene. A comprehensive marketing and communication plan will also be developed involving cross-promotion on respective partner web sites, enhanced search engine capacity and advertising with the objective of attracting sponsors which may offset and eventually replace ongoing administrative costs (See Document 1).

 

There are a number of issues to consider prior to implementation including:

 

Common Database, Design and Maintenance Issues

 

City Web Portal Issues

 

Given this complexity, two separate requests for proposals will be initiated, the first for web site design, operation, project management and governance and the second for a detailed sponsorship and marketing plan. The objective will be to determine whether these issues can be addressed allowing Ottawa.com to be re-designed to offer ticket fulfillment capacity to residents and visitors, and provide Ottawa’s cultural community with a site that provides a comprehensive and balanced approach for showcasing both large and small events, activities and attractions.

 

E-Ticketing Kiosks (Phase 2)

Phase 2 will explore the feasibility of deploying a series of stand-alone e-ticketing kiosks at high traffic locations in the City. Similar to those used at theatres and airports, tourists and residents would be able to use these kiosks to access the calendar and listing of current events, review a brief description of each event and potentially be able to purchase event tickets.

 

There are a number of issues to consider as part of the evaluation such as the number of kiosks, appropriate locations, maintenance costs, total capital and operational costs and level of functionality (i.e. touch-screen information function or complete ticket printing fulfillment capacity).

 

The Steering Group determined that it would be more appropriate to further investigate the installation of the e-ticketing kiosks as a subsequent intermediate phase and pilot three locations on a trial basis. An expression of interest (EOI) is proposed for this service to determine the range of operators and capabilities. The expression of interest will also allow for the determination of potential partners and sponsors that could potentially offset the ongoing operation and maintenance costs of the kiosks.

 

Physical Visitor Information Centre (longer-term)

An enhanced physical visitor information centre was also assessed as a component of the multi-channel strategy.  As part of the assessment, a best practice review was conducted of existing visitor information centres in other municipalities to identify the typical range of services offered and potential revenue streams. Various operational and locational scenarios were also investigated including potential partnerships with the National Capital Commission in the existing Capital InfoCentre, private retail partners and a City stand-alone operation. In each scenario, a range of desired “must-have” services were identified including a box office, over the counter information service, packages, promotions, exhibit space, wayfinding signs and parking. Capital start-up and operating costs were then developed on the basis of the desired services.

 

It was determined that existing committed capital funds of $293,000 from the Economic Development Branch combined with in-kind contributions and revenue generating options were insufficient to address the estimated $500,000 capital start-up costs and $250,000 - $300,000 annual operating costs that would be required as depicted in Table 1. Although some potential sponsorship, partnership and revenue generating opportunities were identified, it was determined that additional time is needed to plan for an enhanced physical visitor centre and explore other funding opportunities, other potential locations and possible public private partnerships.

 

Phasing and Approach

Document 3 depicts the proposed phasing for the web portal implementation, e-ticketing kiosks and the long-term vision for a physical visitor information centre. Phase 1 will involve a request for proposals for the development of a new web portal along with a related promotional campaign. It is intended that this phase be completed and launched in 2006. Ottawa.com is currently subject to the City’s bilingualism policies and would be applied to any separate URL if Ottawa.com is not able to accommodate the functional and marketing requirements of the site. It is also intended that total flexibility will be provided for purchasing tickets with no exclusivity for a particular vendor (e.g. Paypal, Capital Tickets, Ticketmaster etc.) and that Ottawa.com be examined to determine if it can be designed to appeal to the mass market, with specific pages dedicated to key target groups and events such as youth, families, seniors, rural activities etc.

 

An expression of interest will be issued as phase 2 of the initiative which will explore the feasibility of deploying a series of stand-alone e-ticketing kiosks at high traffic locations in the City. In the longer term, further work will be done to explore options for a physical visitor centre and potential partnerships which will reduce the capital and operating costs of this enhanced service.

 

Operating Model

The proposed operating model for the web portal will need to be assessed through the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the design and management of the web portal. Hosting options will be an outcome of the functional requirements, software and other technical needs and dedicated administrative support required for the web portal. Until those needs are identified through the RFP process, it is uncertain whether an in-house managed site such as Ottawa.com or the Visitor Section of Ottawa.ca would be capable of meeting the technical, design and administrative requirements. It is intended that IT Services be included in the development of the RFP and subsequent processes to be able to effectively evaluate those needs.

 

It is anticipated that an assigned administrative individual(s) will be tasked with keeping the web site information current, managing content, receiving and integrating event information for the three primary contributors and completing bilingual translation requirements. Those organizations participating in the common calendar have been asked to make a written commitment to supply content in a timely manner in the requested format. Portal staff will then post this content to the calendar of events. It is also expected that there will be reciprocal agreements to provide web links to the portal from web sites of the participating organizations (see Document 2).

 

Critical success factors include:

 

·        Continued commitment from contributors to work with the City on an integrated calendar with a caveat that a technical architecture analysis is required to determine the precise technical feasibility of data sharing arrangements between stakeholder groups given the available budget and timeframe for implementation.

·        Full time administrative person(s) for managing the information and keeping the site up to date

·        Agreements for content sharing and cross promotion

·        Coordinating Committee

·        Financial Support – Sponsorship solicitations

·        An effective Marketing and Promotions Plan (see Document 1)

 

 

CONSULTATION

 

Staff engaged in an extensive consultation process including broader stakeholder input to identify potential areas for contribution, leverage promotional and cost sharing opportunities and to validate the overall multi-channel marketing strategy. The list of organizations consulted included the:

 

§         National Capital Commission

§         Ottawa Tourism

§         Arts Ottawa East

§         Ottawa Festival Network

§         Council of Heritage Organizations in Ottawa

§         Council for the Arts in Ottawa

§         Department of Canadian Heritage

§         City of Gatineau

§         Tourisme Outaouais

§         Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association

§         Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation

§         Canadian Automobile Association

§         Capital Tickets

§         National Arts Centre

§         TicketMaster

§         Ottawa Chamber of Commerce

§         Four Business Improvement Area Organizations (Bank, Sparks, Rideau and ByWard Market)

 

The Ottawa Partnership (TOP) considered this initiative at its March 3, 2006 meeting and indicated its support for the Visitor and Cultural Services Multi-Channel Initiative.

 

A public meeting was held on March 2, 2006 to present the overall strategy and phasing. Representatives from over 30 local French and English language arts, culture, heritage and festival groups attended. There was overall consensus and support from these organizations for the strategy and phasing and multiple offers to participate on a focus group session during the design and development of the site and for the development of a marketing plan.

 

A presentation was also given to the Arts, Culture and Heritage Committee on March 23, 2006 and the Business Advisory Committee on May 9, 2006. Both Committees are supportive of the initiative.

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

There are three main funding components to be funded for Phase 1 of this initiative which include:

 

 

The costs to create and maintain the database for the comprehensive calendar of events will be borne by ongoing in-kind contributions from the National Capital Commission, Ottawa Tourism and City of Ottawa. The City’s cost to maintain its portion of the overall events database is currently being funded through the Cultural Services Branch.

 

The capital costs associated with the design, development and marketing of the City’s web portal have already been reserved in the 2005 Capital Budget in Capital Account No. 903365 Economic Strategy Implementation Talent/Broadband. Supported by the Corporate Plan Prosperity Agenda, $293,000 is reserved for web portal design. It is estimated that  $100,000-$125,000 will actually be needed for web site design, development and implementation and to initiate a multi-media marketing campaign.

 

There is an estimated ongoing operating expense ranging from $40,000-$70,000 per year for a content manager to administer the site content, support bilingual requirements, conduct marketing activities and provide annual reporting to a coordinating committee.  Any operating expenses will be fully recovered against the existing Capital Account for this initiative for a zero net impact.

 

It is anticipated that the City’s administrative costs will be eliminated by the third year of operation as sponsorship funding is established.

 

The City has also submitted an application on March 15, 2006 to the Department of Canadian Heritage for a “Cultural Capitals of Canada Grant”. If successful, it could result in federal funding of up to $2 million for enhanced cultural events and activities in 2008 with $400,000 earmarked for marketing Ottawa’s new arts and culture web portal and developing a cultural events multi-media campaign.

 

The City is currently investigating other government funding sources which include the Canadian Heritage Information Network (CHIN), which provides support to initiatives that engage in high-quality online cultural content into Canada's homes, schools, and workplaces. It is also examining potential support from the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund which is a fund established under the Ontario Ministry of Culture to help Ontario's arts, cultural and heritage organizations with new cultural programming ventures. Toronto’s new “To Live with Culture” web site is a comparable beneficiary of this fund.

 

The implementation for Phase 2 costs will be dependant on the outcome of the expression of interest and whether appropriate partners and sponsors can be identified to proceed with e‑ticketing kiosks at high traffic locations. A follow-up report to Council will be submitted in the event a viable partnership and funding model is identified for implementation.

 

 

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

 

Document 1      Marketing and Sponsorship Strategy – Web Portal

Document 2      Roles and Letters of Support

Document 3      Multi-Channel Phasing Strategy

 

 

DISPOSITION

 

Originating Department to take appropriate action.

 

 

MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIP STRATEGY – WEB PORTAL               DOCUMENT 1

 

 

Marketing Approach

Initially, the marketing of the proposed Ottawa Arts, Culture and Heritage web portal would strive to create awareness and to generate a first “curiosity” visit. Follow-on marketing will be designed to encourage repeat visitorship among those who have already come to the site, and to widen the customer base by creating new visitorship opportunities.

 

The marketing plan would include a variety of marketing components such as:

 

 

ROLES AND LETTERS OF SUPPORT                                                                DOCUMENT 2

 

Event Calendar Contributors  - Its expected that the primary contributors will be those that share their existing database for the creation of the comprehensive database. Includes: (City of Ottawa, NCC and Ottawa Tourism).

 

Other Web Portal Contributors - A second level of support and contribution will be needed for cross promotional purposes, to participate on web policy development and to provide event sharing information that may not be captured by the primary contributors within their existing databases. This group includes: (Arts Ottawa East, Council Heritage Organizations Ottawa, Ottawa Festival Network, Ottawa Council for the Arts, City of Gatineau)

 

Roles:

For the primary event calendar contributors it is expected that they would at a minimum perform the following:

 

-           Collaborate on the collection, sharing and dissemination of event calendar information

-                     Participate on an editorial board to develop content policies and criteria for the site

-                     Participate on a focus group session for site architecture and administrative functions

-                     Mutual cross-promotion of the full calendar of events

 

Optional contributions include:

 

-         Provision of marketing dollars to market featured events.

 

Roles: Other Web Portal Contributors

 

-         Contribute event information as required to augment calendar information

-         Participate in the establishment of content policies and operating criteria for the site

-         Participate on a focus group session for site architecture and administrative functions

-         Display a prominent Link on their web site

 

Coordinating Committee

 

Tasks of the Coordinating Committee would be to meet at preset regular intervals to:

 

  1. Review Annual report and financial operating costs provided by the portal administrator;
  2. Develop strategies for updating and enhancing the web site
  3. Participate in reviewing and addressing content and policy issues
  4. Assess Target Audiences for Marketing campaigns
  5. Plan Marketing and Sponsorship Objectives/Opportunities

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MULTI-CHANNEL PHASING STRATEGY                                                        DOCUMENT 3