Agency Explore Minnesota Tourism

Contractor Adventure Creative Group

SWIFT Contract Number 142049

Project Name Explore Minnesota Marketing Contract

Project Number (if applicable) {Empty}

Summarize purpose of the contract, including why it was necessary: As the state agency responsible for marketing and promoting Minnesota’s leisure travel opportunities to potential travel consumers nationally, Explore Minnesota Tourism (EMT) utilizes a marketing agency to assist in the planning and implementation of advertising and promotional campaigns, through strategic planning, creative concepting and production, media placement and monitoring, and delivering return on investment

Project Duration

Start Date Sun, 07/01/2018 - 00:00

Original end date Tue, 06/30/2020 - 00:00

Actual end date Fri, 06/30/2023 - 00:00

Did project finish on time? Yes

Total billable hours utilized (if applicable) {Empty}

Contract Amounts

Original contract: $6326625.00

Amendments $29414828.70

Contract total $35741453.70

Did project finish within budget? Yes

What was the funding source? General funds, EDA COVID Recovery grant, revenue funds

Is this a sole source contract? No

If this was a single source contract, explain why the agency determined there was only a single source for the services (if applicable) {Empty}

Evaluator Name Leann Kispert

Evaluator Email Address leann.kispert@state.mn.us

Evaluate the contractor's timeliness The contractor delivered regular timelines with their scopes of work by project. Any deviations were brought to our attention and discussed as necessary. Overall timeliness was very good.

Evaluate the contractor's quality Contractor developed two overarching campaigns for Explore Minnesota during this contract tenure and dozens of sub-campaigns. Their creative was always informed by research and consumer trend data to achieve our marketing KPIs and drive incremental travel to Minnesota.

Evaluate the contractor's cost Contractor never deviated from the original hourly rates originally proposed in their RFP. They negotiated well with production vendors, influencers and media outlets. Each year, they were able to show a minimum of $2.6 million in match funding (either through pro bono time or savings achieved through negotiations).

Evaluate the contractor's overall performance Adventure Creative Group is a solid performer. They are strategic, creative, and responsible, They worked with us through the COVID 19 pandemic and displayed their flexibility and adaptability, pivoting our campaigns over and over. They showed their ingenuity by creating a media scoring model to ensure we weren't wasting media budgets in areas of the country where COVID was rampant or where restrictions were in place. We highly recommend Adventure Creative Group.

Would you engage the contractor's services again? Yes

Describe any negative action taken during the duration of this contract (i.e., termination, pursuit of suspension, etc.): None

Please rate the overall experience with the contractor 5 - very satisfied