Nine ad agencies bid for LVCVA contract

Nine advertising agencies -- four of them from Las Vegas -- will vie for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's lucrative ad services contract.

Competitive bid proposals were opened by the agency's Purchasing Department staff on Tuesday afternoon. Next, a committee of LVCVA employees will review the proposals and determine whether the companies are capable of fulfilling the terms of the contract. Those that are will make hourlong verbal presentations to the LVCVA board of directors.

Las Vegas ad agencies that submitted bids include R&R Advertising, the state's largest ad agency with annual billings of about $100 million and the company that has held the contract since the early 1980s. Other Las Vegas companies in the running: The Merica Agency, Black Rose Communications and Shonkwiler/ Marcoux Advertising.

Five out-of-state companies also submitted proposals. They came from Masterson Marketing Inc., San Diego; Wendt Advertising and Public Relations, Great Falls, Mont.; Colby Effler and Partners, Santa Monica, Calif.; TBS Media Management, New York; and Dailey and Associates Advertising, West Hollywood, Calif.

Interest is running high for the advertising services contract, which had billings of $27 million this fiscal year. The LVCVA board of directors voted last month to put the contract to bid at the recommendation of R&R executives, who said they did not want the agency tainted by accusations of favoritism.

The request for proposals is for a five-year contract with an option to renew for an additional five years.

A fifth Las Vegas company attempted to submit a proposal on Tuesday, but it was rejected by Purchasing Director Craig Rowley for failing to meet the 3 p.m. deadline.

A delivery runner burst into the meeting where Rowley and his staff were opening proposals at 3:10 p.m. and left a box with plans submitted by DSLV/ Lawlor Advertising.

After all the submissions had been opened, Rowley said the DSLV/Lawlor proposal could not be accepted because it had missed the deadline. The delivery runner said he had reached the LVCVA office before 3 p.m. but wasn't directed to the office where the proposals were being accepted.

Rowley said the published request for proposals clearly stated when and where the submissions were to be turned in. He then said the submission couldn't be accepted and would be returned unopened.

Rowley, who presides over all the LVCVA's bid openings, said the ad bid session was routine, even with the submission of the late proposal, which he said happens occasionally.

The nine remaining submissions will get a thorough review from Rowley and his staff. The request for proposals said the LVCVA would notify proposers selected to make the board presentation in writing "on Jan. 26 or shortly thereafter."

The next step of the process is the hour-long presentation, a 40-minute verbal proposal followed by a 20-minute question-and-answer session before the LVCVA board.

The board is expected to make a final decision after the last presentation. The new contract would begin on July 1.

Because there are nine bidders, Rowley said it is possible the verbal presentations wouldn't be made in one day. Originally, Rowley and the board hoped all the presentations could be made at the board's regularly scheduled March 9 meeting.

Rowley said the written proposals would not become public record until they are accepted by the board at the March 9 meeting.

Rowley isn't disclosing who will first review the submissions so that those people aren't influenced by bidders. He said the initial examination would be to determine if the proposals were properly submitted and all information sought by the LVCVA was supplied. Among the information sought: current billings, the names of the company's five largest accounts and a detailed billing methodology.

At a pre-proposal conference earlier this month, some agency representatives expressed concerns about whether that information, which some consider proprietary, would be publicly disclosed. Rowley confirmed that the proposals become public records and while he said he would try to protect the information, he offered no promises that it could be withheld.

The board doesn't have to take the least expensive proposal.

"The award will be made to the best responsive and responsible proposer, judged on the basis of price, conformance to specifications, proposer's qualifications including the proposer's past performance in such matters, quality and utility of services, supplies, materials or equipment offered and their adaptability to the required purpose and in the best interest of the public, each of the factors being considered," the request for proposals says.

Rowley said the ad contract was advertised locally on Dec. 23 and more than 200 interest letters were sent to agencies LVCVA officials thought would consider submitting a proposal.

The LVCVA ad contract is not only financially lucrative -- the $27 million spent this fiscal year represents more than 22 percent of the total LVCVA operating budget and is more than the total annual billings of many ad agencies -- it's also very stable.

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