A “Virginia is for Lovers” sign appeared outside The Martin Agency’s headquarters in late 2017, when the agency won the Virginia Tourism account. (BizSense file photo)
After a five-year run as the lead advertising firm for the state tourism office, the agency that coined “Virginia is for Lovers” has opted to let the multimillion-dollar account go.
The Martin Agency, which since 2018 had been the sole agency of record for Virginia Tourism Corp., did not compete for the account when it was offered this spring through a request-for-proposals solicitation.
VTC has since selected two agencies to handle its advertising and paid media placements for the next 12 months. Sway Creative Labs, out of Norfolk, was named VTC’s lead ad agency, and Utah-based Love Communications was named its paid media agency.
Both services had been handled by Martin since 2018, when it won an 18-month contract with four one-year renewal options, each of which VTC exercised. A solicitation was required before the final contract year closed out, and an RFP was put out with proposals due in early May.
The solicitation drew proposals from 14 advertising contenders and 15 paid media candidates. Martin was not among either group.
Martin spokeswoman Katherine Sheehan said the agency opted not to vie for the account in light of its workload for other clients.
“We’ve worked with VTC off and on since the ‘Virginia is for Lovers’ campaign debuted,” Sheehan said in an email, referring to the campaign created in 1969 when the agency was known as Martin & Woltz.
“We’re proud of the work we’ve done together and wish the new agency well in this next chapter,” she added.
Martin was paid nearly $30 million for its work over the past five years, according to VTC. Some of those expenses were tied to federal pandemic recovery funds that the General Assembly awarded the previous two fiscal years, according to a spreadsheet provided by Terry Minor, VTC’s contracts and procurement manager.
Minor said Martin’s contract included a monthly retainer fee totaling $50,000 – $35,000 for advertising and $15,000 for paid media. Those fees over five years represent $3 million of Martin’s $29.6 million total. Minor said the rest of Martin’s total includes additional costs for media buys, special projects and production costs.
Martin’s work for VTC on its latest contract included its multiyear “LoveShare” campaign, an updating of “Virginia is for Lovers” around the slogan’s 50th anniversary.
Other work included a related collaboration with restaurant app OpenTable, a 2020 campaign featuring “reverse postcard”-style images of state tourism destinations, and its “Heart and Soul” collaboration with local firm JMI, spotlighting black creators and artists shaping culture in Virginia.
While the agency-of-record designation made Martin Virginia Tourism’s go-to firm for advertising and paid media, the office worked with other agencies over the five years on various one-off projects.
Last year, one such project was a tourism video called “Welcome to Virginia” produced by Poolhouse, a Richmond-based political advertising agency. The 60-second clip, which is now shown in Virginia welcome centers and airports, prominently features Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who worked with Poolhouse in his election campaign.
The video drew controversy from Democratic legislators who slammed it as an inappropriately funded campaign ad. It also drew an investigation from the state inspector general’s office into how the project was bid out, with Martin offered a chance to bid only after Poolhouse had been lined up for the project, according to reporting from the Times-Dispatch.
Martin ultimately declined to bid on the project, contending that the deadline to respond was too short of a turnaround.
Asked if that experience factored into Martin’s decision not to compete for VTC’s latest contract, Sheehan said the agency wouldn’t comment beyond her previous statement.
The Martin Agency’s Shockoe Slip headquarters. (BizSense file photo)
The 12-month contracts for Sway Creative and Love Communications likewise include four one-year renewal options, Minor said. Sway’s monthly retainer is just under $40,000, while Love’s monthly retainer is $17,500 plus the cost of media buys.
In an email, Minor said VTC determines internally the length of an initial contract term and how many renewal options are included. She said agency-of-record contracts typically are for 12 months.
In announcing the selected agencies late last month, VTC said Sway and Love “will provide support to VTC with high-level brand awareness campaigns and media strategies to promote Virginia as a premier travel destination.”
The announcement said Sway has worked with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to nonprofits, including Visit Norfolk, Smithfield Foods, Rite-Aid, Sony Music, Sentara and Politico. It said Love’s tourism portfolio includes the Utah Office of Tourism, South Dakota Department of Tourism, Santa Cruz, Visit Salt Lake, Ski Utah, Greater Zion, and Moab Area Travel Council.
The agencies’ 12-month contracts took effect July 1, the day after Martin’s five-year contract ended.
Richmond-area firms that competed for the contracts included, on the advertising side, Johnson Marketing Inc. (JMI) and Tilt Creative + Production; and on the paid media side, JMI, Spurrier Group and Workshop Digital, according to VTC. Poolhouse did not submit for either contract.
A “Virginia is for Lovers” sign appeared outside The Martin Agency’s headquarters in late 2017, when the agency won the Virginia Tourism account. (BizSense file photo)
After a five-year run as the lead advertising firm for the state tourism office, the agency that coined “Virginia is for Lovers” has opted to let the multimillion-dollar account go.
The Martin Agency, which since 2018 had been the sole agency of record for Virginia Tourism Corp., did not compete for the account when it was offered this spring through a request-for-proposals solicitation.
VTC has since selected two agencies to handle its advertising and paid media placements for the next 12 months. Sway Creative Labs, out of Norfolk, was named VTC’s lead ad agency, and Utah-based Love Communications was named its paid media agency.
Both services had been handled by Martin since 2018, when it won an 18-month contract with four one-year renewal options, each of which VTC exercised. A solicitation was required before the final contract year closed out, and an RFP was put out with proposals due in early May.
The solicitation drew proposals from 14 advertising contenders and 15 paid media candidates. Martin was not among either group.
Martin spokeswoman Katherine Sheehan said the agency opted not to vie for the account in light of its workload for other clients.
“We’ve worked with VTC off and on since the ‘Virginia is for Lovers’ campaign debuted,” Sheehan said in an email, referring to the campaign created in 1969 when the agency was known as Martin & Woltz.
“We’re proud of the work we’ve done together and wish the new agency well in this next chapter,” she added.
Martin was paid nearly $30 million for its work over the past five years, according to VTC. Some of those expenses were tied to federal pandemic recovery funds that the General Assembly awarded the previous two fiscal years, according to a spreadsheet provided by Terry Minor, VTC’s contracts and procurement manager.
Minor said Martin’s contract included a monthly retainer fee totaling $50,000 – $35,000 for advertising and $15,000 for paid media. Those fees over five years represent $3 million of Martin’s $29.6 million total. Minor said the rest of Martin’s total includes additional costs for media buys, special projects and production costs.
Martin’s work for VTC on its latest contract included its multiyear “LoveShare” campaign, an updating of “Virginia is for Lovers” around the slogan’s 50th anniversary.
Other work included a related collaboration with restaurant app OpenTable, a 2020 campaign featuring “reverse postcard”-style images of state tourism destinations, and its “Heart and Soul” collaboration with local firm JMI, spotlighting black creators and artists shaping culture in Virginia.
While the agency-of-record designation made Martin Virginia Tourism’s go-to firm for advertising and paid media, the office worked with other agencies over the five years on various one-off projects.
Last year, one such project was a tourism video called “Welcome to Virginia” produced by Poolhouse, a Richmond-based political advertising agency. The 60-second clip, which is now shown in Virginia welcome centers and airports, prominently features Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who worked with Poolhouse in his election campaign.
The video drew controversy from Democratic legislators who slammed it as an inappropriately funded campaign ad. It also drew an investigation from the state inspector general’s office into how the project was bid out, with Martin offered a chance to bid only after Poolhouse had been lined up for the project, according to reporting from the Times-Dispatch.
Martin ultimately declined to bid on the project, contending that the deadline to respond was too short of a turnaround.
Asked if that experience factored into Martin’s decision not to compete for VTC’s latest contract, Sheehan said the agency wouldn’t comment beyond her previous statement.
The Martin Agency’s Shockoe Slip headquarters. (BizSense file photo)
The 12-month contracts for Sway Creative and Love Communications likewise include four one-year renewal options, Minor said. Sway’s monthly retainer is just under $40,000, while Love’s monthly retainer is $17,500 plus the cost of media buys.
In an email, Minor said VTC determines internally the length of an initial contract term and how many renewal options are included. She said agency-of-record contracts typically are for 12 months.
In announcing the selected agencies late last month, VTC said Sway and Love “will provide support to VTC with high-level brand awareness campaigns and media strategies to promote Virginia as a premier travel destination.”
The announcement said Sway has worked with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to nonprofits, including Visit Norfolk, Smithfield Foods, Rite-Aid, Sony Music, Sentara and Politico. It said Love’s tourism portfolio includes the Utah Office of Tourism, South Dakota Department of Tourism, Santa Cruz, Visit Salt Lake, Ski Utah, Greater Zion, and Moab Area Travel Council.
The agencies’ 12-month contracts took effect July 1, the day after Martin’s five-year contract ended.
Richmond-area firms that competed for the contracts included, on the advertising side, Johnson Marketing Inc. (JMI) and Tilt Creative + Production; and on the paid media side, JMI, Spurrier Group and Workshop Digital, according to VTC. Poolhouse did not submit for either contract.