To: Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council
From: Molly Rattigan, Community Resources & Development Director
Prepared By: Jennifer Owen, Economic Development Program Coordinator
TITLE:
Title
Napa Tourism Improvement District - Contract for Marketing Services from Sparkloft Media
LABEL
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommendation
Approve and authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with Sparkloft Media for destination marketing services for the term of July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, for an amount not-to-exceed of $527,060.
Body
DISCUSSION:
Background
The Napa Tourism Improvement District (TID) fund is managed by the City, with oversight by the Napa TID Local Governing Committee (“LGC”), as defined by the Napa Valley Management District Plan (“MDP”). At a meeting held on April 27, 2026, the LGC voted to recommend Council approval of the FY 2026-2027 Budget and Work Plan.
Consistent with past years, the most significant expenditure in the LGC Budget and Work Plan is the “Advertising and Marketing” line item. This budgeted line item reflects the most critical part of the Work Plan - the contract(s) for Destination Marketing Services that must be performed to meet the Napa Valley Tourism Improvement District assessment’s purpose and intent.
The City provides administrative staff support to the LGC and part of that support includes the planning and execution of the procurement process for the professional marketing and advertising services described above.
New Creative Agencies
At the meeting held on April 27, 2026, the LGC directed staff to conduct a competitive RFP process for destination marketing services. The RFP process yielded 34 applicants and the LGC saw presentations from finalists at a Special Meeting on May 28, 2026. The LGC voted to award the execution of destination marketing services to Sparkloft Media at the same meeting, and then the LGC approved their budget and scope of services at the June 9, 2026 meeting.
The Sparkloft Media agreement, covering the fiscal year 2026-2027, is for a not-to-exceed amount of $527,060. The services within the Scope of Work include:
• Onboarding activities, to include a thorough audit of marketing services provided to-date
• Stakeholder and branding immersion workshop
• Refreshed brand identity
• Execution of social media, content marketing, e-newsletter, blogs, influencer, and paid media marketing activities
• Ongoing campaign monitoring and reporting
The complete scope of services and budget is included in Attachment 1.
FINANCIAL IMPACTS:
There is no financial impact on the City’s General Fund. The Napa Tourism Improvement District was formed by Napa County through a two percent assessment of gross room rentals received from lodging businesses throughout the county. Napa TID funds are to be expended for tourism promotion in accordance with the approved Management District Plan. The City retains 25 percent of the assessment revenue collected within the City limits, to be used for promotion purposes as set forth in an annual work plan and budget prepared by the Napa TID and approved by City Council.
The City also retains one percent of the assessment revenue as an administrative fee. No activities implemented as a part of the Napa TID budget are supported by the General Fund. The marketing allocation is the revenue source for funding the Sparkloft Media agreement. The proposed not-to-exceed amount of $527,060 is within the proposed FY 2026-2027 Budget and Work Plan as recommended by the Napa TID.
CEQA:
The Community Resources and Development Director has determined that the Recommended Action described in this Agenda Report is not subject to CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
ATCH 1 - Sparkloft Media FY27 Scope of Work & Budget
NOTIFICATION:
The Napa Tourism Improvement District Local Governing Committee and the staff of Sparkloft Media have been notified of this agenda item and an agenda has been posted in publicly accessible locations as required by law.