What kind of clients does DVA work with?
We specialize in destination marketing, hospitality, financial services, healthcare, and education. Our clients range from DMOs and municipalities to credit unions, regional banks, health plans, and educational institutions. We’re particularly experienced with organizations that operate under public oversight or in regulated industries.
What industries do you specialize in?
Our deepest expertise lies in destination marketing — we’ve worked with more than a dozen DMOs and tourism organizations across the Mountain West and beyond. We also bring extensive experience in financial services, healthcare, and education, which gives us a cross-vertical perspective that benefits all our clients.
How is DVA different from other agencies?
We’re intentionally small and senior-heavy. That means no revolving door of junior staff, no off-the-shelf solutions, and no silos between strategy, creative, media, and PR. Our partners stay directly involved in every account. We call it Bespoke > Big — the depth of a large firm with the agility and personal accountability of a boutique.
Who actually works on my account day to day?
The team you meet in the pitch is the team you work with. You’ll have a dedicated day-to-day contact, but our partners and senior leadership remain actively involved throughout the engagement — not just at kickoff. Continuity is one of the reasons our client relationships often span a decade or more.
How do you measure success?
We start with your business objectives — not marketing metrics. Using an OKR-inspired framework, we define what success looks like upfront (incremental room nights, deposit volume, brand awareness lift), then build measurement systems that track those outcomes. We partner with data providers like Datafy and Alpharank to connect marketing exposure to real-world results.
What does a typical engagement look like?
It varies by client need, but our approach follows a consistent logic: research and discovery first, then strategy, then creative and campaign development, then media and content execution, then measurement and optimization. Every phase builds on the one before it. Nothing is cookie-cutter — every engagement is shaped to the client’s specific goals, audience, and operating reality.
Where are you located, and does that matter?
We’re headquartered in Bend, Oregon, but our team is distributed across the country — with staff in Arizona, Massachusetts, Colorado, and beyond. We also have team members embedded in client communities, including Durango, Colorado. Proximity matters, and we make it a priority to spend time where our clients are.
How does your PR team work?
Our PR practice is senior-led by practitioners with more than 50 years of combined experience, including a former print journalist. We handle media relations, crisis communications, thought leadership, and content development — and we integrate PR directly with broader marketing strategy rather than treating it as a separate function. Our average earned media coverage ratio is 10:1.
What tools and partners do you use?
We partner with best-in-class providers to power our work, including Datafy for geolocation and visitation data, Alpharank for behavioral conversion analytics, Future Partners for awareness and perception research, Curvejumping for visitor and resident surveys, and Muck Rack and Cision for media monitoring. We also use leading platforms like Zartico and VisaVue where appropriate for client needs.
Are you accepting new clients?
We intentionally limit the number of large engagements we take on to ensure every client gets the focus and senior attention they deserve. We’re always open to conversations about fit.
DVA Advertising & Public Relations is a mid-size, strategy-driven, full-service agency located in Bend, Oregon. Established in 1990, we specialize in travel/tourism and destination marketing, outdoor sports and recreation, wine and craft beer, and health care and financial services categories.