The North Texas Tollway Authority Board on Oct. 8 approved a four-year extension of NTTA's advertising-agency-of-record contract with TPN Holdings in an amount not to exceed $17,500,000, staff said.

Arturo Ballesteros, NTTA director of public affairs, told the board the campaign – known in public-facing creative as the “small sticker, big savings” toll-tag effort – produced sustained increases in toll-tag adoption and measurable, trackable customer actions tied to advertising. Ballesteros said staff now reports a declining cost per acquisition (CPA) over a seven-year relationship with the agency and that the campaign has driven “more than half a million positive customer actions” tied to getting a toll tag, making a payment, or calling the call center.

Ballesteros said the proposed contract value is estimated at $17.5 million over four years. He told the board the media-buy component represents roughly $11 million of that total, production costs run roughly $500,000 to $700,000 a year, and the agency retainer fills the remainder. Staff also told the board the authority owns the creative assets and intellectual property produced under the current contract.

Board members asked for performance metrics and direct return-on-investment figures. Ballesteros said the industry-standard ROI metric NTTA uses is cost per acquisition; he described a declining CPA over the current relationship and said campaign analytics track “digital ad actions” (toll-tag acquisition, payments and call-center contacts) as the primary indicators.

Director Haddad asked about whether media-buy discounts or agency markups affect pricing; Ballesteros said media buying is staff-driven and staff works with the agency to leverage purchasing power. Director Gravley and others asked about IP ownership; Ballesteros confirmed NTTA owns the assets.

Director Knight moved approval and Vice Chair Haddad seconded; the motion passed unanimously. Board members and staff said they intend to continue monthly campaign reporting and to use campaign assets in customer-facing locations and other enterprise uses.