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Chicago Housing Authority Issues Digital Marketing RFP

EPR Staff

Chicago Housing Authority Seeks Firm For Digital Marketing Campaign

The Housing Choice Voucher Program is in search to hire a company with digital marketing solutions experience which will allow HCV to become a leading customer centric housing organization.

HCV’s overall goal in launching this digital campaign is to:

  1. convey the benefits this Program offers new property owners who rent to HCV participants;
  2. rebrand the Program by conveying a positive image and dispelling misperceptions of the CHA, the HCV Program and its participants;
  3. increase the number of new property owners into the HCV Program by 25% within the first year of the campaign, and incrementally increase new property owners over the next two optional years by an additional 20% for a 45% increase total over the 3-year contract term;
  4. increase the number of new property owners/property managers participating in the HCV Program with rental properties located in Mobility Areas (community areas throughout the city of Chicago with lower crime rates, better opportunities for improved quality of life);
  5. increase the number of new property owners/property managers participating in the HCV Program whose first language is not English by 50%;
  6. educate property owners/property managers/real estate investors with rental properties located in Chicago’s 77 communities on how the HCV Program works and the benefits of the Program so they are prepared when a voucher holder seeks to rent their unit/property;
  7. develop quantitative measures through the use of online surveys created to determine what effects, if any, the digital campaign has over the term of the contract in changing negative misconceptions of CHA and the HCV Program participants;
  8. and finally the data collected should measure the interest or likelihood of new property owners renting to HCV participants.

Background:

The Chicago Housing Authority (“CHA” or “Authority”) is a municipal corporation established in 1937 pursuant to the Illinois Housing Authority Act, 310 ILCS10/1, et seq., to administer federal housing programs to provide temporary housing for people with incomes insufficient to obtain “decent, safe and sanitary” dwellings in the private market. Today the CHA’s mission is to ensure the provision of affordable housing opportunities in a variety of communities for lowerincome households.

The CHA receives certain funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (hereinafter, “HUD”) and is entitled to apply for funding to acquire, construct, modernize, maintain, and operate public housing. In addition, the CHA administers several programs funded and regulated by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago.

These programs are parallel to federal housing programs and include conventional, rental assistance and community development components.

CHA is the third largest public housing agency in the United States and has been fully engaged in completing the Plan for Transformation since 2000. CHA continues to make progress fulfilling its obligations under the original Plan for Transformation and to pursue new strategies to benefit residents, communities, and the agency.

The Housing Choice Voucher (“HCV”) Program helps approximately 47,300 low-income families, which include the elderly and people with disabilities pay for housing (apartments, duplexes condominiums, single-family homes and townhomes) in the private market. The HCV Program offers participants access to safe, decent and clean homes at prices they can afford.

Each month, the Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) pays out more than $40 million in Housing Assistance Payments to 14,400 property owners and managers — that is over $480 million each year.

The Housing Choice Voucher Program currently contracts with an external contractor who is responsible for HCV Marketing and Events Management activities in accordance with HUD regulations and CHA policies. The responsibilities of this contractor include, but are not limited to, managing internal and external communications such as advertising, web and graphic design (including web systems/sites); managing special events and other Program education initiatives such as overseeing promotion and development of all HCV events, including internal and external communication efforts; leading cross-functional teams to create high-quality marketing materials, workshops and trainings; and ensuring timely delivery of marketing materials, along with assisting in the development of HCV-related videos.

Our current external ad campaign consists of a print ad that appears in a housing/real estate trade newspaper (CAA — Chicagoland Apartment Association), which we are looking to expand externally into the digital market to increase our exposure, awareness of the Program and the number of property owners participating in the Program.

Scope of Work:

CHA is seeking proposals from well qualified marketing firms with extensive experience in digital marketing solutions/campaigns to assist CHA HCV Program in:

  1. Conveying a positive image and awareness of the Program and the benefits available to new property owners in becoming a part of the HCV Program.
  2. Increase the number of new property owner’s/property managers in the HCV Program by 25% within the first year of the campaign and incrementally by an additional 20% over the next two years for a total increase throughout the 3-year contract term of 45%. The chart below reflects the number of new owners that have become a part of the HCV Program beginning in January 2016 through to May 2018.
  3. Increase the number of new property owner’s/property managers participating in the HCV Program with rental properties located in Mobility Areas (Community Areas throughout city of Chicago with lower crime rates, better opportunities for improved quality of life). See below for a breakdown by ZIP code.
  4. Increase the number of new property owner’s/property managers participating in the HCV Program whose first language is not English by 50% over the 3-year contract term. Current number of non-English owners is 113.
  5. Educate property owners/property managers/real estate investors with rental properties located in Chicago’s 77 communities on how the HCV Program works and the benefits of the Program so they are prepared when a voucher holder seeks to rent their unit/property.
  6. Develop quantitative measures through the use of online surveys created to determine what effects, if any, the digital campaign has over the term of the contract in changing negative misconceptions of CHA and the HCV Program participants. In addition, data collected should measure the interest or likelihood of new property owners renting to HCV participants.

Statement of Work:

The selected company’s responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

  1. Full Digital Campaign Management with specific deliverables
  2. Deliver targeted messaging to reach the HCV’s three (3) primary audiences:
  3. Property Managers with Rental Properties in these specific ZIP codes covering the Chicago Metropolitan area and focusing on the North, North West, North East and South West sides of Chicago: 60601; 60602; 60603; 60604; 60605; 60606; 60607; 60608; 60610; 60611; 60612; 60613; 60614; 60617; 60618; 60622; 60625; 60626; 60629; 60630; 60631; 60632; 60633; 60634; 60638; 60639; 60640; 60641; 60643; 60645; 60646; 60647; 60652; 60654; 60655; 60656; 60657; 60659; 60660; 60661; 60666; 60707
  4. Property Owners
  5. Real Estate Agents/Brokers
  6. Refinement of messaging to promote and increase our brand awareness, specifically HCV Program initiatives (Mobility Areas, HCV New Owner Incentive Payments, HCV Program Information) based on market saturation by ZIP code (e.g. Incentive program messaging for property owners not currently engaged with HCV vs. training messages for areas with a high volume of current HCV property owners).
  7. Site Remarketing to further refine the ad.
  8. The use of technology to uncover and track firmographic information about HCV anonymous web traffic, letting HCV know which companies those visitors work for and/or frequently visit – helping HCV uncover deeper insights on its web traffic.
  9. Example:

The Successful Respondent targets the devices owned and used (e.g. Smart Phones, Tablets, Computers) by those individuals and places digital display ads, in real-time, on the websites they visit (including social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.). If a property manager visits TheWeatherNetwork.com, HCV’s ad will be placed on the site. This will ensure that HCV reaches out to property owners with customized ads that are relevant to their needs and promotes the Program and our message as to how and why this should matter to them.

  1. Capture, track on a daily basis and report web traffic on a bi-weekly basis to HCV in order to determine the effects and results of the digital campaign so that changes can be made if and when necessary such as refocusing or retooling to better achieve HCV’s goals of recruiting new property owners in specific ZIP codes into the Program.

Due Date:

September 14th

Address:

Electronic submission: https://supplier.thecha.org

or

SHEENA AIKENS, Senior Procurement Specialist

Chicago Housing Authority

Department of Procurement and Contracts

60 East Van Buren Street, 13th Floor

Chicago, Illinois 60605

Walker Sands is a Chicago based PR agency.

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