City of Coquitlam Issues RFP For Branding and Marketing

The purpose of this RFP is to invite proposals from qualified firms to provide a marketing and brand identity strategy, website design, and creation of marketing materials for the City to both engage local residents and market City-owned developable lands, specifically the future Burke Mountain Village Centre and surrounding lands. The City is seeking a firm with a strong background and proven track record in creating branding strategies, with specific experience in property marketing. The firm is expected to develop a strategic approach that will both inform current and future residents, as well as market developable lands. The resulting brand, new marketing website and marketing materials should make the Village Centre and surrounding lands stand out as a unique destination of choice in a competitive marketplace.

The successful Proponent will be responsible for research, design, development and deployment of the brand, website and marketing materials. Work will be done in collaboration with the City’s Strategic Initiatives, Corporate Communications, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) divisions. The Proposal should deliver a website concept that incorporates strong visual elements that reflect the City’s existing brand while also integrating new elements that strongly position the Village Centre and surrounding lands’ marketing identity.

Background:

The City of Coquitlam is the fifth largest city in B.C. and a diverse and growing community, uniquely situated in the heart of Metro Vancouver. Home to approximately 145,000 people, Coquitlam encompasses the amenities and advantages of a thriving urban centre as well as extraordinary natural features that offer endless outdoor recreation opportunities.

The Partington Creek Neighbourhood (~595 acres) is strategically located within Northeast Coquitlam on the east flank of Burke Mountain, which is characterized by unique natural elements, such as watercourses and outstanding views. The current and future development of this neighbourhood is strategically planned to support easy access to a number of major parks and natural areas that offer outstanding recreational opportunities, including the existing Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, Minnekhada Regional Park and Fremont Park, as well as a City trail network that follows natural watercourses throughout the area.

The commercial and social hub of Burke Mountain will be the “Village Centre”, a 39- acre land area designated as Neighbourhood Centre within the Partington Creek Neighbourhood Plan that forms part of the City’s Official Community Plan. The Village Centre and surrounding City-owned developable lands are the subject of this RFP. The Village Centre is envisioned to provide a mix of uses that will serve as the commercial, civic and recreational hub of Burke Mountain in Northeast Coquitlam.

The Partington Creek Neighbourhood Centre Master Plan (Appendix C) is the master plan for the Village Centre and was approved by City Council in 2017. It envisions an urban core, expected to house up to 2,000 apartments and townhouses, up to 120,000 square feet of commercial space, a major recreation complex with community centre, public plaza, “green spine” (park corridor), integrated multi-use trail network, and 3.6 acre park.

The City is the sole landowner of all lands that comprise the future Village Centre, and is primary landowner of the remaining developable lands directly surrounding the Village Centre within the Partington Creek Neighbourhood. In moving forward with the development of the Village Centre, the City, in its capacity as land developer and owner, wishes to establish a marketing brand that best identifies the project and its qualities, as well as creates a sense of place and strongly positions the Village Centre as a desirable Metro Vancouver location and the commercial and social centre of Coquitlam’s growing Burke Mountain community.

Scope of Work:

The Scope of Services will include but is not limited to the following:

1. Develop a brand and marketing strategy for the Village Centre and surrounding City-owned developable lands in the Partington Creek Neighbourhood. The brand will build on the strong themes presented in the Partington Creek Neighbourhood Centre Master Plan as well as the Neighbourhood Plan for Partington Creek.
2. Develop and implement a stand-alone website that will make the Village Centre and surrounding lands stand out as a unique livable place and development location of choice. Responsive website is preferred.
3. Create a suite of marketing materials to be used in the future Presentation Centre and community events.

Website Functional requirements:

• Navigation: The website must have a professional and user-friendly interface. The CMS must be easy for City staff to update and maintain.
• Compatibility: Content must be delivered across multiple platforms.
• Social Media: The website should integrate social media. Proposals should discuss integration of popular social media services such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The management of social media content is not required.
• Videos/Rich Media: The website should have the ability to incorporate videos and other rich visual elements.
• Events Calendar: The proposed solution must support an events calendar that is easy to populate and navigate.
• Search tool: To search by topic for relevant content.
• Subscriptions: The ability for website users to subscribe to content through email.

The Consultant will, where applicable:

1. Meet with the Project Steering Committee and selected City staff regularly during the development of the branding and marketing strategy, and website.
2. Include in both timelines and project scope, opportunities for internal stakeholders to review draft concepts and provide feedback.
3. Create a cohesive branding and marketing strategy for City-owned lands in the Partington Creek Neighbourhood, specifically the future Village Centre, to be presented to internal stakeholders’ feedback and amended to reflect this feedback.
4. Develop new content, secure photography and video assets, and other materials as discussed in the Branding and Marketing Strategy requirements above.
5. Design an intuitive, easy to navigate developable lands marketing website that serves to inform local and future residents. This website should be hosted externally and easy to update with new content by City staff.
6. Supply all required components and licenses.
7. Migration of data from existing websites.
8. Develop an Events Calendar on the website.
9. Testing and implementation of the new website, CMS, workflow and security.
10. Website configuration and staff training.
11. Website support and maintenance, including website hosting if applicable.
12. Work with Coquitlam’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) team, where applicable, to ensure the City’s technical standards are met.
13. Work with Coquitlam’s Corporate Communications team, where applicable, to ensure the City’s graphic standards are met and to leverage existing City assets and channels for information dissemination.
14. Design materials for use in a physical presentation centre, including, but not limited to marketing collateral, visual boards and build-out graphics.

Due Date:

August 3rd

Address:

Electronically – qfile.coquitlam.ca/bid

Agencies with a strong Canadian presence include Edelman PR and Shift Communications.