Colorado Department of Agriculture Issues Public Relations RFP

The Colorado Department of Agriculture is requesting proposals for Public Relations and Marketing services for the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. The RFP Process will select a marketing firm or a team of firms to implement a coordinated, statewide marketing campaign to increase awareness of and demand for Colorado wines among wine consumers and the beverage alcohol industry.

Background:

Our mission and vision:

The mission of the Department of Agriculture is to strengthen and advance Colorado agriculture; promote a safe and high-quality food supply; protect consumers; and foster responsible stewardship of the environment and natural resources.

Our vision is that Colorado agriculture be strong and vibrant, a key driver of the state’s economy, and recognized worldwide for its safe and abundant supply of high-quality food and agriculture products.

Under the direction of the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Colorado Department of Agriculture is proud to serve you through the following divisions:

• The Animal Health Division provides livestock disease prevention and control, as well as lab services; rodent and predator control services; licenses all of the state’s aquaculture facilities and animal cruelty investigations.
• The Brands Division inspects and verifies ownership on more than 3.8 million livestock; investigates livestock theft; records more than 35,000 livestock brands; and licenses livestock sale barns, packing plants and alternative livestock farms.
• The Colorado State Fair highlights agriculture, crops, livestock, canning, baking, needlework, flowers, art, science, and education. The highlight of the fairgrounds is the 11-day fair but is also open year-around for many activities.
• The Commissioner’s Office oversees all CDA divisions. It includes the Commissioner’s staff, Administrative Services, Homeland Security, Human Resources and Information Technology offices.
• The Conservation Services Division works to help farmers, ranchers, and other landowners manage natural resources effectively for successful long-term agriculture production and environmental health, including a new focus on assisting producers with federal lands issues.          
• The Inspection & Consumer Services Division provides inspection of animal feed, fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia tanks, eggs, grain warehouses, agricultural commodity handlers and dealers, custom meat and wild game processors, door to door food sales companies, weighing and measuring devices, and packages for correct weight and pricing. It also provides pet animal facility inspection and licensing as well as metrology and other regulatory laboratory services, such as feed, fertilizer, groundwater and pesticide testing.
• The Markets Division helps Colorado food and agricultural companies sell their products in local (via Colorado Proud branding), regional, national and international markets. It collects livestock and produce market news from around the state, oversees nine market orders, grades and inspects fruits and vegetables and helps promote Colorado wines through the Colorado Wine Board.
• The Plant Industry Division provides organic certification, nursery stock inspection, produce, plant and seed export certificates, seed inspection and certification, weed-free forage certification, bee inspection and investigations, chemigation (backflow prevention equipment permits and inspections), commercial & private pesticide applicator testing, licensing and investigations, pesticide product record inspections and label registration.

Scope of Work:

The RFP Process will select a marketing firm or a team of firms to implement a coordinated, statewide marketing campaign to increase awareness of and demand for Colorado wines among wine consumers and the beverage alcohol industry.

Activities marked with an * should be given extra emphasis in the written proposal.

1. The Contractor shall manage the Project

a. The Contractor shall attend a Post Award Meeting at CDA, and

b. The Contractor shall create Monthly Reports, and

i. Monthly reports shall be submitted to the CDA Project Manager,

1. Submittal shall be in a form and/or format acceptable to the CDA Project Manager.

ii. Monthly reports shall include:

1. An executive summary, and

2. A report of all activities undertaken during the reporting period, and

3. Status update of unresolved activities from prior periods, and

4. Anticipated activities for the next reporting period.

c. The Contractor shall provide sufficient personnel to manage project activities, and

d. The Contractor shall submit monthly invoices, and

e. The Contractor shall accept full responsibility for all aspects of the Contract, and RFP2019000192

i. Contractor shall submit all subcontractors for approval to the CDA Project Manager prior to contracting or making available CDA information, and

ii. All subcontractors shall be held to the same standard of care as the Contractor.

f. The Contractor shall make a Periodic Reports to the CWIDB, not to exceed three (3) times per year.

i. Reporting to the CWIDB shall be in person, or in another format approved by the CWIDB.

g. At the end of the contract term, the Contractor shall participate in any transition activities to the next contract

2. The Contractor shall conduct the following essential activities.

a. *Provide public relations services, including:

i. Media relations, including:

   1. Press kits

ii. Government relations,

iii. Business relations, including:

1. Design, layout, and creation of wine industry resource materials,

2. Coaching for media relations for wine industry,

iv. Familiarization tours.

b. Tourism marketing,

c. *Social Media Outreach,

d. Recommend advertising and other campaigns in support of these activities, including:

i. Marketing/Advertising Strategy,

ii. Design,

iii. Advertising negotiation with partners and advertisers,

iv. Purchase of advertising space and/or time.

e. *Internet Services, including:

i. Coloradowine.com web services, including:

                                                                1. Hosting,

                                                                2. Design,

                                                                3. Content development

                                                                4. Maintenance, and

                                                                5. Alignment with Colorado Wine Brochures and other materials.

ii. Maintenance of industry data resources (Trade Resources).

               f. Increase awareness of and demand for Colorado wines, including:

                         i. Creation and updating of strategy to increase awareness,

                        ii. Research of alternative marketing strategies,

                         iii. Identify and profile Colorado wine consumers and demographics,

1. Identify alignment issues of strategy and demographics

                       iv. *Proposal and strategy to “make Colorado wine cool,”

                       v. Increase outreach opportunities at licensed retail beverage alcohol outlets.

             g. Create or improve marketing relationships with similarly focused organizations.

3. The Contractor shall perform Event Services,

         a. Event Services Include:

                                                i. Event Planning,

                                                ii. Event Hosting,

                                                iii. Service contracting,

                                                iv. Venue rental,

                                                v. Event promotion, RFP 2019000192

                                                vi. Event design,

                                                vii. Ticket oversight,

                                                viii. All around Event management.

                                b. *Creation of an Event Strategy,

                                                i. Includes suggestion for inclusion in new wine festivals, events, fairs, etc.

                                c. Continued participation in established Colorado wine events, including:

                                                i. Annual Colorado Governor’s Cup Competition

                                                ii. Colorado UnCorked!

Due Date:

March 19^th, 2019.

Address:

Colorado Department of Agriculture

305 Interlocken Parkway

Broomfield, CO 80021

Hunter PR and 5WPR have strong capabilities in this area.