Digital RFP Issued By Hamilton County

The Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners (“County”) is setting forth a Request for Qualifications (“RFQ”) for a Digital Campaign for 2020 Census on behalf of the Greater Cincinnati Complete Count Committee. 

The purpose of this RFQ is to select a vendor who can best meet the requirements of the RFQ at the lowest cost for the specified time periods. The Vendor selected from this RFQ process shall provide these services, as defined hereafter. 

Key aspects of the overall Complete Count Committee Strategy include:

1. Work with the Complete Count Committee as trusted messengers to engage directly with residents in hard-to-count demographics or low response census tracts to ask them to complete the survey

2. Develop tailored strategies to engage hard to count communities in taking the census using a blended approach of volunteer partnerships and paid resources

3. Work in tandem with US Census outreach to encourage participation

4. Deploy a targeted outreach program to Census tracts that have the lowest response rates from May 1 to July 31 or longer if the US Census deadline is extended

Background:

Greater Cincinnati Counts, a joint project between the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County and many engaged stakeholders, is the official Complete Count Committee Cincinnati and Hamilton County whose mission is to increase awareness and motivate residents to respond to the 2020 Census. The 2020 Decennial Census is a once in a decade opportunity for our community to stand up and be counted. The Census determines how over $675 billion dollars in federal funding gets allocated each year for programs like school lunches and housing for seniors. Census data are also to decide things like public transportation needs, where to locate businesses and many other decisions that impact our daily lives. Congressional districts are also allocated and drawn using Census data. It’s imperative that Cincinnati and all jurisdictions in Hamilton County achieve a complete and accurate count.

Scope of Work:

Specifically, the digital marketing campaign will be tasked with increasing participation among demographics the US Census Bureau defines as “hard to count” and in geographic areas that experienced low responses in the 2010 Census (see attached Hard to Count Areas Map). The digital campaign will be part of a layered outreach approach utilizing a blend of digital, mail, and in person communications. The digital firm will work with Greater Cincinnati Counts 2020 Census outreach team to devise and deploy the digital marketing strategy. Anticipated budget between $49,000 and $75,000

Selection Criteria: We seek a digital firm to:

1. Develop creative assets for use on social media, pre-roll, banner ads, etc.

2. Determine digital ad buying strategy across appropriate platforms and make ad buys

3. Create a micro influencer outreach strategy (optional)

The selected vendor will have the experience and ability to translate digital advertising into specific measurable action in 2020 Census response performance and clickthrough rates to the 2020 Census page. The successful vendor will be selected based on experience, proposed campaign and price.

Due Date:

Apr 9, 2020 11:00:00 AM EDT

Address:

Jill E Williams Purchasing Agent I PurchasingHAMCOPurchasingQuotes@hamilton-co.org

Magrino PR and M Booth PR are agencies worth considering.