Edmonds Community College is requesting proposals from advertising and marketing contractors or agencies to provide marketing, digital advertising, and graphic design services. This Request for Proposal (RFP) outlines basic requirements for services to be provided.
Background:
Edmonds Community College — established in 1967 — is a comprehensive college offering transfer degree programs, workforce certificates, and degrees, adult basic education, high school completion program, English as a Second Language, as well as classes at our Creative Retirement Institute and continuing education programs. Edmonds CC serves more than 20,000 students annually, including more than 1,200 international students from 62 countries. It offers one bachelor of applied science degree, 68 associate degrees, and 58 professional certificates in 29 programs of study. The highest enrolled programs include Associate in Arts/Associate in Science, Allied Health (pre-nursing degree), Paralegal, Business/Accounting, Construction Management, Computer Information Systems, and Culinary Arts.
Scope of Work:
3.0 Introduction
The College is seeking an advertising and/or marketing contractor or agency to:
● Strengthen the competitive position of Edmonds Community College relative to the other colleges and universities with whom the college competes for prospective students.
● Increase enrollment from diverse communities and create pathways to other college programs.
● Support recruitment and retention efforts and build community awareness perception affinity.
Professional Services (will include the following but are not limited to):
● Strategy, market research, and analysis
● Advertising: conception, planning, design, development, production, and evaluation
● Media buying, placement, and monitoring
● Graphic design
Edmonds CC primarily focuses on advertising fall, winter, spring, and summer registration.
Target markets
1. High school students seeking/parents of high school students:
a. Transfer to a four-year university to obtain a bachelor’s degree
b. Degree and/or certificate for a trade or occupation
2. Online learners:
a. Students who wish to complete their degree completely online.
3. Adult learners seeking:
a. New career opportunities or switching careers
b. Upskilling or advancing a career
c. Adult basic education/GED prep
d. Personal enrichment for themselves (seniors) or their children
4. Businesses seeking training for their employees
5. Opinion leaders and community pillars who can:
a. Advocate for college initiatives
b. Support for college development
How the college currently gets its message across:
Digital and non-digital marketing and advertising:
● TV (broadcast, cable, on demand, and streaming)
● Direct mail
● SEM (search engine marketing)
● Social media channels/social media marketing and optimization
● Display advertising on mobile devices, DMAP/Geotargeting
● Audio streaming apps
● Digital media advertising
The selected contractor would be expected to:
● Collaborate with the college’s Marketing and Public Information team to develop an integrated marketing plan to position the college as a first-choice college for target audiences and as an educational leader in the region.
● Be easily accessible for in-person meetings and campus visits.
● Analyze demographic data to determine primary, secondary, and tertiary marketing targets for purposes of recruiting students who will apply and register for courses at Edmonds CC.
● Identify unique and innovative ways to reach target audiences in an effective way.
● Develop an advertising placement/purchasing strategy for the contract period that is designed primarily to recruit students and secondarily to enhance the reputation of Edmonds CC. Said strategy can include, but is not limited to, a combination of traditional and non-traditional mchannels. Said strategy should include a detailed calendar of media placements and data compilations and built around the college’s four enrollment periods and ongoing recruitment efforts.
● Negotiate competitive rates to maximize effectiveness of placements.
● Provide detailed written specifications of all media buys and media placement recommendations to the college for approval prior to placing any media buy.
● Purchase media on behalf of the college during the contract period.
● Assist in, or solely develop creative designs based on strategic plan goals.
● Resize, rearrange, add to, and otherwise alter advertisements as needed. All creative content should be fresh and modern graphic design and adhere to Edmonds CC’s brand standards.
● Brand promise clarification and effective communication of coordinated, consistent brand execution messages.
● Provide onoing return on investment information that specifically demonstrates the effectiveness of every facet of the ad strategy. The ROI data should be provided regularly in an easy-to-understand, easy-to-access manner (i.e. dashboard concept or report form) and include comparisons to industry standards/expectations in each medium.
Due Date:
September 27, 2019
Address:
Paul Poppe
Contract Specialist
Purchasing Office,
Edmonds Community College
20000 68th
Avenue W., #200 F
Lynnwood, WA 98036
Relevant agencies include Hunter PR and Zeno Group.