Marketing RFP Issued By Metropolitan Washington

Council of Governments

DEADLINE: Proposals shall be uploaded no later than 2:00 p.m. EDT, September 29, 2022

PROJECT OVERVIEW

COG’s Community Engagement Campaign (CEC) is comprised of thirteen water and

wastewater utilities serving the District of Columbia, northern Virginia and suburban

Maryland. The goal of this RFP is to assist the CEC committee with further investigating the

findings from their 2022 COG Water and Wastewater Survey to maximize the effectiveness

of the CEC’s messages and outreach campaigns about the safety of drinking tap water.

The survey was issued online by Dinsmore Research in May 2022 to a survey panel

representative of the COG region.

See separate document Appendix 1 for the Report of these survey findings and a copy of

the survey. We would like to delve deeper to understand local perceptions about tap water and how to better promote tap water’s benefits, including that is safe and economical.

TASKS

1. Comparison of CEC survey findings with other surveys and national research about

public confidence in tap water.

2. Do a literature review of national data and trends about perceptions of drinking tap

water, and where applicable compare with our survey’s findings. It would also be

helpful to research tap water marketing that is effective.

3. Conduct focus groups

Using your technical expertise to form one or more focus groups to reach a

defined target audience (ethnicities, age, and education), based on your

research, our survey findings from the last three years, and geographic

representation of our committee members.

4. Report on the national research and focus group findings and

recommendations about types and format for messaging that would be most

effective for reaching our target audiences.

5. Based on the focus group discussion, provide a written report and presentation

to the CEC about focus group findings. The report should include

recommended messages and avenues for relaying our messages that would

be most beneficial for reaching our defined target audience.