Marketing Assistance to Advertise Town of Southington’s Dining Opportunities, retail, and businesses. Special attention and focus on Downtown Southington, Plantsville, and Meriden-Waterbury Road areas.
Purpose:
The Town of Southington will hire a marketing firm to promote the Town of Southington’s restaurants and local businesses which may include television commercial production, radio commercial production, internet promotions, geotargeted social media promotions, and assist with ideas for future marketing strategies.
Background:
| Although Southington was formally established as a town separate from Farmington in 1779, its roots go back to a much earlier time. Samuel Woodruff moved from Farmington to the area then known as “Panthorne.” The settlement grew, prospered, and came to be known as “South Farmington” and then later, the shortened version, “Southington.”A meeting house, independent of the Farmington parish, was first constructed here in 1726 and was used until 1757. Its location on the site of the present Oak Hill Cemetery is commemorated by the First Meeting House stone and plaque.Southington became a thriving community with the construction of dwellings, taverns, and stores. Industry flourished rapidly. In 1767, Atwater’s grist mill was established and by 1790, Southington had a button factory, saw mills, a brass foundry, and potash works. In addition, the first machines to make carriage bolts were developed in Southington.Southington played a part in this country’s military heritage. Important town visitors during the Revolutionary War include Washington, Lafayette, and Count Rochambeau.Southington today is a growing community, once described as “A Microcosm of America.” The town is located in Hartford County, within 20 miles of Hartford and 9 miles of Waterbury, and includes the sections of Plantsville, Milldale, and Marion. The geographic area of the town is 36.8 square miles, ranking it 40th out of 169 Connecticut towns and its population is approximately 43,000. While today it is a modern residential, commercial, and industrial community, Southington is proud of its history. |
Scope of Work:
Assist Economic Development Department in coordinating efforts to advertise and promote restaurants and local businesses, which may include television commercial production, radio commercial production, internet promotions, social medial promotions and assist with ideas for future marketing strategies
Scope of Services:
The Town of Southington’s Economic Development Department is seeking proposals for the following scope of services:
1. Development of Plan for advertising restaurants, retail, and business services in the general area with focus upon the Downtown Southington, Plantsville, Marion, and Milldale, and Meriden-Waterbury Road areas.
2. Hiring of and supervision of any subcontractors necessary to carry out advertising.
The scope of services, as outlined in this RFP, is preliminary. The final copy of services will be negotiated with the selected firm and modified as needed, depending on site conditions.
Deliverables:
1. Prepare scope of work, project schedule, and final project budget for review and approval by the Town, with input from the Town before work begins.
2. Provide invoices based on fulfillment of milestones established by the approved project schedule, delineated by task and including percent completed.
3. Final reports to be transmitted to the parties noted above in digital format, with comments received from stakeholders addressed fully.
Proposal Requirements:
Sealed proposals, in accordance with the format prescribed below, will be received at the office of Town Manager Mark Sciota, 75 Main St, PO Box 610, Southington, CT 06489 until 10:00 a.m. EDT, June 12, 2020. Any responses received after the advertised opening date and time shall be rejected. Firms are required to provide one (1) signed original and (6) copies of their response, including all supporting documentation, and one digital copy.
Questions:
General inquiries concerning the Request for Proposals must be made by email to Lou Perillo at economicdevelopment@southington.org. Questions must be received by 2:00 p.m. on June 5, 2020. The Town is not bound by verbal responses. The Economic Development Department staff will publish all questions received and answers provided by addenda to this RFP by June 10, 2020.
Format:
1. Cover Letter: A letter signed by an officer of the firm, binding the firm to all of the commitments made in the proposal. The cover letter should be addressed to: Town Manager Mark Sciota, 75 Main St, PO Box 610, Southington, CT 06489
2. Contact Information: The name, address, and contact person of the firm submitting the proposal. Please include telephone numbers as well as email addresses.
3. Statement of Qualifications: the name(s), business address, phone number, e-mail address of firms and individuals proposed to participate in all tasks identified in the scope of work. The background, education and relevant experience of all team members proposed to participate in all tasks identified in the scope of work should be included. The principal in charge and project manager shall be identified along with the roles of other significant project participants.
4. References: Please provide a minimum of three references, giving the name of the project, description of project, project period, and project cost.
5. Project schedule: Proposed project schedule in accordance with basic requirements of this RFP. Please include major tasks and approximate timeline required to complete the Scope of Services included herein.
6. Fee Proposal: The fee proposal shall include costs associated with the delivery and provision of finished product(s) and costs associated with carrying out all tasks. The fee proposal should include a complete rate schedule and pricing for staff and equipment to be utilized for this project.
7. Insurance Documents: Documentation of insurance coverage.
Selection Criteria:
Submissions will be reviewed by the Town representatives and staff. Town staff seeks to hire the respondent whom the Town deems able to provide the most effective marketing services at the most reasonable cost.
Selection criteria will include:
1. Demonstrated ability to work successfully with municipal partners
2. Demonstrated familiarity with the type of project requested
3. Overall cost of services and cost effectiveness of the proposal
4. A clear approach to probable outcome with well-defined steps
5. Demonstrated ability to apply sound marketing methods applicable to and in support of potential outcome
Based upon the evaluation of the proposals submitted, the Town may elect to conduct an interview process with selected firms.
Due Date:
June 12, 2020, at 10:00 a.m
Address:
Town Manager Mark Sciota, 75 Main St, PO Box 610, Southington, CT 06489 With a digital copy to Mr. Sciota at sciotam@southington.org
Agencies worth considering for this assignment include Ruder Finn and Shift communications.