The City of Madison is seeking assistance from a public relations firm or specialist to work with City staff on developing and executing an online targeted media campaign to Town of Madison residents, businesses, and property-owners to publicize the Town of Madison attachment to the City
Background:
On October 31, 2022, the Town of Madison, WI will cease to exist and will be absorbed, upon a predetermined boundary, by the City of Madison and the City of Fitchburg. The dissolution of the Town is based on the terms of an agreement (the “Cooperative Plan”) entered into by the City of Madison, the City of Fitchburg, and the Town of Madison in 2003. Currently, the Town of Madison is comprised of less than 3.9 square miles of land. The total population residing in the Town of Madison is 6,300, and the majority of these areas will be attached to the City of Madison. Starting on October 31, 2022, services that were provided by the Town of Madison will be provided by the City of Madison or City of Fitchburg, depending on the intergovernmental agreement. The services described in this Request for Proposals (RFP) will cover only the geographic areas that will be absorbed by the City of Madison. Due to the attachment, there will be many service changes to Town of Madison residents, including but not limited to garbage and recycling pickup, winter maintenance and plowing, street maintenance, parks maintenance, and police protection. Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Fire protection and Building Inspections are currently being provided by the City of Madison since November 1st, 2020. To ensure a seamless transition, the City of Madison Internal Communications Team developed a Communication Strategy (see Appendix C) that was developed in collaboration with the Town of Madison and City of Fitchburg to notify and inform residents, businesses, and property owners in the Town of Madison of this transition. The Communication Strategy recommends using an online, targeted media campaign that informs all individuals, businesses, and property owners who are located in the Town of Madison that pre-designated parcels will be attached to the City of Madison (see blue parcels in Map 1) and that they will no longer receive services from the Town starting October 31, 2022.
Scope of Work:
The overall goals of the media campaign are to inform Town of Madison residents, businesses, and property owners of the attachment, service changes, including new programs and incentives offered by the City, and provide space for them to ask questions or share comments. A primary objective will be to direct Town of Madison Residents to a City of Madison webpage with information regarding the attachment. The City Communications Team will be the primary contact for the selected consultant.
The City of Madison is seeking assistance from a public relations firm or specialist to work with City staff on developing and executing an online targeted media campaign to Town of Madison residents, businesses, and property-owners to publicize the Town of Madison attachment. This assistance has the primary goal of using a geofence mechanism with cross-platform capabilities to communicate future City of Madison residents about the attachment. The consultant will be in charge of delivering media content on smartphones, smart TV (i.e. Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other streaming devices), computers, tablets and other electronic devices. The City of Madison Communications Team will provide all the graphics, videos and other media content that the consultant will use for the targeted media campaign. The message will focus on directing internet users to the Town of Madison Attachment website that will house the most up-to-date information about the attachment process and will help establish a two-way communication line where residents can ask questions and/or provide feedback. All online posts shall be as prompt, clear and equitable as possible. The consultant will primarily provide the following assistance:
1. Gather and organize all graphics, videos, and media content provided by the City of Madison Communications Team to start the awareness campaign in May 2021. The consultant will need to provide a plan on how the information could be shared and the specific platforms that would be utilized.
2. Deliver the message to future City of Madison residents, business owners and property owners on connected TVs and other streaming devices.
3. Share targeted media content on local news, weather apps, mobile browsers or other platforms.
4. Create and implement geo-targeted social media advertisements via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to help the City generate multiple engagement opportunities by linking advertisements to the Town of Madison Attachment website.
5. Use location, demographics and behaviors as targeting criteria for all services (see Target Audience below).
6. Provide a report on a quarterly basis of the results of the campaign summarizing number of impressions and general analytics of posts and ads.
The assistance will be needed during 2021 and it is expected to continue until the end of the attachment process on October 31, 2022. The continuation of the contract beyond December 31, 2021 will be dependent upon budget allocation for 2022 and excellent performance by consultant. Proposers are welcome to include additional tasks/strategies that are consistent with the project and within the budget
2.4 Target Audience
The Town of Madison is a very diverse community and the targeted media campaign must reflect Town’s demographics. According to the 2010 Census data, 6,397 people lived in the Town of Madison. 54% of the total Town of Madison residents are white, 20% are African American, 6% Asian, and 19% are some other race or two or more races. 28% are Hispanic or Latinx. 24% of individuals speak Spanish and of those, only 40% speak English very well. The Madison Mobile Home Park located on West Badger Road, has a high population of Spanish speakers. The City will provide the consultant additional bilingual material including Spanish, Tibetan, and Chinese. The consultant must intentionally reach as many individuals as possible and more specifically, persons of color. All residents, community-based organizations, local businesses and property owners that the consultant will reach must be within the areas that will become part of the City of Madison by October 31, 2022 (as illustrated in Map 1).
2.5 Related Activities The Consultant’s work will be part of a larger communication effort by the City of Madison that will include, among other things:
• A City staff team formed to coordinate City communications on the Town of Madison attachment, including communications via City social media accounts, City newsletters, City email lists, neighborhood listservs, property tax bills, utility bills, and elected officials’ communications.
• A webpage that will include information about the attachment process, interactive map, description and changes in service delivery, background, timeline, FAQs, subscription to email list, and other resources.
• Branding, design, and media content material such as banners, videos, and images suitable for media sharing.
• Town of Madison Hotline that will be launched by the end of April 2021.
• Community Navigators to conduct outreach and inform neighbors about attachment process via door-to-door interactions. The Navigators are anticipated to begin work during summer 2021.
• Targeted outreach to Town of Madison employers, community-based organizations, apartment managers, and neighborhood groups to spread the message on attachment process.
• Coordination with the City of Fitchburg and the Town of Madison.
• Informational handouts, flyers, and other print and digital materials produced in-house by the City. This awareness campaign material will be distributed to various public outlets such as libraries, community centers, schools, businesses, and non-profit organizations.
• Press conferences and public information meetings both online and in-person.
• City podcasts episodes and text message alerts.
2.7 Public Relations Timeline
The City has already begun developing awareness campaign content such as branding, frequently asked questions, and a wide variety of communication mechanisms recommended in the Communications Strategy. Unless otherwise mutually agreed upon, the City anticipates the Consultant’s efforts would start following the Town of Madison Attachment website launch by the end of April (on or shortly after the first week of May) 2021, with two main phases/years of publicity:
• Year 1 (May 2021 – December 2021): Social media ads every month and at least three entire months of geofencing targeted campaign on local news, weather apps, streaming devices and smartphones (preferably during the Fall 2021).
• Year 2 (January 2022 – October 2022): Social media ads every month and targeted media campaign 6 months prior the final attachment by using the geofence mechanism same as year
1. 2.8 Budget
The maximum budget for this contract is $8,000 for 2021. The City will make an initial payment of 30% of the total amount of the contract. Another 30% upon first quarterly report and final 40% payment after City acceptance that the terms of the contract have been fulfilled. It is estimated that the maximum budget for 2022 will be $12,000, but this amount might vary depending upon approval of the City’s 2022 budget.
Due Date:
Monday, March 15, 2021 2:00 PM CST
Address:
Brian Pittelli Purchasing Services City-County Bldg, Room 407 210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Madison, WI 53703-3346 PH: (608) 267-4969 FAX: (608) 266-5948 bpittelli@cityofmadison.com
Relevant agencies to consider include Magrino PR and Burson Marsteller.