North Dakota Lottery has issued an RFP for a marketing and advertising agency to work collaboratively with ND Lottery to produce advertising services to market all Lottery products.
BACKGROUND
The North Dakota Lottery is a division of the Office of Attorney General. The Lottery’s mission is to maximize net proceeds for the benefit of the state by promoting entertaining games, providing quality customer service to retailers and players, achieving the highest standards of integrity, security, accountability, and maintaining public trust. The Lottery was created in 2003 as a result of a constitutional amendment, approved in November 2002, allowing the state to conduct and participate in multi-state online games with one or more other government-authorized lotteries. The Lottery sold its first ticket in 2004. Through lottery ticket sales, the Lottery funds its expenses and generates net proceeds for the general fund. Through June 30, 2016, the Lottery generated over $78 million for the state general fund, $2.7 million for the Compulsive Gambling Prevention and Treatment fund, and over $3.8 million for the Multi-jurisdictional Drug Task Force grant fund.
The Lottery originally conducted only one game, Powerball, but now conducts five multi-state online games:
- Powerball (with Power Play)
- Mega Millions (with Megaplier)
- Hot Lotto (with Triple Sizzler)
- Lucky for Life
- 2by2
Description of Specific, Results-Oriented Tasks. The successful offeror will be expected to:
- Optimize public perception and support for the Lottery by marketing games in a responsible manner that protects the image of the Lottery
- Focus marketing resources to maximize consumer awareness of games and game features
- Find ways to appeal to potential players ages 18 to 34
- Apply high standards and dedication to the mission of the Lottery
- Have a physical presence in North Dakota
- Develop a reasonable knowledge of the Lottery’s multi-state games and their features
- Keep projects on schedule
- Establish and enforce a code of conduct for all employees and subcontractors that will assist the vendor in achieving the goals and objectives prescribed by this RFP
The offeror’s primary responsibility is to develop and implement marketing programs following direction provided by the Lottery. Public relations assistance in support of overall marketing objectives may be expected on an as-needed/limited basis. The Lottery expects the offeror to share high standards for effectiveness, efficiency and quality of work, and dedication to the mission of the Lottery. The successful offeror will work with the Lottery to maintain the high degree of integrity and public trust that North Dakota citizens expect from the Lottery.
Additional Offeror Responsibilities
- All offeror personnel assigned to the Lottery account will be expected to be thoroughly familiar with the Lottery rules and laws, State fiscal rules, State Procurement Code and Rules, state ethics laws and regulations, the Lottery’s history, products, marketing plan, and operating procedures as they relate to any services, products or activities provided by or in conjunction with the offeror. This includes knowledge of all aspects of this RFP and the offeror’s response. It is expected that all such personnel will have been thoroughly oriented and possess this knowledge prior to being assigned to work on any aspect of the Lottery account.
- The offeror shall demonstrate and maintain current knowledge of the lottery industry, including games, advertising, marketing, research, public relations and resources, and demonstrate knowledge of trends in advertising throughout the term of the resulting contract, including extensions.
DELIVERABLES
The offeror will be required to provide the following deliverables;
- The areas of typical advertising the Lottery currently uses
- Creation and production of point-of-sale materials and some purchasing of point-of-sale materials on an as-needed/limited basis
- Conducting bids with print facilities and submittal/ordering for printing of point-of-sale materials
- Negotiation, purchase, and instruction for placement of media time and space
- Post-buy evaluation of media schedule performance
- Evaluation of advertising schedule performance to include R.O.I, creative impact, message delivery, and consumer usage and attitude. Development of evaluation tools to assess the effectiveness of Lottery marketing activities.
- Creation of graphic design elements and collateral layout
- Digital conception and design
- Public relations services, on an as-needed/limited basis
- Creation of website graphics, banners, and other website related materials on an as-needed basis
Proposal due by March 29, 2017 to:
North Dakota Lottery
600 E Boulevard Ave, Dept 125
Bismarck ND 58505-0040
Strong contenders could include Ketchum and Burson Marsteller.