Palomar College Issues Digital Advertising RFP
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN That the Palomar Community College District of San Diego County, California, acting by and through its Governing Board, will receive up to 3:00 p.m., on the 1st day of September, 2020. RFQ responses from established national advertising and marketing agencies (“Firm”), that will furnish consultant services on a year-to-year basis, for a total period of up to three (3) fiscal years, with an option for an additional two one-year extensions.
The College requires a partner firm to execute a digital marketing strategy to aid in increased awareness, engagement, and enrollment for the College. The firm will provide ongoing monitoring and optimization, as well as reporting. The firm shall provide expert consultation and feedback based on industry best practices that will help the College strengthen its digital presence among its target audiences. This includes consultation before the launch of a campaign and during the run of a campaign. The selected firm shall provide advice on channel selection and blend, audience targeting and keyword strategy, and the leverage of new techniques or channels that arise in the ever-evolving world of digital marketing. The firm will be responsible for in-depth discovery and research on the academic programs selected for inclusion in the campaign, and creation of a digital marketing plan based on the selected academic programs, timelines, and target audiences provided by the College. The firm shall also provide design for creative assets, to include the build out of individual ads within each platform, landing pages, monitoring key performance indicators, and adjusting campaign elements like bid strategies and keyword usage to improve performance and maximize budget. The firm shall report raw key performance indicator data at frequent intervals as necessitated by the particular campaign, as well as in-depth analytical reports on a monthly basis. Reporting shall be provided in such a manner to allow for improved performance based on the data. The annual budget of $150,000 is inclusive of all services identified above and begins each fiscal year (July 1, 2020 and ends in June 2021). First year will be prorated based on award(s) of contract.
Background:
In the last 7 years, the College has experienced inconsistent enrollments. While some of the factors for the inconsistencies can be identified (e.g. economic health of the region, rates of unemployment, increased freshman enrollment at CSU San Marcos, and a regional focus on career technical education, it is imperative that the College effectively reach its target audiences. Palomar College currently engages in comprehensive marketing and communications strategies that include branded advertising, public relations and social media marketing. It was not until the last 12 months that digital advertising became a more heavily used strategy to increase awareness of the wide-range of academic and career training programs and to reach specific audiences to aid in the improvement of enrollments at the College.
Scope of Work:
Scope of Work Contractor will provide the services more particularly described in the Agreement. This Statement of Work is intended to outline the service, materials and special items required to perform the digital advertising strategy design, implementation and management services for Palomar College.
SUBSTANTIAL REQUIREMENTS
1. Proposer shall Provide specifications of approach to digital advertising strategy design; inclusive of standard research conducted, timeline required, percentage of budget and in-kind hours required for strategy design, key aptitudes of firm in strategy design (inclusive of level of experience).
2. Describe approach and process for digital advertising strategy implementation; inclusive of description and quantification of the expected number of ads that will be designed, description and quantify the expected number of landing pages to be developed, provide details of creative review process (inclusive of implementation of edits and any direct costs associated), description of strategy tracking techniques and any needs that may be required of the College web team (i.e. subdomain integrations), detailed explanation of approach to media planning and buying required for strategy implementation, detailed explanation of in-house resources that will be utilized for strategy implementation (include set-up and launch plan), detailed explanation of contracted resources that will be utilized for strategy implementation (include set-up and launch plan), description of any other resources that will be allocated to this contract (i.e. technical staff, copywriters, etc.), detailed timeline and budget allocation for strategy implementation (include expected percentage budget allocation for media vs. agency fees associated with this type of strategy implementation), details associated with number of in-kind hours assigned to strategy implementation and agency’s key aptitudes for strategy implementation that are important for our consideration.
3. Describe approach and process for strategy management; inclusive of primary key performance indicators that are evaluated and managed, agency’s standard frequency and mode for strategy optimizations, a description of systems or resources utilized to manage and optimize strategy and report management, details of access provided to College to reporting platforms, description of standard frequency of interactions with clients during on-going strategy management, detailed explanation of in-agency and outsourced resources that will be utilized for strategy management, detailed budget allocation for strategy management, summary of agency’s key aptitudes for strategy management that are important for our consideration.
XI. DELIVERABLES
Following the award, conduct initial meeting with Director of Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs to understand the quantity and details of each program to be included in the strategy, gather the information necessary to outline and develop digital advertising strategy; provide timeline and budget allocation for this initial phase of the deliverables, this will be followed by design of implementation plan inclusive of media channels, ad and landing page design, and budget allocation by media channel and launch timeline; finally a detailed approach to strategy management is to be provided inclusive of a timelines and budget allocations.
XII. EVALUATION/SELECTION /AWARD OF CONTRACT PROCESS
The District’s evaluation, selection and award of contract process is as follows:
GENERAL PROCESS
1. The selection committee shall screen and rate all submittals based upon the complete responsiveness as requested in the RFQ Contents/Format section of the RFQ.
2. The selection committee will select the shortlist of Firms that may be invited for interviews.
3. The selection committee will invite the shortlisted Firms for a presentation/interview. The interviews will be one hour in length; the Firms will have 30 minutes for a presentation and 30 minutes for questions and answers. The Firm interview team shall include the team staff that will be assigned to work with the District.
RATING METHOD
1. Based upon the interview/presentation each Firm shall be rated in each category where professional services are required.
2. Based upon the interviews, the Firm that rates the highest shall be invited to enter into contract negotiation. When the services and fees are agreed understood and agreed upon, the District will seek approval of award by their Governing Board of Palomar Community College District.
3. If the negotiations are not successful, the District shall enter into negotiations with the next highest rated Agency until an agreement for services and fees acceptable to the District and the Agency are reached.
Due Date:
3:00 P.M., TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2020
Address:
Debbi Claypool, Senior Contracts Administrator Office of Contract Services dclaypool@palomar.edu and copy Julie Lanthier Bandy, Director, Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs Office jlanthierbandy@palomar.edu Palomar Community College District 1140 West Mission Road San Marcos, CA 92069
Relevant agencies include Devries Global and Hunter PR.
