BID NUMBER 25P-005.
Issued: December 20, 2024
Due Date: January 24, 2025, 11:00 AM EST
All sealed Proposals MUST BE RECEIVED via Equity Hub’s Bid Locker at https://bidlocker.us/details/4623 by 11:00 a.m. local time on January 24, 2025.
Contact: Drewry Brown dbrown6@howardcc.edu
SCOPE OF SERVICES
1. INTRODUCTION
The Board of Trustees of HCC is requesting proposals from qualified firms to assist with the development and implementation of communications and marketing campaigns and services that enhance student enrollment and institutional goals. The College intends to enter into a contract with a single firm to provide services as described below on an as-needed basis with no minimum guaranteed.
1. COLLEGE BACKGROUND
Since 1970, HCC has been a preferred college choice for students and families in Howard County, Maryland. A public community college, HCC offers associate degree and certificate programs, as well as workforce development training and continuing education classes, to nearly 30,000 credit and noncredit students each year. HCC received the 2019 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s only presidential-level honor for performance excellence in organizations.
1. OVERVIEW
The Office of Public Relations and Marketing (“PRM”) is looking for communications and marketing partner(s) to help provide strategic planning, recommendations of proven best practices, innovative industry trend recommendations, and implementation support for communications and marketing services. These partners must understand the higher education market and have had meaningful experience working with other higher education institutions. Greater consideration will be given to firms that have experience working with community colleges. The purpose of the Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit proposals to establish a contract, through competitive negotiations, with a qualified communications and marketing firm/individual that can provide results-oriented, efficient, cost-effective, and customized communications and marketing strategies and deliverables.
The selected firm is expected to work closely with PRM to develop and implement communications and marketing campaigns that will enhance student enrollment, increase institutional awareness, improve community perceptions, and further institutional goals. The selected firm/individual(s) must be capable of, but not limited to, providing comprehensive ongoing communications consultancy services, ranging from strategic counsel to tactical implementation support on special event or ad hoc communications activities. All communications and marketing partners are expected to produce quantitatively measurable results identified by Howard Community College. Respondents to this RFP must be able to validate capacity to complete the tasks listed within this document.
The selected firm is expected to measure, manage, and advise on each campaign/program/activity to maximize the desired outcomes.
The current contracts expire on June 30, 2025. It is anticipated that the award of this RFP will be made by the Board of Trustees in the Spring 2025 and the contract will begin approximately July 1, 2025.
1. SCOPE OF WORK
The selected firm shall review and assess the College’s current communications and marketing strategies in relation to assigned projects. The firm shall create targeted communications and marketing campaigns to achieve college goals for assigned projects. These campaigns will utilize a mix of strategies including, but not limited to the following:
* Providing analysis, trends, and recommendations based onmarket research, surveys, audience, goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics.
* Supporting marketing initiatives at all stages of the marketing funnel—driving awareness, interest, engagement, and conversions (i.e., focus groups).Developing creative and innovative strategy and designas needed to support the PRM team with related initiatives. Developing content for web and marketing assets such as flyers, paid social media, postcards, etc.Guiding Search Engine Optimization (SEO), keyword strategy, and other website marketing tactics.Managing media buying—digital, outdoor, broadcast, and print.Providing multicultural language translations will be given weighted consideration.Campaign Reports-data analysis, trends, updated proposals.
The firm will be asked to develop campaigns and strategies for unique or niche audiences within the College’s market. Examples may include, but are not limited to, multicultural and immigrant communities, non-native English language speakers, the business community, specific industries or employment sectors, the philanthropic community, adult learners, and others as needed and defined by HCC.
The firm will be responsible for creating clearly defined relevant and meaningful metrics for each element of a campaign for determining a return on investment. It should be noted that strategic plans,creative strategies, and other input will come in large part from PRM, in coordination with the selected firm.In addition, the firm should be able to recommend strategies to expand the impact of communications and marketing campaigns, allowing for the broadest possible exposure to the target audiences within the available budget.
1. DESIGN WORK
From time to time, the selected firm may be asked to create artworkto support PRM initiatives in multiple formats. The College requires all design work to be of high quality and consistent with the College’s existing branding and graphics style. Work shall be performed in accordance with specifications provided by the College. For any work performed in accordance with this contract, the College will retain exclusive rights to all designs and final output, including possession of the native graphic software files used in creation as requested. The firm shall be responsible for ensuring that the work does not violate any copyrights by obtaining any necessary permissions and shall indemnify the College for any copyright infringement.
