Purpose and Overview:
Richland County Government is now accepting Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) to identify
qualified marketing and advertising agencies to provide the county with a wide range of
communications services.
Richland County is the capital county of South Carolina and is home to a diverse population of more
than 400,000 residents. It is governed by 11 elected council members. The County Administrator
serves as the administrative head of Richland County, directing and coordinating the operation of
agencies and administrative responsibilities established by the County Council.
It is Richland County’s mission to provide exceptional public services through effective planning,
proactive leadership, and inclusive governance, ensuring that all residents, visitors, and businesses
have equitable opportunities and an improved quality of life today and in the future.
Richland County is seeking RFQs from experienced, full-service marketing and advertising agencies
to support the County’s mission and efforts to build brand awareness, increase stakeholder engagement, and advance its reputation as a trusted, effective, and reliable government agency. Agencies must be innovative and driven and possess a proven track record of successfully working with government entities.
Qualified vendors must fully understand Richland County’s mission and will be responsible for
providing broad-based advertising services to assist in the creation of content, incorporating the
County’s brand and mission to build awareness and public engagement.
Goals:
Building upon the strategies set forth and executed by the Office of Communications, Richland
County seeks to bolster stakeholder awareness of government functions, the County’s brand and
mission, and increase positive public and media engagement. Goals include but are not limited to:
• Advancing Richland County Government’s position in the community as a trusted, effective,
efficient, and reliable government agency
• Evolving media and public engagement strategies with the development of advertising and
promotional content to support and enhance brand awareness and efficaciously increase
stakeholder engagement
• Strengthening strategies to ensure residents have a clear understanding of Richland County
Government functions
• Expanding marketing and advertising services promoting the brand and mission of Richland
County, services provided by the County, and impact on the community
Scope of Work:
Qualified firms will be responsible for a wide-range of marketing and advertising services to support
the Office of Communications including but not limited to:
• Evaluation of brand awareness and perception among target audiences
• Integration of research results into Richland County’s mission
• Development of commercial and promotional content incorporating Richland County’s brand
and mission to build awareness and effectively enhance public engagement
• Creative services for digital, social, and traditional media to include organic and paid content
• Digital, social, and traditional media tracking, analysis, and reporting
• Crisis communications support
• County-wide media training
Submittal Requirements and Criteria:
1. Narrative explaining the firm’s qualifications for goals, scope of work, and desired results
2. Summary of the firm’s experience and recent work involving similar projects and their ability
to meet required deadlines
3. Name and experience of key personnel
4. Ability to integrate the project(s) into the firm’s present workload
5. Three references to include names, email addresses, and phone numbers of previous clients
with a description of the type of project(s) completed, timeframe for the process, and date of
completion