Social Marketing RFP Issued By State of Alaska

The Alaska Division of Public Assistance requires a contractor to provide social marketing campaign services to support increased consumption of fruits and vegetables in SNAP eligible populations. This campaign must maximize reach to both rural and urban target audiences, in order to positively change knowledge, attitudes, intentions, and health behaviors.

Background:

The Alaska Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Program (SNAP-Ed) is a federally funded program. The goal of SNAP-Ed is to improve the likelihood that persons eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – formally called the Food Stamp Program, will make healthy food choices within a limited budget and choose physically active lifestyles consistent with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food guidance. SNAP-Ed services support SNAP’s role in addressing food insecurity and is central to SNAP’s efforts to improve nutrition and prevent or reduce diet related chronic disease and obesity among SNAP recipients. SNAP-Ed focuses on evidence-based and outcome-driven interventions in a combination of education strategies.

Each state receives SNAP funding and develops and implements a plan for the delivery of SNAP-Ed services within federal guidelines. Each state’s SNAP-Ed programs must incorporate the following approaches:

1. Direct nutrition education;

2. Promoting policy, systems and environmental changes; and,

3. Community and public health approaches, including social marketing.

Alaska’s statewide SNAP-Ed goals are that participants will increase behaviors consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPlate which will result in:

1. The percentage of adults who consume the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables will increase by 2%. (BRFSS)

2. The percentage of youth who consume the recommended daily servings of fruit and vegetables will increase by 2%. (YRBS/CUBS)

3. The percentage of adults who meet CDC recommended levels of physical activity will increase by 2%. (BRFSS)

4. The percentage of adolescents who meet CDC recommended levels of physical activity will increase by 2%.

(YRBS) Currently, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Cooperative Extension Services (UAF CES), Municipality of Anchorage, Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc. (RurAL CAP), and North Slope Borough deliver SNAPEd services for the State to support these goals. Nutrition educators work with partners such as grocery stores, schools, farmers’ markets, primary care clinics, after school programs, child care centers, senior centers, food pantries, local WIC and public assistance offices to deliver messages about the importance of eating and having access to fruits and vegetables.

Scope of Work:

DPA utilized a contractor to develop a Three-Year Social Marketing Plan, which can be found at: http://dhss.alaska.gov/dpa/Documents/dpa/programs/Nutrition/SNAP-ED/SNAP-ED-Social-Marketing-3-YearPlan.pdf. The results of these communications objectives, when combined with larger program efforts, will work toward increasing the number of SNAP-eligible Alaska adults and youth who consume the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. The strategic marketing plan determined the targeted populations that have the greatest need for SNAP-Ed services. These were:

Primary Target Audience: 

• SNAP Eligible: Alaska Native Adults: Parents, grandparents, and extended family members

• Rural-specific 

The campaign will focus on this primary target audience, but the campaign can include recommendations to include additional audiences/locations prioritized in the strategic social marketing plan and the 2018 Needs Assessment. The goals of Three-Year Social Marketing Plan are summarized as follows:

• Increase the likelihood that SNAP eligible Alaskans will make healthy food choices and consume more fruits and vegetables.

• Increase knowledge of the health benefits of canned and frozen fresh fruits and vegetables as alternatives to fresh.

• Increase understanding of how to mitigate the challenges of high cost and lack of fruit and vegetable availability.

• Shift attitudes regarding convenience to consider convenient healthy options, whether they are gathered, grown, or purchased.

The objectives are to: 

• Increase the number of SNAP-eligible adults who consume the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables by 2 percent.

• Increase the number of youth who consume the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables by 2 percent. Phase one of the campaign was implemented with the “Every Bite Matters” campaign, but more work remains to be done. 

Campaign Messaging Concepts 

Prior research conducted to develop the Three-Year Social Marketing Plan has shown that the target audience believes that fruits and vegetables, including fresh, frozen, and canned, are expensive and not readily available in rural locations. Our audience does not understand that frozen and canned vegetables can be just as healthy as their fresh counterparts. Among some Alaska Native populations, fruits and vegetables may not be considered part of the traditional diet. While some may want to grow their own fruits and vegetables, or gather plants from the land, our audience lacks the time, resources, and understanding to do so.

This project focuses on promoting the Alaska SNAP-Ed fruit and vegetable social marketing campaign, “Every Bite Matters,” to help remind Alaskans to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in their day. In FY20, the messages developed during FY18 will continue to be placed, new messages will be developed and placed, and reach and recall assessed. These findings will inform whether the campaign is continued in its current form beyond FY20. The campaign has three objectives: 

• Increasing fruit and vegetable intake among SNAP-eligible consumers

• Educating the SNAP-eligible population about the benefits of all fruits and vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned, berries and tundra plants)

• Dispel the misconception regarding a difference in quality between the sources of fruits and vegetables.

The Three-Year Marketing Plan also contains suggestions for campaign elements, style guide, logos, photography, collateral materials, posters, rack cards, and community toolkits/lesson plans. The successful offeror may use these recommendations as a guide, but other campaign elements outside of these recommendations may also be used. The state encourage offerors to focus on materials and channels that are also appropriate to social distancing in a pandemic situation. The definitions and examples of successful SNAP-Ed social marketing messages and federal requirements can be found at: https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/SNAPEd%20Plan%20Guidance%20FY%202020%20Complete.pdf and at https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/social-marketing0.

Due Date:

Tuesday, July 7, 2020, 4PM Alaska Prevailing Time.

Address:

Annalisa Haynie annalisa.haynie@alaska.gov       

Agencies worth considering include Shift Communications and KCSA PR.