South Carolina Education Lottery Commission Issues Marketing RFP

It is the intent of the South Carolina State Procurement Office, on behalf of the South Carolina Education Lottery Commission (hereinafter “SCEL”), in accordance with all requirements stated herein or attached hereto, to solicit proposals for the provision of comprehensive advertising production services which includes, developing creative content for the production of television and radio, digital media, print materials and other marketing related services.

Background:

The SCEL is a Public Commission and Instrumentality of the State of South Carolina (the State) and operates as an Enterprise Entity. The SCEL’s sole purpose is to operate the State’s lottery business in a socially responsible manner to transfer its profits to the State to support education. The SCEL is a traditional lottery selling a product mix of terminal generated (“numbers”) games with drawings to select winners and instant ticket (“scratch off”) games. The SCEL receives no appropriations from the State and any expense affects the transfer of its profits to the State to support education. The SCEL advertises the two (2) national jackpot games: Mega Millions® and Powerball®; one (1) multi-state regional game Lucky For Life®; numerous instant win or scratch-off tickets; and three (3) daily state draw games (Pick 3, Pick 4, and Palmetto Cash 5). Beneficiary and Responsible Play messaging are also advertised with both paid advertising and public service announcements. These products and messages are advertised across all advertising mediums.

The SCEL and its employees are subject to the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code. All procurement contracts must be compliant with South Carolina Code of Laws and Regulations. SCEL will not purchase media where the identified market is skewed toward individuals younger than eighteen years of age. Please review Subsections 59-150-60(A)(8) and (18) of the South Carolina Code of Laws (Annotated), relating to “targeting” of advertising.

The SCEL seeks to maintain existing lottery players at their current purchasing levels while increasing play among those who rarely purchase lottery products, have never purchased lottery products, or have lapsed from the purchase of lottery products within the past year. Advertising expenditures cannot exceed one percent (1%) of the SCEL’s gross sales in the preceding fiscal year. The SCEL also seeks to enhance its cost-effectiveness by producing advertising that can be used for more than one year by adding new games or new prize levels. Historically, the total advertising expenditures has been significantly less than one percent (1%) of the gross sales for the preceding fiscal year. The SCEL seeks to maintain sales in excess of $1.7B and maintain FY2016, FY2017, and FY2018 transfers at $405M, $400M, and $434.8M respectively. Maximization of the SCEL’s media investment is critical for an optimal return on investment (ROI). The SCEL seeks to increase the alignment of its creative and media placement strategies to meet ongoing and evolving expectations of customers.

Currently, SCEL maintains two primary contracts related to the procurement of advertising services. First, SCEL maintains a contract with Chernoff Newman, LLC for the placement of the Lottery’s advertising and marketing content. In addition, the SCEL maintains a contract with Mad Monkey, LLC for the production and creative development of SCEL’s advertising and marketing content.

Scope of Work:

The Contractor shall provide all personnel, goods and services necessary for the creation and production of the SCEL’s advertising which includes, at a minimum, developing creative content for production of television and radio, and digital media.

The Contractor shall work closely with the SCEL as a collaborative and strategic unit and consult with the SCEL in all phases of the creative development and production of advertising throughout the term of this Contract. The Contractor shall use integrated traditional, non-traditional, and digital advertising methods, and any other emerging marketing strategies to reach across all relevant and emerging communication channels including, but not limited to, television and radio, print and point-of-sale material, Advertising Display Units (“ADUs”—located in all SCEL retail outlets), outdoor digital billboards, and digital media (i.e. web and social media development and integration). Additional marketing support and other related services shall be provided, as specified within this Scope of Work, or if consistent and similar in nature to the services as described in this Scope of Work.

The SCEL does not grant the Contractor exclusive rights to all advertising, production, and marketing services under this Contract. The SCEL may, in its sole discretion, acquire advertising, production, and marketing services by another contractor or subcontractor if it is determined to be in the SCEL’s best interest. The SCEL reserves the right to contract and purchase advertising, production, and marketing services from a different source, outside of the Contract resulting from this RFP, and the SCEL’s action to procure advertising, production, and marketing services outside of the Contract does not infringe upon or terminate the Contract resulting from this RFP.

The SCEL is seeking proposals which comply with each of the material and essential requirements described in Part 3, Scope of Work, 3.1 through 3.4 below. In addition, the requirements in Part 3, Scope of Work, 3.1 through 3.4 shall be met fully and performed in their entirety in a first class manner. The SCEL may consider any proposal which provides any deviations from, or caveats to, Part 3, Scope of Work, 3.1 through 3.4, as unacceptable. Anything that any Offeror would like to modify, seek clarifications on, or any other deviation, however modest, must be presented during the question and answer phase, considered and determined by the State before the submission date for all proposals, so that all prospective Offerors will have a common and uniform basis upon which to submit its proposals.

The Contractor shall provide, at a minimum, the following material and essential requirements, without deviation or modification, subject to any modifications that may be issued in an Amendment to the RFP by the State resulting from the question and answer phase.

The Contractor shall provide the SCEL with comprehensive advertising production services and other related marketing support services intended to promote public awareness of the Lottery’s products and enhance the SCEL’s brand. The Contractor will work with the SCEL as a collaborative partner in order to successfully perform the following: 1) create, develop, and produce high quality advertising for the SCEL’s lottery games and product mix of instant and terminal generated numbers games, intended to support the launch of new or revised lottery games and promotions, and 2) provide additional marketing support and other related services as specified below.

1. The Contractor shall provide comprehensive production of advertising and marketing services to include, at a minimum:
2. Development and editing of creative concepts and design;
3. Television and radio advertising development and production;
4. Web-based advertising promotions and innovative web opportunities;
5. Social media development and integration;
6. Support for advertising campaigns to improve and enhance the SCEL lottery products and product mix; and,
7. Promotions and promotional materials (print, merchandise, or other related items) for:
8. Beneficiary awareness campaigns;
9. Direct sales campaigns; and

iii. Public awareness campaigns.

2. The Contractor shall provide, at the request of the SCEL, the following services for the creation and production of advertising materials:
3. Layout, type specification, paste up, finished artwork or photography, type composition, permanent signage, Photostats, and printing for point-of-sale materials;
4. Script writing and direction, talent selection and acquisition, studio arrangements, and or any other copyrighted material or intellectual property held by a third party, if required, for radio advertising;
5. Script writing and direction, storyboard creation, talent selection and acquisition of props, set(s) or location(s), studio(s), filming or videotaping, music, if required, and release of prints or videotapes for television advertising; and,
6. Design, layout, and copy for web-based advertising; and Social Media development and integration, including future technological developments.

The provision of these services shall be billed at the Contractor’s quoted hourly rates without mark-up, and/or provided by a subcontractor based on the requirements of the particular project.

3. The Contractor, upon request, shall provide analysis and recommendations of plans, negotiation of agreements, development and implementation of alternative revenue sources such as, but not limited to, revenue generated from the sale or use of advertising, the use of the SCEL Draw Studio, or placement of advertising on the SCEL’s webpage. The Contractor shall provide the licensing of the SCEL’s intellectual property.
4. The Contractor may acquire any goods and services (using its own personnel or a third party subject to the approval of the SCEL) needed to provide advertising, production, and marketing services as required by the SCEL in this section 3.1 to effectively and efficiently complete a particular project.
5. All production of advertising and marketing projects done pursuant to Section 3.1 shall be pre-approved by the SCEL in writing. Contractor is expected to maintain financial and accounting records and logs for services provided as directed by the SCEL and in accordance with generally    accepted accounting principles. Billing for production of advertising and marketing services may be submitted in progress with prior approval by the SCEL. Each project or job shall be billed on a separate invoice and include a description of the goods and services provided by any Vendor or Subcontractor on the project/job, the quantity and unit cost by item if appropriate, total cost by item, a summary total, and any amount previously billed. As needed, the SCEL may modify these reporting requirements and the Contractor must provide additional information or detail as requested. All items listed in this section 3.1 may be paid on a monthly basis established under this RFP.

The Contractor shall provide additional marketing support and other related goods and services, and any items not specifically identified herein but within this Scope of Work, or are of a similar nature to those services described in this Scope of Work.

1. Other related goods and services that may be provided through other Vendors, or acquired by the Contractor at the request and on behalf of the SCEL, include, but are not limited to, the following:
2. Collaborative sponsorships and/or partnerships and those goods and services associated with these efforts including “trade for mention” agreements;
3. Training programs and seminars, draw studio production and management, assistance in recruiting and developing draw talent; and,
4. Other goods and services similar to those identified may be procured or provided at the SCEL’s request.

If a Subcontractor or another Vendor provides goods and/or services listed, the goods and/or services will be provided at net cost without mark up. The amount shall be paid as a pass through and will not be charged against the budget limitations established for the Scope of Work outlined in this RFP.

2. Contractor must receive prior written authorization before providing or purchasing any goods or services provided in paragraph 3.2.1. The Contractor must provide the name of the Vendor(s)    providing the goods and/or services, an itemized list and description of the goods and/or services to be procured, the costs of the goods and/or services including unit pricing and quantity information, and a recommendation regarding the proposed purchase of goods or services. The Contractor must provide any competitive offers obtained from prospective Vendors, if applicable. For certain goods and services, the Contractor may make purchases from a specific Vendor for reasons of consistency of creative concept and superior quality of product, brand recognition, timeliness, and efficiency, if the pricing is within the approved budget and it is recommended by the Contractor.
3. The Contractor shall conduct research projects and provide the SCEL with assistance in planning long range strategies pertaining to advertising and marketing lottery products in South Carolina and any multi-state cooperative games in which it participates as requested by the SCEL. The scope of such projects and any costs associated with such projects must be prior approved in writing by the SCEL. SCEL shall pay the actual costs for each research project as a pass through charge at net cost without mark up.

Due Date:

August 30th

Address:

SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services,

MMO

PO Box 101103

Columbia SC 29211

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