Washington State Fruit Commission Seeks Consumer Media Agency
The Washington State Fruit Commission is initiating this Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit proposals from firms interested in participating on the project titled 2020 National Consumer Media. The purpose of the project is as follows: The goal of the WSFC in this contracted relationship is to maximize the national media exposure surrounding the positive attributes of Northwest cherries for the growing regions of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Montana as well as other stone fruits from the state of Washington.
Background:
The Washington State Fruit Commission was founded in 1947 as a nonprofit organization funded by grower assessments for the purpose of promotion, market development, research and education of soft fruits grown in Washington State.
Fruit representation has shifted over the years. Peaches, prunes, plums, cherries and apricots were included in the original law and nectarines were added in 1984. The commission promoted Italian Prunes as Northwest Prune Plums with Oregon and Idaho from the 1960s through 1983. As of 1984, Washington began promoting other plum varieties and promotions were defined as Washington Prunes and Washington Plums.
Northwest sweet cherry growers had been informally promoting their sweet cherries together for several years, but in the 1950s, Washington and Oregon sweet cherry growers joined in formal promotions. Idaho joined in 1966, at which time the Northwest Cherry Growers was officially organized. Utah joined in 1967.
Scope of Work:
The scope of this project includes the following: The duties and responsibilities of the contracted party will include (but not limited to):
1. Drive consumer awareness of Northwest cherries, focusing on seasonal availability, health benefits awareness, and/or food & lifestyle exposure. 2. Strategic consulting for increasing national awareness within consumer and health research media channels. 3. Conceptualizing, copywriting and distributing Northwest cherries press communiqués to traditional and digital media. 4. Reviewing and reporting media tracking data, highlighting the media results of the 2020 PR campaign on behalf of the WSFC. 5. Performing other reasonable activities as required by WSFC.
Evaluation Procedure: Responsive proposals will be evaluated strictly in accordance with the requirements stated in this solicitation and any addenda issued. The evaluation of proposals shall be accomplished by an evaluation team(s), to be designated by the WSFC, which will determine the ranking of the proposals.
Evaluation Weighting and Scoring: The following weighting and points will be assigned to the proposal for evaluation purposes:
1. Organizational Experience 10 Points
2. Creativity 10 Points
3. Previous Work 10 Points
4. Project Team Structure/Qualifications/Reliability 10 Points
5. Technical Expertise & Experience 10 Points
6. Overall Proposal Suitability 10 Points
7. Value and Cost 10 Points
Request for Proposal and Project Timeline: Request for Proposal Timeline:
• All proposals in response to the RFP are due not later than 11:59 p.m. PST 4/2/2020.
• Evaluations of proposals will be conducted from 4/3/2020 to 4/6/2020.
• If additional information or discussions are needed with any bidders during this evaluation period, the bidder(s) will be notified.
• The selection decision for the winning bidder will be made no later than 4/7/2020.
• Upon notification, the contract negotiation with the winning bidder will begin immediately.
• Notification to bidders who were not selected will be completed by 4/8/2020.
Project Timeline: Estimated project start date is 4/7/2020. Estimated project completion date is 03/31/2021.
Due Date:
April 7, 2020
Address:
105 S. 18th St., Suite 205, Yakima, WA 98901
Relevant agencies include MWWPR and Magrino PR.
