Basic Information

Reference Number

0000159566

Issuing Organization

ECO Canada

Solicitation Type

RFP - Request for Proposal (Formal)

Solicitation Number

20190909

Title

Public Relations and Brand Strategy Services for ECO Canada

Source ID

PU.OTH.AB.418575.C49068

Details

Location

Canada, All of Canada, All of Canada

Purchase Type

One Time Only- Delivery Date:2019/10/09

Description

Purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP)
The purpose of this RFP is to hire a qualified contractor for:

Development of an updated Brand Story
Provide media training for public-facing staff members
Development and execution of media relations campaign
Content generation and copywriting services for thought leadership activities

This RFP is open to contractors with experience and expertise in design and developing marketing and media relations campaigns for HR service companies.

Background
ECO Canada, a non-profit organisation, started as one of Canada’s leading sector councils. For over 25 years, we’ve led the creation of career development resources and training programs for environmental practitioners in Canada. We study the environmental labour market and examine ways to improve industry access and career advancement opportunities for new graduates as well as mid to senior level practitioners.

Our research provides valuable insights on green career trends, from top jobs to skills gaps to high-growth sectors. Governments, educators, youth and industry planners use our findings to make decisions and formulate strategy. Our mission is to ensure an adequate supply of people with the demonstrated skills and knowledge required to meet the environmental human resource needs of the public and private sectors.

Going Forward
Our recent labour market research findings indicate that there is a significant gap in employment supply that must be filled in the next eight to ten years. Between baby boomers retiring and the demand for new environmental roles the need for qualified workers is growing rapidly.
Approximately 180,000 jobs must be filled by qualified workers.

This presents an excellent opportunity for emerging professionals to excel within the environmental sector and for employers to consider as they plan their future business strategy. The challenge is that these new professionals face numerous barriers that can prevent them from gaining meaningful employment. Lack of essential soft skill knowledge, demographic factors or career preparedness are major factors in their ability to get hired and advance into mid-level roles.

Our strategy is to create or support employment solutions that will address this gap and provide a way forward for emerging practitioners as well as seasoned professionals who may be looking to transition into the sector.

We are looking for a service provider that can help us evangelize this message and ensure our story gets in front of the right people.

How we work
ECO Canada has a number of roles that help us to deliver on our mission. We work as a delivery partner of the Federal Government in facilitating job creation for youth with barriers by administering several wage funding programs that incentivize employers to hire new graduates. In order to scale action items that support our mandate, ECO Canada also has several partnership agreements with organizations as well as academic institutions to offer solutions to professional development training. And finally, we offer proprietary services and solutions to individuals, industry stakeholders and academic influencers that address HR challenges within the environmental sector. This includes the EP Designation, training workshops on a range of technical skill development topics, labour market research, Post-Secondary Accreditation and the BEAHR (Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources) workforce development program.

Project Goals
1. Increase audience awareness and understanding of ECO Canada’s programs and services.
2. Develop and/or strengthen relationships with reporters and media influencers.
3. Improve engagement with key audience segments including government stakeholders and industry influencers.
Tactics implemented to achieve project goals must be measurable – subscriber acquisitions will be a primary driver of success.
Required Deliverables
The following deliverables are required for this 12-month project and vendors must articulate an approach to completing these key milestones:

Statement of Work and project management process
Development of new Brand Story
Target audience research that focuses on key decision maker and influencer connections
Media Campaign to promote the new Brand Story including creative assets, copywriting support, and dissemination management
Media training document that outlines best practices and requirements for existing or new staff that will have direct interaction with members of the press
Written digital and print content to support the Brand Story and enhance thought leadership
Monthly progress reports
Recurring project status meetings

INSTRUCTIONS TO VENDORS
This Request for Proposals (“RFP”) is an invitation to suppliers (the “Proponents”) to submit proposals (the “Proposals”) to provide public relations services as described in ‘Required Deliverables’ above.
This RFT is issued by Environmental Careers Organization Canada (ECO Canada), a not-for-profit corporation funded in part by the Government of Canada.

Enquiries
Proponents should forward all enquiries and other communications via e-mail only to:
media@eco.ca

All enquiries must be made via e-mail to the e-mail address above and enquiries submitted in any other way will not be accepted or answered. All enquiries and communications must be received prior to 3pm on September 16, 2019.

Proposal Submission
Proponents must submit their Proposal in electronic format labelled with the Proponents name, address, website and signature of project lead(s). Word or PDF are the only acceptable formats. Submissions should be submitted to: media@eco.ca
ECO Canada
Attention Angie Huk, VP of Marketing
Suite 400 – 105-12 Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2G 1A1

Proposals submitted in any other manner will not be accepted.

Minimum Requirements of a Bidder:
The bidder must demonstrate that they:

Have recognized experience in the development and execution of media and branding services.
Have experience working with non-profits that work with multiple stakeholder groups.
Have experience working with clients in the human resource industry.
Have the ability to meet the scope /development criteria.
Ability to work with industry in both official languages would be an asset.
Experience working in the environmental sector would be an asset.

Proposal Requirements
The Proposal shall include:

An executive summary
A summary of the Proponent’s understanding of the requirements
Information about the qualifications and experience of the proponent organization
A detailed summary of the Proponent’s proposed approach to meeting project goals and activities that will be implemented
List of current and past clients (i.e. within the last three years) in relevant HR/government/non-profile or other related fields for whom you have worked in a similar vein
References for three different clients for whom the Proponent has provided media strategy
List of proposed team members (name, title, biography, relevant qualifications/experience)
An overview of the proposed team structure (i.e. reporting relationships) specific to this account and the role / expectations for each team member.
Information about the Proponent Organization’s fees as they relate to this proposal, including a proposed media budget
A completed and signed Form of Offer

Expectations
At minimum, the contractor will be expected to:

Review the newly developed Body of Knowledge and the existing National Occupational Standards and other relevant materials.
Be familiar with the EP Certification process, policies and adhere to program quality.
Determine best course of action to complete the work consistent with the project time lines and the expected quality of work.
Consult with and report to the contracting authority throughout the duration of the project.
Ensure adequate testing of the item bank questions with a relevant audience.
Ensure adequate beta testing of the administration of the computer based testing to ensure all technical issues are covered.
Consult with ECO IT team to ensure proper configuration with ECO Canada website and database systems.

Any proposal that does not meet the mandatory requirements as listed above will be disqualified and will not be further evaluated.

EVALUATION PROCESS AND CRITERIA
Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated using the following Rating Criteria

1. Qualifications and experience of the Proponent organization. 25%
Supporting information could include:
- Client roster and project size in the past 2 years
- Areas of specialty and methodology
- Explanation of how the qualifications and experience align with the project requirements
- Demonstrated success in performance-based media campaigns – case studies of campaign success and/or content development examples are welcomed.
- Evidence of media strategy experience that is national in scope
- A summary of the relevant qualifications and experience of each project member

2. Project management ability. 20%
Supporting information includes:
- Approach to ensure projects are managed effectively and on-time
- Tools or systems used to manage project deliverables and communications with clients
- Examples of ways Proponent would identify and manage project risk

3. Project approach and schedule of deliverables. 30%
Supporting information could include:
- Understanding of the project requirements and goals
- Key components that will ensure project success
- Strong strategic planning mechanisms
- Ability to provide personalized service
- Proposed timeline of recommended deliverables
- Perceived value – cost relative to service

4. Organization of Proposal and Value Proposition. 25%
Supporting information includes:

Proposal content exhibits clear understanding of ECO Canada’s needs and aligns strongly with requirements as summarized in this RFP
Proposal demonstrates strong communications principles (e.g. clearly written and effectively organized with no grammatical errors)
Positive interpersonal dynamics and good working chemistry with ECO Canada team
Fairness of price in relation to the services provided

STAGES OF THE PROPOSAL EVALUATION
ECO Canada will conduct the evaluation of Proposals in two stages:
Stage One

Review of Proposal documents to determine which Proponents comply with all mandatory requirements
Scoring each qualified proposal on the basis of the rating criteria. The top three Proponents that have received the highest score will be invited to an in-person meeting (or teleconference depending on location). The purpose of this meeting is to walk through the proposal in greater detail and allow the Proponent to present their key differentiator(s) to ECO Canada.

Stage Two

Final evaluation of the top three proposals will be conducted taking into consideration the initial score, presentation and cost vs. value.
Project winner will be notified once a final decision has been made. Upon notification, the Proponent will be required to schedule a Kick-Off Meeting which will inform the development of the project statement of work.

Pricing and Timing
Please ensure that the Schedule of Deliverables includes a pricing breakdown and timeline. The total available budget for this project shall not exceed $100,000 over 12 months.

Dates

Publication

2019/09/09 06:29:30 PM MDT

Bid Intent

Optional

Bid Intent Deadline

2019/09/11 12:00:00 AM MDT

Question Acceptance Deadline

2019/09/16 03:00:00 PM MDT

Questions are submitted online

Closing Date

2019/09/20 06:00:00 PM MDT

Contact Information

Claudine Vidallo

403-233-0748

media@eco.ca

Bid Submission Process

Bid Submission Type

Electronic Bid Submission

Pricing

Lump sum

Bid Documents List

Item Name	Description	Mandatory	Limited to 1 file
Bid Documents	Documents defining the proposal	No	No
No entries

Additional Bidding Instructions

Acceptance of the Proposal
ECO Canada reserves the right not to accept any proposal. The RFP should not be construed as a contract to purchase services. ECO Canada shall not be obligated in any manner until a written agreement relating to an approved proposal has been duly executed.
Proposal Revisions
Proposal revisions must be received prior to the RFP submission closing date and time.
Acceptance of the Proposal
ECO Canada reserves the right not to accept any proposal. The RFP should not be construed as a contract to purchase services. ECO Canada shall not be obligated in any manner until a written agreement relating to an approved proposal has been duly executed.
Proposal Revisions
Proposal revisions must be received prior to the RFP submission closing date and time.
Sub-contracting

Sub-contracting is allowed as a condition of the anticipated contract for service. When allowed, proposed subcontractors must be listed.

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