NY Market Radio Committee – Creative Marketing Campaign RFP

NEW YORK STATE BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION, Inc. – NY RADIO MARKET COMMITTEE

Contact Information:

Nicole Ovadia (novadia@nyc-radio.org)

Questions:

Please click HERE to view answers to all submitted questions.

BACKGROUND AND INFORMATION

The New York State Broadcasters Association’s (NYSBA) New York Radio Market Committee (NYRMC) is seeking to contract with a creative advertising or public relations organization to evangelize the superior results and consumer engagement that New York City’s audio brands deliver. Successful applicants will be working with the New York State Broadcasters Association and major audio/radio groups in New York City.

PROJECT GOALS

Audio has become a dynamic and growing market in the post COVID world. The primary goal of this project is to create an innovative campaign designed to enhance the visibility of radio as an important component of Advertisers’ plans to reach consumers and, ultimately, convince Advertisers and Agencies to spend more advertising dollars on New York City radio.  The campaign envisions two phases.

Phase 1:  The first phase of the campaign will focus on Advertisers and Advertising Agencies. Its goal is to provide them with compelling and relevant marketing information about radio and demonstrate emotional appeal of the medium in the New York City market.  In other words, creatively win the hearts of Advertisers and Agencies, convincing them to spend more advertising dollars on New York City radio. The primary target of this creative campaign is to reach “regional” Advertisers and Agencies in the NYC metro area that are large but also local – grabbing their attention and continuing to message them on an ongoing basis.  We are looking for a creative campaign that will reinforce the special and unique aspects of NYC radio. Local radio is the most engaging and trusted source of news and information in today’s media landscape. Our stations and talent foster deep bonds with consumers that are authentic.  As Paul Suchman stated in his recent article titled The Superpower of Audio in Fast Company, “It’s all about trust and love – two of the most powerful words on the planet.”

The winning firm will put forth a proposal that understands how to reach Advertisers and Advertising Agencies and grab their attention. This creative campaign should capitalize on and celebrate the unique assets that NYC Radio has to offer not the least of which are our Talent, our connection to NYC and the local community and our ability to move quickly.

Phase 2:  While applicants should focus primarily on Phase 1, they should also consider whether the campaign materials can be adapted to reach a larger audience. Ultimately, if this campaign is successful, it, or some version/variation of it, would be launched more broadly to larger and smaller Advertisers and Agencies as well as the general public.

DEADLINES AND ANTICIPATED SELECTION SCHEDULE

We will be collecting proposals through January 21, 2022. Please submit your proposal via email to Nicole Ovadia  (contact information above). Once all proposals have been reviewed, we will contact finalists for the project about next steps. We anticipate informing the winning applicant in February 2022.

PROJECT TIMELINE

Proposals should be for a one-year plan which would start in early 2022. There will need to be time for ramp up and development of creative messaging. We anticipate that the campaign will focus on Phase 1 for the first three quarters of 2022. If successful, the winning plan will also include preliminary plans for Phase 2. In this regard the applicant would include a plan to broaden the target of the campaign to include larger and smaller Advertisers and Agencies as well as the general public.

ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL

To win this opportunity, your proposal should with respect to Phase 1 and Phase 2:

  • Demonstrate your understanding of the goals of this project
  • Explain how your plan would:
    • Reach the target (media mix, events, stunts, etc.)
    • Grab the target’s attention
    • Keep the target’s attention on an on-going basis
  • Measure the campaign’s success
  • Include separate pricing for Phase 1 and Phase 2. (broken down by element when applicable)
  • Pricing should also be broken down by costs associated with each media platform
  • Provide a timeline of milestones for the calendar year 2022

SPECIFIC CHALLENGES

This RFP focuses on creating a campaign that has an emotional appeal to the targets in Phase 1 and Phase 2. This proposal seeks to focus on the creative side of this campaign. We would anticipate that the successful applicant will provide data and audience test all campaign messages. In addition, we will be working with other data providers that can provide valuable industry related information, statistics and facts about NYC radio including reach, frequency, efficacy and more. Approaches should be inclusive and consider the diverse, multicultural composition of the New York media market.

The creative side of this campaign will coordinate with the data side to craft effective campaign messages. The winning firm will have to work closely with our data partners through the life of this campaign and use them as a factual resource.

Another challenge is to create a campaign aimed at Advertisers and Agencies that have not previously included radio broadcasting as part of the media mix when discussing campaigns with Clients. Ironically, this may include the very firms that are responding to this RFP. We believe these are exactly the right people we want working on this project! They possess the hearts and minds we want to reach and change. We encourage you to dig deeply there and think about what kind of messaging would encourage you to spend larger portions of your media budgets on radio.

BUDGET – $300,000 +

We encourage applicants to be as detailed as possible regarding the costs of different elements of their proposals.  Our budgets for this proposal will depend in part on the types of applications we receive. We would like to see what is possible and what it will cost. Please include pricing with your proposal and if we have questions about that, we will ask them as we are selecting our shortlist of finalists.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria in order of priority:

  • Creativity of messaging and campaign ability to reach target audience effectively
  • Demonstration of the winning Agency’s ability to execute the suggested plan
  • Timeline of the campaign
  • Competitive Pricing

GENERAL PROVISIONS GOVERNING THE RFP PROCESS

  1. Bidders are required to monitor the bid opportunity as posted on this webpage for all addenda to the RFP. It is the responsibility of the Bidder to ensure all addenda were received.
  2. Bids, including pricing, are said to be valid for 90 days from the submission deadline.
  3. NYSBA reserves the right to make an award without further discussion of the proposal submitted. Therefore, the proposal should be submitted initially on the most favorable terms which the Agency can propose. There will be no best and final offer procedure. NYSBA does reserve the right to contact an Agency for clarification of its proposal. The Apparent Successful Contractor should be prepared to accept this RFP for incorporation into a contract resulting from this RFP. Contract negotiations may incorporate some or all of the Agency’s proposal. It is understood that the proposal will become a part of the official procurement file on this matter without obligation to NYSBA.
  4. NYSBA will not be liable for any costs incurred by the Agency in preparation of a proposal submitted in response to this RFP, in conduct of a presentation, or any other activities related to responding to this RFP.
  5. Proposals submitted in response to this competitive procurement shall become the property of NYSBA. All proposals received shall remain confidential. The proposal from the winning bid, shall remain confidential until the contract, if any, resulting from this RFP is signed.
  6. This RFP does not obligate NYSBA to contract for services specified herein.
  7. NYSBA reserves the right at its sole discretion to reject any and all proposals received without penalty and not to issue a contract as a result of this RFP.
  8. Responsive proposals will be evaluated strictly in accordance with the requirements stated in this solicitation and any addenda issued. NYSBA, at its sole discretion, may elect to select the top-scoring firms as finalists for an oral presentation. The RFP Coordinator may contact the Agency for clarification of any portion of the Agency’s proposal. NYSBA reserves the right to award the contract to the Agency whose proposal is deemed to be in the best interest of NYSBA.
  9. NYSBA will notify the Apparently Successful Agency of their selection in writing via email upon completion of the evaluation process. Individuals or firms whose proposals were not selected for further negotiation or award will be notified separately by e-mail.
  10. NYSBA complies with all Federal and NY State laws prohibiting discrimination and will not discriminate against any RFP applicant based on race, creed, color, sex, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or marital status.

For additional information about the New York State Broadcasters Association contact David Donovan at ddonovan@nysbroadcasters.org