Tender : 10/2010-11
Digital Platforms Content Production and Management
INVITATION TO SUBMIT INFORMATION
FOR THE SELECTION AND APPOINTMENT OF A
DIGITAL PLATFORM CONTENT PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT COMPANY
Tender Number 10/2010-11
CLOSING DATE 01 APRIL 2011 AT 10H00
The International Marketing Council of South Africa is inviting suitably qualified and experienced companies to bid for the production and management of content for all digital platforms owned, bought and used by IMC to communicate and market online. Respondents are requested to treat all information, including this tender document, received from the IMC as confidential and must not discuss or divulge this information to any third party without the IMC’s direct permission.
Responses to this tender will be in terms of this document. All information requested must be supplied and all annexures completed, whether such information or annexure refers to this stage or future stages of the Tender. The information submitted during this stage of the Tender will also form part of future stages of the Tender and must therefore be complete, correct and true.
Stage 1 of the Tender – The Invitation to Submit Information - comprises of the following parts and shall be referred to as the Request for Information (RFI):
§ Section 1 Information on the Tender
§ Section 2 Tender Guidelines
– Annexure A Short-listing Questionnaire
(Must be completed by all bidding companies within the template provided)
SECTION 1: TENDER INFORMATION
1. BACKGROUND
The IMC is a public-entity which is tasked with the marketing of the Republic of South Africa in order to attract tourism, trade and investment, as well as foster national pride and patriotism. The IMC markets South Africa (SA) through Brand South Africa. The organisation operates out of its Head Office in Houghton. It also has country offices in the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK).
In support of the above, the IMC hereby invites suitable communications companies to Tender for the following portfolio:
Digital Platforms Content Production and Management
The key output is to produce, generate and maintain the content of the International Marketing Councils digital platforms, with daily updated content that reflect the Brand SA values and personality specifically.
To manage communication and marketing content through:
www.southafrica.info, is Brand South Africa’s official national portal which serves as as an encyclopaedic guide to the country. The requirement here is conceiving, creating, editing and publishing site content.
Aimed principally at residents, investors and tourists , and more generally at anyone interested in learning more about South Africa, the site is part of an umbrella “branding” campaign to enhance the country’s profile and reputation globally and create excitement about its potential.
An authoritative online reference tool, comprehensive one stop information centre and powerful brand showcase, the site performs an essential service for our stakeholders as a ready-made resource to which they can direct information-seekers and as a guide to stakeholders’ own online resources.
The gateway site gives its international visitors a taste of South Africa’s wide range of attractions and opportunities, including overviews of the economy, trade incentives and regulations, culture and heritage, holiday attractions, and basic tips on travel documentation, accommodation and transport. For the domestic audience, there is advice on government services from passports to language rights to the school system and advice on dealing with banks, estate agents and insurance. There are also “showcase” examples of South African innovation, entertainment, sports and business conference guides, and a carefully selected directory of local web sites useful to international visitors, which is why we also have translated the site to the most popular foreign languages ie Portuguese, German and French.
The site now offers interactive maps, a number of e-newsletters, blogs, Facebook and Twitter interactivity, and a version customised for mobile phones.
Apermanent team of web-savvy writers and researchers, under the leadership of an editor, works continuously to keep the site up to date.
The audience has grown exponentially over the past decade, and compares favourably with the top dozen commercial websites in South Africa.
SouthAfrica.info published a total of 1 594 new articles in 2009/10, averaging 132 articles per month or 6.3 articles per working day as at March 2009.
§ Social networking channels are used to drive traffic to southafrica.info content Facebook and twitter accountswere set up early in 2009 .They build community and interactivity among the site’s users and contain links to new content as it posted
§ www.brandsouthafrica.com is IMC’s corporate corporate website and details the work of the organisation. The requirement here is to produce content and keep the site up to date
The site provides a range of resources and toolkits to help individuals and organisations promote the country. It has company specific information. Pages include::
§ Who We Are
Currently what is IMC about, who are our governing bodies, trustees and stakeholders
§ What We Do
This information details our primary objectives and projects
§ Marketing Material
Our toolkits and promotional material
§ Press Room
Currently allows for media releases, news and research
§ Latest news
This is a feed of the www.southafrica.info site.
§ Contact Us
Relevant contact details for IMC, our head office and country officers and their details.
§ Other
We also use this site to as a base to link to all our current sites as well as link to our stakeholder sites.
There is a Brand South Africa twitter stream to complement the site as well as an experimental blog, brandsouthafricablog.com, to which IMC staff and other contribute posts.
§ www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com is aimed at international media and contains topical,high quality articlesdesigned to fill the needs of news organisations that do not have correspondents of their own in the region There is also as a hi-rez image library. The requirement here is the production of quality journalism.
The site was originally developed as a resource for international media in the run up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.The concept came from the“Land of Ideas”media service Germany launched as part of its own national branding campaign when it hosted the World Cup in 2006.
Written by journalists for journalists the site offers relevant, mind-opening, up-to-date and verifiable information on the country and its trade, investment and tourism successes and achievements.
Information on the website is clustered around a number of categories for easy reference and access, covering a wide range of subjects such as the land and its people, the economy and business, culture and history as well as growth and democracy. The content is continuously updated, giving an up-to-date view of how South Africa is achieving success and dealing with its challenges.
Every storyon MediaClubSouthAfrica.com can be reproduced as is, or can serve as a thought-starter or background material. In this way, the site helps serve the IMC’s objectives of changing perceptions about South Africa and articulating and contextualising government policy. .
Each of the nine sections offers daily news and feature stories, supported by in-depth overview features that provide visiting journalists with a solid grounding on that particular subject. Since the site went live, a total of 1 542 pages have been published. These are made up of news articles, opinion pieces, background features, photo essays and image library pages.
§ Weekly newsletter
The weekly newsletter, launched in December 2008, is sent to over 3000 users every week, updating them on new stories and features. The advantage of a newsletter is that it serves as a reminder of the site and its offering, and draws users back.
§ Social Media
The site has its own Facebook page and twitter stream to draw traffic to, and encourage conversation around, its content.
§ www.brandsouthafricaresource.com is a password protected site whichhosts Brand South Africa’s CI manual, graphics, fonts and templetates, and other tools to assist, inform and align national marketing efforts The requirement here is to keep the content relevant and updated, with stakeholder input.
The portal aims to:
§ To provide accurate, clear and uncluttered information for marketing South Africa
§ To serve as a one-stop-shop of branding materials for official marketers
§ To alleviate duplication and contradiction
§ To facilitate interaction between the various organisations marketing the country
The advantages of the portal
§ A central location for stakeholders to view and share marketing information and material
§ Channeling strategic objectives of the various stakeholders
§ Promoting collaboration with others on joint efforts
§ Controlling information and marketing material available to stakeholders
§ Ability to regularly and easily update marketing information and material
§ A cost-effective method of distributing marketing material using a digital platform
§ Electronic Newsletters are created to “push” selected content. These includeSA.info newsletter to which visitors to IMC web platforms opt to subscribe online;Boundless Possibility newsletter which has a business focus and goes to a controlled mailing list of stakeholders; andMedia Club newsletter which is sent to registered users of mediaclubsouthafrica.com. Ther requirement here is to edit, distribute and grow the newsletters’ circulation.
§ Project based online communications platforms around the IMC and South Africa campaigns. The requirement here is to produce project specific content that will align to the Brand South Africa pillars.
§ Social Media platforms eg Facebook, twitter, YouTube accounts etc. The requirement here is to feed content to social platforms.
1.1 The bidding company will be responsible for the following services and and should have a proven ability to:
§ Research and createuseful and compelling multimedia content -- text, photographs, graphics, video and audio alone and in combination --for a wide range of domestic and international audiences.
§ Proactively identify stories that serve as inspiring proof points for the five pillars the Brand South Africa value proposition – opportunity, innovation and creativity, sustainability, diversity and ubuntu.
§ Develop and present the proof points with convincing and memorable content with a high potential to go viral.
§ Produce credible professional-quality multimedia journalism for the MediaClub site.
§ Grow unique and repeat traffic to andaffinity with Brand South Africa’s online presence.
§ Assemble and manage an experienced team of online content creators, subeditors and editors capable of generating the equivalent of 10 new content items per working day for southafrica.info and one or more substsantial mediaclub stories, in addition to Facebook and twitter posts and routine site updates.
§ Promote and manage user generated content and constructive social media conversations that support, broaden awareness of and provide insight into the Brand South Africa value proposition.
§ Keep abreast of the latest developments in web technology, social media best practice and search engine optimization.
§ Continuously update and improve all platforms and content.
§ Provide detailed analytics
§ Engage with all relevant stakeholders
§ Understand nation branding and generally accepted practices including dimensions measured in nation branding
§ Demonstrate a strong track record as a reputable, reliable and experienced agency which has managed similar projects successfully
§ Demonstrate an understanding of and passionate support for Brand South Africa by indicating various ways in which the quality of the organisation’s research work can be improved and how the agency would add value to it.
§ Demonstrate an understanding of the equity built domestically and internationally by the IMC’s online initiatives to date, and of what needs to be done to build on that equity. Demonstrate innovation, consistency, strategic ability and follow-through.
§ Demonstratefast turn-around times backed by physical and human resources to do so.
§ Demonstrate of internal quality control and plans for achievingexcellence.
§ Demonstrate senior involvement in the work and dedicated resources to the account.
Preferred services:
Content Management
Community Editorial Content
Blog posts
Email Management & Distribution
Personalisation
Back ups
Tweets
Facebook posts
Images/Video content generation and publishing
Email newsletter content generation
Live event coverage on Social Media/mobile platforms
Online Reputation Management (ORM) - Listen and Report
Online Journalism (articles on southafrica.info and mediaclub)
Project & campaign services
INFRASTRUCTURE
Bandwidth Provision
Server Upgrades & administration
IMC Help Desk
USER EXPERIENCE
Creating meaningful experiences between brands and their customers
Integration of Digital and Non-digital touch points
CREATIVE CONCEPTS
Idea Generation
Digital Marketing Campaigns
Creative Platform Development
PROGRAMMING AND TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE
Content Management Systems
Search Engine Optimisation
Analytics measurement, tracking and reporting
Mobile Applications (Web, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry)
Mobile site development
CRM system integration
Content Syndication
Content Feed integration
3rd Party System integration
Advanced user profiling
REPORTING
Report Generation & Interpretation
1.2 Expenditure:
The expenditure for this portfolio is approximately R20 million over 2 years and 10 months (1 Jun 2011 – 31 Mar 2014), and is based on the estimated budget for the period. The budget includes all services and hard costs relating to this portfolio. These figures should be used as an indication only and the IMC makes no guarantee of future spend and offers this information only to assist in preparation of a submission.
2. CONTRACT DURATION
The IMC intends to enter into a contract for a period of 2 years and 10 months, during which there will be a series of bi-annual company performance reviews. An unsatisfactory performance review may result in the contract being terminated during the term.
3. TENDER PROCESS
The IMC’s Tender process consists of the following stages:
3.1. Invitation to submit information
3.2. Submission of RFI documents
3.3. Evaluation of RFI submissions
3.4. Selection of Short-Listed Companies (a maximum of four (4) companies)
3.5. Briefing of Short-Listed Companies and distribution of Brief Packs and Commercial Packs
3.6. Submission of Commercial Packs by Short-Listed Companies
3.7. Pitch Presentations – Evaluation by IMC Evaluation Committee
3.8. Adjudication by IMC Adjudication Committee
3.9. Selection of Successful Company by the IMC Exco/Board