Discover America China Digital Presence RFP March 7, 2013
I. Background and Scope II. Agency Structure and Experience V. Budget VI. Contract Term VII. Tentative Schedule VIII. Delivery of Proposal Attachment A: Intent to Bid Attachment B: Description of Proposer Attachment C: Technical Specifics Attachment D: Evaluation Criteria
I. Background and Scope Website Brand USA is seeking a partner to build an interim website hosted for the Chinese market and launched on an as soon as possible timeline. A realistic estimate for launch is June 2013. Brand USA is interested in operating a website for the May/June launch that utilizes content currently found on DiscoverAmerica.com and developed brand standards. While it is important to maintain consistency with brand standards, Brand USA recognizes the need tap tap into user preferences in the Chinese market. Agencies should tailor design proposals to incorporate such preferences in density of content, functionality, and replacement of the carrousel homepage function. Brand USA will manage all translation services through its vendor, translations.com. Though, not all content needs translation. Bids should focus on the short-term exposure to state content, Travel Journals and Experiences (homepage tile content on DiscoverAmerica.com). Developers should tailor experiences to align with Chinese traveler desires and access pay attention to Chinese tour operators as they represent the bulk of travel to the United States. Developers should focus on search engine accessibility on Chinese market search engines. Brand USA is seeking content optimization beyond meta data and other SEO needs for this initial website launch and post-launch support through the end of the year. Summary of tasks: Following brand attributes of DiscoverAmerica.com, create an audience appropriate version of the site to be hosted on a Chinese domain Analyze functionality of existing site and recreate relevant functionality for Chinese audience. Tailor content to the audience by accounting for travel accessibility (It is expected that only 100-125 of the 250 experiences on the current site are appropriate for reaching Chinese travelers) Apply translated content selected for the new site Consider and propose the integration of social channel activity feed and conversation to the website to ensure the connection to real-time engagement and conversations Optimize for Baidu organic search visibility Host, maintain, and report on site
Social Platforms & Ongoing Brand Presence Brand USA aims to reach travelers in China via a strong social presence. Engagement with Discover America content by way of social channels will be a key focus in the initial campaign launch campaign. This scope includes establishment of a presence in top Chinese social channels such as Sina Weibo and YouKu. Brand USA will consider additional or alternate social channels provided with enough supporting evidence. Brand USA expects that YouKu will serve as the video sharing home for Discover America video content. Brand USA is seeking a basic presence on the site for the initial launch, but will consider customization to the channel. Brand USA will provide the vast majority of the video content, though it may source other video from Destination Marketing Organizations that represent the cities and states that comprise DiscoverAmerica.com. YouKu will serve as the platform to serve to social channels and the in market website. On-going management of social channels is required as a part of the proposed scope for the period ending September 30, 2013. Summary of tasks: Develop Sina Weibo/YouKu presence for Brand USA in line with the brand voice with consideration for the manner in which the target audience consumes digital media Manage the social communities and social media strategy on an ongoing basis and provide recommendations for content, engagement, and opportunities. Recommend and establish presence in any other social networks e.g., douban.com approved by Brand USA Provide plan and implement engagement strategy for cross talk and engagement with influencers in social platforms and with bloggers / content creators that have significant social / readership footprint Launch campaign (to be included with Social Media portion of proposal) Brand USA is seeking to launch the Discover America presence in the Chinese market around June 2013. Please provide a plan for execution and proposed budget to gain visibility and make an impact in the market. With media budget levels for the initial 2013 launch at limited levels, the focus should be on a creative and engaging campaign that will build a measurable set of results. Brand USA will also consider, but not require, proposals that include strategies to include involvement and engagement with influencers and bloggers and other tactics.
The launch promotion should be applicable to all the digital channels above including both driving success metrics of the website as well as engagement in the selected social channels. This will allow the brand to amplify the limited footprint of the initial media launch and integrate our digital channel success story. The initial promotion should consider budgets in levels and outline how such budget would be used for the launch campaign: 1. < $500,000 for the promotion budget 2. $500,000-$1,000,000 for the promotion budget 3. >$1,000,000 While higher cost campaign ideas may not fit the 2013 budget, such efforts may be considered for the more significant launch of the campaign in China in 2014 and as such can be provided for informational purposes from the proposing partner. II. Agency Structure and Experience: As a part of the assessment, Brand USA seeks to understand the proposer s understanding of the Chinese market, the proposer s resources to build out and maintain the company s digital presence, and the proposer s experience in providing such services to brands within our industry(if possible).. Please provide: - Current agency/company structure - Staff / teams / any external partners that would be involved with the project - Proposed process - Ownership structure of the organization - Web platforms that the team supports and hosting infrastructure - Hourly rates for incremental support and requests III. Budget A complete budget form must be included. Please outline your method for billing (hourly, flat fee, retainer, etc. for each project task and any necessary out-of-pocket expenditures or reimbursable costs. Please also explain additional cost structures for mark-up on buyout software, other application services, and outside contractor work that will be needed to execute on the scope of work defined.
IV. Contract Term The term of the proposed contract must include and cover entire timeline for completion of deliverables and minimum of 30 days post-launch optimization and de-bugging support. Technical support may extend to the end of September 2013. Social media management should be for the term ending September 30, 2013. V. Tentative Schedule RFP Dissemination March 7, 2013 Intent to Bid + Questions March 12, 2013 Questions Answered by Brand USA March 14, 2013 Proposals Due March 21, 2013 Contracts Awarded March 25, 2013 Desired launch June 2013 VI. Proposal Delivery All proposals must be delivered to: Mailed: The Brand USA ATTN: JIRI MAROUSEK Brand USA Headquarters 1725 Eye Street NW, Eighth Floor Washington, D.C., 20006PH. 202 536 2060 E-mail delivery: JMAROUSEK@thebrandusa.com Subject: DA China website proposal agency name
ATTACHMENT A: NOTICE OF INTENT TO BID Due: xxx Email: jmarousek@thebrandusa.com EMAIL SUBJECT LINE: INTENT TO BID RFP WEBSITE THE BRAND USA Name of Proposer: Contact Person: Mailing Address: Agency URL: Telephone: Fax Number: Email Address: Signed:
ATTACHMENT B: DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSER: A) Overview of Services: Provide description of the nature of the proposer s services and activities. List the address from which the primary work on the contract would be performed and size of agency by headcount. B) Client History/Representation: The proposer should list all tourism-related clients for whom it has acted in the Globally during the past 12 months, and certify that there is no conflict of interest between any existing contract, client relationship and the ability of the proposer to fully and vigorously represent the marketing needs of the The Brand USA. Client relationships that could potentially be a conflict of interest must be listed together with a discussion of how the proposer will resolve the potential conflict of interest. Also include the full history of work with travel and tourism clients. C) Personnel / Management: The proposer should identify those individuals on the proposer s account team who will manage the contract work. Please document overall experience in tourism accounts (including web design, database development, SiteCore Expert, web development, CRM,) with current resumes/biographies. Provide education, experience and expertise with pertinent information demonstrating qualifications for this RFP. Do not exceed two (2) pages (print or web) per person.
ATTACHMENT C: Technical Requirements - CMS Platform: DiscoverAmerica.com website localized to China will preferably continue on the Sitecore system if at all possible. If possible, the site can to add to current instance of Sitecore installation for other websites. Separate instance would be considered if local hosting is proposed or an alternate CMS can also be considered if supported by a business case / data. Any partner can propose an alternate system, but a outline must be provided with such suggestion for using the alternate platform as well as roadmap to maintain and update content. - Device accessibility: Mobile version of the site is desired, but should not delay the launch. If built as a responsive template, this would be ideal result of the project if such effort is possible under the desired timeline. - Travel content selection / TripTuner: Brand USA has invested in a partnership with TripTuner as a way to allow users to select, narrow and specify content based on their preferences and lifestyle. This technology may be integrated to the China site, but is not required. Please base your suggestion for its use on the market and user knowledge. - Social integration: Critical requirement is to integrate social media platforms. Video sharing as well as social conversations on the new platforms being launched in China should ideally be integrated to further enable an integrated campaign launch and provide good success measurement across channels. - Travel planning tool: The current site s suitcase functionality should be evaluated, but is not required to carry over to the Chinese site. - Consumer CRM: Email database build out as a function of the site is possible, but such function and effort will be evaluated for merit compared to other communication tools and timing. Proposing partner should provide recommendation and pros/cons to building an email database and monthly email communication for the period ending September 2013. Navigation: Navigation and information architecture of the site should not be drive by current Discover America website, but be driven by recommendations based on UX best practices for the Chinese market.
ATTACHMENT: D Evaluation Criteria Proposals will be reviewed and evaluated and scored by an internal cross-functional evaluation committee. Evaluation of proposals will be based on the criteria shown as follows for each component; each criterion will be scored according to the degree of the fit based on the content present in the proposal being evaluated. Brand USA will give special consideration to small, disadvantaged, women-owned, and HUBzone businesses. Evaluation Max Points (Max Total: 100) Experience / Demonstrate Organizational Capabilities for Executing Scope of Work social and development 20 Architecture, and usability capabilities of the firm 10 Design style and approach of the firm based on experience and approach provided 15 Capability to meet the technical, social media management and platform requirement to deliver and manage the site in the future 15 CMS platform knowledge or solution 10 Creativity and approach of the solution to meet the Discover America goals and requirements (creativity and feasibility of such solution will be judged) 10 Description of Proposer: Qualification of Sales, Account Management, Client Service, Technology, Program Development as well as industry understanding and/or experience 10 Cost (project as well as on-going licensing and maintenance / support costs) 10