Request for Proposals Brand and Website Development GREATER OSHKOSH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION C/O Brenda Hicks-Sorensen Brenda@ECD-Solutions.com 262-339-6515 Issued: September 3, 2014
Table of Contents 1. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND.2 2. PROPOSAL GUIDELINES 2 3. PROJECT PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION. 2 4. PROJECT SCOPE 4 5. BUDGET.5 6. BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS 6 7. PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA..6 1
1. SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND The Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation (GO-EDC) is a non-profit organization that was formally incorporated in April, 2014 by a group of visionaries who believed in a positive future for the greater Oshkosh region. They recognized in order for the greater Oshkosh region to thrive, it would be best if local public and private partners stepped forward to provide support and direction for area development. The vision for the new corporation is that the City of Oshkosh and Winnebago County will build on its strong economic base of existing enterprises and industries, will diversify the economic base by encouraging new industries, and will further develop businesses that fills gaps and improve the regional quality of life all aimed at raising the economic well-being of the City and County residents. The current GO-EDC logo and website were developed as placeholders. In this two-part project, GO-EDC is seeking a consultant to develop a brand, through the creation of a visual identity system and messaging platform, which will be utilized to articulate GO-EDC s vision and spotlight the greater Oshkosh region s attributes to our stakeholders and interested parties. GO-EDC is also seeking services of a firm to incorporate the newly developed brand platform into the development of a website that is a reflection of the collaborative, high quality and client-focused organization GO-EDC will be. The GO-EDC website will have high standards for design quality, visual appeal and content that is reflective of the new brand. The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit proposals from various qualified organizations, conduct an evaluation of the candidates, and then select the candidate that will best meet the needs of GO- EDC moving forward. GO-EDC reserves the right to select one firm or separate firms for the branding and website development. 2. PROPOSAL GUIDELINES This Request for Proposal represents the requirements for an open and competitive process. All proposals must be signed by an official agent or representative of the company submitting the proposal. If the organization submitting a proposal must outsource or contract any work to meet the requirements contained herein, this must be clearly stated in the proposal including the name and description of the organization being contracted. Additionally, all costs included in proposals must be all-inclusive. All costs must be itemized to include an explanation of all fees and costs. Contract terms and conditions will be negotiated upon selection of the winning bidder for this RFP. The consultant(s) should be prepared to commence work within one week of executing a contract with GO-EDC. 3. PROJECT PURPOSE AND DESCRIPTION The purpose of this project is as follows: The Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation s (GO-EDC) current logo and website were implemented strictly as a placeholder until a brand platform and subsequent website can be developed. 2
Project Description: The Greater Oshkosh Economic Development Corporation is seeking a consultant to develop a brand, through the creation of a visual identity system and messaging platform, which will be utilized to articulate GO-EDC s vision and spotlight the greater Oshkosh region s attributes to our stakeholders and interested parties. It should effectively and succinctly articulate GO-EDC s objective to provide leadership in economic development. The visual identity and messaging will be used on, but not limited to, GO-EDC s website, email communications, marketing collateral, day-to-day materials such as letterhead, signage and promotional items. Because GO-EDC is a collaborative effort among public and private entities, the development of the brand should take into consideration those partners brands for a sense of cohesion. The brand development will also include the creation of a brand toolkit containing: Visual identity guidelines with all necessary fonts and logo variations Messaging platform including brand promise statements by audience A sell sheet or template for available sites and buildings A marketing folder design A PowerPoint template E-newsletter template Letterhead and #10 envelope Signage template In the second part of this project, GO-EDC is also seeking a consultant to leverage the newly established brand identity into a dynamic website that is user-friendly and provides information about its services and offerings while showcasing Oshkosh to its many stakeholders. The site should be easy to add or modify content and must incorporate the latest keyword search practices to maximize searchability in all current Internet search engines. The site must also be developed with modern Web principles including responsive design. We live and work in a business environment in which things change at a minute s notice; having the flexibility to have a fluid website which is simple to change and update by GO-EDC is essential. Having the ability to add, remove, or edit content on an open source Web platform, such as WordPress or a similar content management system, is critical The website design and layout should be a dynamic representation of the GO-EDC brand, simple for users to navigate and client-driven, as well as provide clear descriptions of GO-EDC services, business assistance information, investors and contact information. The site must also utilize a secure certificate and be developed with multiple permission levels to minimize risk.. The site should easily be accessed using mobile devices by leveraging responsive design. The site should allow users to submit their contact information in order to receive regular updates and new developments. The website should incorporate all actively maintained social media opportunities and should perform well technically (i.e. load in less than 3 seconds). Additionally, the site should include a pre-existing Geographic Information System (GIS) functionality for the available sites and buildings. This licensed application will require integration and can be viewed in greater detail at: http://inwisconsin.com/why-wisconsin/available-sites/locate-in-wisconsin/ The consultant must provide Content Management System (CMS) training for the GO-EDC staff as well as oneyear of support services. 3
4. PROJECT SCOPE The scope of this project includes the development of a brand platform for GO-EDC, as well as all supporting documentation and needed working files and components. A key role for the consultant will be to engage the Oshkosh community in the brand development process. The community and key audiences will provide vital feedback that should drive the GO-EDC brand. Their involvement will also assist in raising awareness that GO- EDC has formed and it will begin to build community buy-in. The website portion of the project should include all design, development, coding, licensing, and hosting setup of GO-EDC s new website, as well as assistance with content development. While some photos may be provided to the selected firm, the consultant is expected to include a photo library as a deliverable. The following criteria must be met to achieve a successful project: Brand Development Actively engage the Oshkosh community in focus groups/listening sessions to drive brand messaging Brand messaging platform developed based on research, stakeholder needs and community feedback; Platform should include brand promise, keywords and key differentiators catering to each audience Visual identity system that communicates the GO-EDC brand, including logo and all key variations, fonts, photography style, color palette and documented usage guidelines Brand toolkit containing needed fonts, logo files, guidelines and marketing templates Website Development Visually and aesthetically pleasing website design that follows usability best practices and is targeted to GO-EDC s primary audiences Responsive design built on an open source platform Modifiable by GO-EDC personnel with minimal effort and training Search engine optimization best practices adhered to for both content and site development, including keyword analysis, meta-descriptions, Internet browser title descriptions, image alt tags, header tags, etc. Site should be compatible with current versions of Chrome, Opera, Safari and Firefox as well as IE8, IE9, IE10, and IE11 Additional site specifications include: Third-party GIS Locator database integration via XML feed Possible secondary third-party Site Availability database integration via XML feed Event/calendar module - possible plugin could be used depending on open source platform selected Searchable investor database User permissioning: Admin, investor, public Public and investor-only content search engine optimized Enewsletter submission field E-commerce platform donor pledges and payments, event registration Social media widget(s) and icon integration News feed on home page Reporting - TBD Google Analytics installation Copyright ownership belongs to GO-EDC 4
Projected Timeline: Date Activity 8/26/2014 GO-EDC Marketing Committee approves RFP and recipients 9/3/2014 Issues RFP; post on website; issue press release 9/22/2014 RFP deadline 9/30/2014 Marketing Committee meets to review responses; selects top firms for interviews 10/8/2014 Marketing Committee meets to interview with selected firms; Selects firm(s) Electronic approval from GO-EDC Exec Committee 10/15/2014 GO-EDC Board approval 10/24/2014 Contract finalized; all firms notified November Firm works with marketing committee and others (i.e. roundtables, discussions) to develop brand; identify preliminary website needs 12/3/2014 Initial brand concepts submitted and marketing committee reviews 12/12/2014 Revisions due to Marketing Committee 12/17/2014 Marketing Committee reviews and approves brand 12/18/2014 Website development phase is launched On-going Planning and wrap up for Brand Launch event 1/7/2015 Brand Launch Event 1/12/2014 Website concepts due to Marketing Committee 1/21/2014 Marketing Committee meets to review website concept; provides feedback to consultant 2/6/2014 Revisions due to Marketing Committee 2/11/2014 Marketing Committee reviews and approves website; Programming begins 3/13/2014 Site is available for beta testing 3/27/2014 Site goes live 5. BUDGET All proposals must clearly identify if interested in the Brand Development, Website Development, or both. All proposals much include proposed costs to complete the tasks described in the project scope. Costs that need to be identified include: Brand Development Cost to develop brand platform including visual identity system, messaging platform and brand toolkit Website Development Cost to develop site Cost to develop content Cost for photo library Ongoing maintenance cost per hour Annual hosting cost NOTE: All costs and fees must be clearly described in each proposal. 5
6. BIDDER QUALIFICATIONS Bidders should provide the following items as part of their proposal for consideration: Brand Development Description of experience in brand development, including any examples of past work with economic development entities Examples of three or more brand platforms developed by firm References from 3-5 clients regarding brand development Timeframe for completion of the project, taking into consideration milestone dates set forth in this document Website Development Overview of firm s website development process, including search engine optimization practices, sustainability and Description of related experience in building open source, database-driven websites that require thirdparty integration Examples of 3 or more similar websites designed, developed and implemented by firm, including at least one utilizing an open source platform Two references or case studies from clients that can speak to a website redesign s measurable improvements, including increased traffic, improved search engine optimization or enhanced engagement Timeframe for completion of the project 7. PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA To ensure consideration for this Request for Proposal, your proposal should be complete and include all of the following criteria: Overall proposal suitability: proposed solution(s) must meet the scope and needs included herein and be presented in a clear and organized manner Organizational Experience: Bidders will be evaluated on their experience as it pertains to the scope of this project Previous work: Bidders will be evaluated on examples of their work pertaining to brand and/or website design and hosting as well as client testimonials and references Value and cost: Bidders will be evaluated on the cost of their solution(s) based on the work to be performed in accordance with the scope of this project Each bidder must submit a digital version and two hard copies of their proposal to GO-EDC c/o Brenda Hicks- Sorensen, N9814 Highland Park Road, Malone, WI 53049 no later than 4:00 PM on Monday, September 22, 2014. 6