Loudoun Economic Development Issues Marketing Creative Services RFP

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS: CREATIVE SERVICES 

ABOUT US:

The Loudoun County Department of Economic Development is a full-service economic development organization under the structure of the Loudoun County government dedicated to recruiting new business, growing existing industries and improving the county’s business climate. Loudoun Economic Development has adopted the following statements as guiding principles:

Our Vision: Our vision is a diverse and globally competitive Loudoun economy.

Our Mission: To strengthen and diversify Loudoun’s economy by providing world class and innovative customer-focused services to attract, grow and retain targeted businesses of all sizes.

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

In 2023, the Department attracted $10 billion in new commercial investment in key industries including data centers, aviation, IT, specialized manufacturing, health data, and agriculture. As our work and outreach efforts have grown, so too have our needs for additional creative services to support our guiding principles. To that end, Loudoun Economic Development is seeking professional creative services across strategic and tactical areas, listed in brief below, for a minimum of one year. Loudoun Economic Development is looking for a strategic partner who can work with our outstanding in-house marketing team to add capacity and capability to the messaging of the Department. The project will focus roughly thirty percent (30%) of the work on strategic priorities and the remaining seventy percent (70%) on tactical initiatives. The full RFP can be found here.

Category 1: Strategic

1. Support the implementation of the department’s marketing plan to include recommendations for digital and traditional marketing strategy updates;
2. Provide input and best practices on existing strategies such as marketing automation and digital marketing while assisting in the development of a framework and strategy for a marketing podcast, annual reports, and other projects as needed;
3. Provide high-level feedback on current marketing materials.

Category 2: Tactical

1. Provide on-call assistance for creative services, including but not limited to:

• • Professional graphic design materials – e.g. ads, promotional pieces, infographics, social media[1] graphics/photos, and short videos;
  • Longer-form video and photography editing and production;
  • Articles, blogs and other professional writing product;
  • Website[2] search engine optimization;
  • Program/event graphic evaluation and overhaul.

TIMELINE:

RFP Released: March 13, 2024

Responses Due: COB March 27, 2024

NEXT STEPS:

Interested parties should send proposals (or clarifying questions) via email to the contact listed below. Your proposal should include links to websites or other sources for viewing respondent’s portfolio and applicable references. Please address the focus areas listed above and the budget questions below, but otherwise please let Loudoun Economic Development know who you are, what you offer, and how you would approach such a project.

Please indicate any areas outlined above that you cannot fulfill and whether you utilize any partnerships or sub-contracting in your work. In addition, please note any contract language or terms and conditions you require to enter into a working agreement.

After receiving responses, the Department will narrow the selection to at least three respondents, who will attend separate introductory meetings (virtual or in person at Loudoun Economic Development’s offices) for questions, clarification, and familiarity before further internal discussions and a final decision. All decisions and final timelines are subject to the purchasing and procurement rules of Loudoun County, but the Department’s goal is to have a contract in place to begin work at the beginning of the County’s fiscal year, July 1, 2024.

BUDGET:

In their proposals, it is requested that all respondents include all-inclusive pricing for both strategic and tactical activities in the form of an hourly rate and estimated monthly cost. The annual amount of this creative services contract shall not exceed $60,000.

CONTACT:

Any questions relative to this request and all responses should be directed to Mark Armentrout, [email protected].