III. SCOPE OF WORK:
Westchester Community College seeks a full-service advertising agency to handle the planning, buying, designing, placing, and production of advertisements for a multi-faceted advertising campaign. The College annually spends approximately $800,000 on advertising (including $100,000 in Personnel ads). The advertising budget is spent primarily on digital marketing, including social media and search engine marketing, as well as on print ads, radio, and television.
The agency will work under the direction of the Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications and may interact with College personnel responsible for a variety of areas such as credit courses and programs along with noncredit courses and programs, and including but not limited to: Enrollment Management, Academic Affairs, Workforce Development and Continuing Education, Educational Opportunity Center, English Language Institute, and Extension Centers.
Although it is understood that an account representative will handle the bulk of the day-to-day workings of the account, a senior member of the agency must be available to discuss issues related to the account on a weekly basis, in person or by phone. This access to senior management at the agency is imperative.
The following areas will be the responsibility of the advertising agency:
- Planning and implementation of a comprehensive and strategic advertising campaign and a media buy that is aligned with the college’s goals, including the evaluation of current media mix and budget allocations.
- Design, layout and production of all advertising for College (and its extension centers, sites and education programs) including design and layout of print ads, design and programming of digital ads, design and layout of out-of-home/outdoor ads, including in-mall signage and displays, transit posters, site-specific promotional displays, and overseeing of electronic media production, including copywriting as needed.
- Placement and delivery of all advertising (designed and produced by the agency, as well as by the college’s audio and video production house) to the selected media including print, digital and social, outdoor/transit/out of-home, broadcast and digital radio, TV, special event journals and programs, etc.
- Production and placement of various personnel recruitment ads for the College’s H.R. dept., including print (display and classified) and online media outlets.
- Thorough knowledge of community College marketing/advertising.
- Knowledge of local, state, regional, national marketplace/media opportunities.
- Awareness of the College and our standing in the marketplace.
- Exploration of alternative advertising/marketing options such as web marketing, search engine marketing, and the use of the College’s web site to increase visibility.
- Act as the liaison between all advertising media and the College.
- Negotiate advertising contracts at competitive rates for all media placements on behalf of the College.
- Interaction with the College’s marketing department.
- Conducting occasional focus groups.
- Track and monitor the effectiveness of advertising for the College—including analyzing return on investment as well as performance.
- Assist in the coordination of Westchester Community College advertising photo/video shoots and maintain organized photo archives.
- Coordination of timely distribution of invoices from media outlets to client and/or agency.
- Coordination of SEO/SEM campaigns—including working with third-party vendors to implement paid advertising, developing the search terms and keywords that are aligned with the College’s objectives for enrollment, recruitment and promotion of specific programs, as well as providing monthly reporting and monitoring the results for optimum performance for the designated budget.
- Maintain ongoing relationships with local, state, regional and national media to provide the latest media opportunities for the College and assist in PR campaigns.
- Provide an annual report to be presented no later than July 31 of each year that presents information gathered from the following:
- Maintaining awareness of the College and their standing in the marketplace—as well as monitoring changes and shifting demographics that impact it.
- Maintaining a thorough knowledge of higher education, specifically community college, trends, marketing and advertising.
- Maintaining the uniformity and integrity of the College’s brand and logo in any advertising, marketing, collateral and signage materials produced—including use of individual site logos, etc.
- Continually explore a variety of advertising and marketing options to increase efficiencies, presenting opportunities that highlight and raise visibility for the College. Particularly seeking out opportunities that incorporate advertising innovations and technologies that can effectively target the right audience and have the ability to be tracked—such as behaviorally targeted digital
- Work with the College and its Marketing Committee and Enrollment Committee to maintain a strong position in the market, including reviewing strategies and reporting on advertising plans, incorporating feedback and adjusting tactics as needed.
- Interface/meet with college personnel as directed by the Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications to maintain an overall understanding of Westchester Community College’s offerings and programs, and to develop marketing and advertising programs that are aligned with, and meet the needs of, the different departments and programs.
- Work with the College to implement research focus groups as needed—including developing strategy, questions, moderating, tabulating and analyzing results and providing an executive summary.
The proposal should include an annual agency retainer fee for all of the above services, covering all expenses including delivery of ads. The term of the agreement shall be five (5) years with the College reserving the right to terminate the agreement upon thirty (30) days’ notice.
Keeping in mind the College’s limited financial resources and its non-profit status, the agency will agree to forgo any industry standard commissions (typically 15%); the only amount to be paid to the agency will be the retainer fee. In instances where advertising venues cut their gross charges, the difference between the gross and the net will not go to the agency. The College will simply pay the net amount to the media outlet.
The proposal must also include an hourly consultancy rate for additional add-on short term projects not included under the general contract such as special marketing or public relations or social media marketing efforts. The nature of such special projects will be jointly determined by the client and the agency.
The proposal should also include information on the agency’s past work in College marketing, market research, audience surveys, public relations, and social networking; areas of expertise which may be relevant to the College’s marketing plans in the future.
The agency must be experienced and knowledgeable in advertising buying, design, and production. Also, the agency must have demonstrable experience in the area of website design and marketing. All artwork used for ads becomes the property of Westchester Community College.
Although most communications are done via email or other digital delivery, all pickup and delivery during assignments for the College are the responsibility of the agency. This includes express mail costs, which are the responsibility of the agency. The College will not pay any special delivery, Federal Express, or mail charges.
Agency must be available to the College via email as well as telephone.
Agency must be able to produce three excellent references from Colleges, nonprofits, or businesses, and be prepared to show samples of recent work to the Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications (varied College work necessary).
Agency must be able to include background on advertising agency personnel.
