Q and A 19GE5020R0066.pdf

Website Design and Content Development ATO Tokyo, Japan

Solicitation Number 19GE5020R0066

Questions and Answers

Q1: Is it possible for me to have a copy of any previous winning bids for this agency with a similar SOW?

A1: This is a new initiative, substantially different than past efforts to create and administer websites.

Q2: C.2.2 Target Audience - Who is currently visiting the site?

A2: There is no detailed data profiling current site visitors. The new MyFood.jp is expected to generate such a larger flow of users that offerors should develop plans for this website taking into account a) our demographic target groups and b) viewership goals and planning to build that followership from scratch.

Q3: Have you conducted audience research (ex. Interview, surveys, etc.) in the last year?

A3: No. Please see A2.

Q4: What analytics information can you provide from the last year?

A4: Please see A2.

Q5: Products Being Promoted - What are example products that were promoted in the past year?

A5: Total US agricultural product sales to Japan total more than $1 billion yearly and run the gamut from bulk products to artisanal processed products. There will be a very wide range of products promoted via the site.

Q6: Will you provide a schedule of food entering the Japanese market?

A6: This data is publicly available, and can be accessed via the Foreign Agricultural Service website: www.fas.usda.gov. Click on the Data & Analysis tab; select the GATS link and you can run a custom search of US exports with the level fo detail that you desire. See A5.

Q7: Will you provide access to the food currently in or entering the Japanese market?

A7: Your question is understood to refer to availability of product samples to facilitate filming of recipe videos. Donated product will be available for some of these sessions, but not all. The contractor should be prepared to purchase necessary inputs.

http://www.fas.usda.gov/

Q8: Are there any regulations we must follow with regards to what can and cannot be used foodwise in videos? ex. https://www.ag.ndsu.edu/foodlaw/processingsector/advertising-productclaims

A8: It is expected that all products utilized will be approved for sale and available in the Japanese market. Likewise, all claims regarding product properties should be consistent with Japanese law regarding, e.g. use of health claims in marketing of food products.

Where appropriate, these spots should also inform consumers of proper food handling procedures. The ATO and cooperator community will be available to orient the contractor on these rules.

Q9: C.3.1 Website Design & Construction - RE: The Contractor shall evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of the current logo. The Contractor shall, if necessary, based on the results of this evaluation and consultation with the COR, design a new website logo (Subject to ATO approval) - Do brand guidelines currently exist? When was the existing logo created? Has any research or evaluation on the brand been conducted in the last year?

A9: No guidelines exist, and no evaluation has been performed. Please note that the contractor will be the ‘owner’ of the site (though not the domain name), and we do not intend to brand it as a USDA website.

Q10: C.3.1 Website Design and Construction - Could you provide more detailed information on the scope of the content that will need to be migrated from the current website to the newly developed website? For example, the number of page layouts or post types, the number of pieces of content, number of images, files, or other assets?

A10: Please visit the current website and refer to guidance provided in the briefing for bidders.

Feel free to specify in your proposal which legacy content you propose transferring to the new MyFood.jp. If you do not specify, it will be assumed that you plan to transfer all content.

Q11: In addition to Japanese, will the website also need to provide content in English or other languages?

A11: NO; it will be exclusively in Japanese.

Q12: Should the back-end and administrative interface of the website for managing, creating, editing, and publishing content also be in Japanese?

A12: It is not necessary.

Q13: For website coding, are there any requirements for development regarding the Japanese language? For example, can the selected vendor develop using the programming language of choice? Will comment lines within code need to be written in Japanese?

A13: Please develop the site and site architecture to ensure that utility is maximized for

Japanese consumer visitors. If website coding or programming language will impact operability for users, please take measures to mitigate such impact.

Q14: Does ATO have any preferences for the Content Management System or website framework? Would ATO consider a proposal to build the new website on WordPress?

A14: Proposals will be considered for technical adequacy, with an IT specialist on the review panel. However, the Government is open to your proposals on technical aspects so long as they are adequate to support intended functionality of the site.

Q15: Regarding “Content shall be generated to appeal to different consumer demographic groups, and the Contractor shall consult with the ATO on the parameters of that content.”

Is the expectation that the website will dynamically identify and serve different content to different demographic groups? If so, what types of demographic data would groups need to be segmented by? And how is that data currently being gathered and stored?

A15: Three distinct target groups were identified, and it is expected that the contractor will have the ability to distinguish online content consumption behaviors of those groups;

tailoring content to appeal to each of those demographics. The ATO also has a contractor helping to provide this analysis, however that contract currently expires shortly after initiation of the MyFood.jp contract.

Q16: Are there any areas or pain points with the current website the ATO would like to be improved with the redesign?

A16: Please refer to the taped briefing for bidders for more information on specific areas for improvement. The usage of the term “pain points” in this context is unfamiliar to ATO.

However, please note that we expect the contractor to advise us on strategies for attracting and maintaining visitor flow to the website. Your expertise and demonstrated ability to do so will be key to evaluating your proposal.

Q17: C.3.2 Website Maintenance - How/where is ATO hosting the current website?

A17: The current site is hosted on a server owned by the contractor.

Q18: Does ATO have any requirements for the hosting provider for the new website? For example, would an AWS, cloud-based hosting solution suffice?

A18: Please see A14.

Q19: What are ATO’s expectations regarding post-launch hosting and maintenance costs? Can proposals separate monthly or quarterly post-launch maintenance and hosting costs separately from the project budget?

A19: The Government can make payment for items and services that have been accepted by the Government and have been delivered; therefore yes, the contractor can bill for the contract line items that have an unit quantity of “month” on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Advance payments are not permitted.

Q20: C.3.3.1 Legacy Content - How many pieces of content (ex. Videos, pages, articles, etc) currently exist on the site?

A20: Please see A10.

Q21: C.3.3.2.2 Re: Three additional video content pieces which may include (a) Recipe videos utilizing recipes from the MyFood.jp library. - How many recipes currently exist on the site?

A21: There are currently over 600 recipes on the site.

Q22: C.3.4 Associate Social Media Accounts - What video social media platform does

MyFood.jp currently use? Where are videos currently hosted (ex. YouTube, NicoNico)?

A22: The current site lacks video content.

Q23: C.4 Quality Assurance and Surveillance Plan (QASP) - You have a goal of reaching

200,000 viewers a month. What is the current viewership of the website? How will this be measured - unique page views, total visitors or unique visitors?

A23: Total visitors. Please do not use the current site as a benchmark; this will be a complete re-build.

Q24: General - May a company submit more than one proposal, as a subcontractor?

A24: The USG will only accept proposals from offerors who will be the prime contractor.

Subcontracting relationships must be formed directly between the prime and the sub-contractor.

Q25: General - can the Government give an estimate on the projected media/ad buying budget?

A25: No.

Q26: Print Content - For the Print Recipe Designs, will ATO handle the printing and distribution, or should that be accounted for in the price proposal?

A26: For “print recipes,” we intend for the contractor to prepare for electronic printing only.

The contractor will develop format, design, etc.

Q27: General -To meet the end-to-end requirements of this proposal will require team and subcontractor engagement. Will ATO provide a list of interested vendors to the pre-proposal conference attendees?

A27: No, it is policy not to disclose the attendee list.

Q28: Where can we find the list of companies that we will be promoting and what products they sell?

A28: The ATO, in general, does not work with individual companies and will not offer products for sale. We work with industry associations to promote utilization of products, without advertising specific brands. A complete list of industry associations with representation in Japan can be found at: http://www.myfood.jp/link.html

Q29: Will there be other team members updating content on the site, collaborative effort on maintenance or will it just be the prime awarded the contract?

A29: It will be the responsibility of the contractor.

Q30: Can you provide us with the list of companies that attended the pre-bid meeting?

A30: See A27.

Q31: Is it possible to get the amount of traffic that website is currently doing for the past 6 months?

A31: Please see A2 and A23.

Q32: Do we need to include the hosting service fee in our proposal, or will this be handled separately?

A32: Please include all applicable costs.

Q33: The solicitation for 19GE5020R0066 mentions content development for the myfood.jp website, is this written content only or does it also require the same/similar video content from 19GE5020R0051 to be produced on a regular basis?

http://www.myfood.jp/link.html

A33: 19GE5020R0051 is intended to produce lengthier content for a campaign of limited duration. Under 19GE5020R0066, it is expected that the contractor will produce shorter format multi-media content—including some, but not exclusively, video content—on an ongoing basis and only for distribution via MyFood.jp.