Amendment #1 26-005-H.pdf

Amendment #1 January 30, 2026

26-005-H CCBC RFP for Advertising Services

Procurement schedule

1. When will CCBC issue responses to Q&A? January 30

2. The cover page states price proposals are due March 2, but this section indicates the week of February 23. Which is correct? March 2

Proposal Submission Requirements & Format

1. For the Technical Offer, is there a required file naming convention, page limitations, and font/size requirements? No

2. Should Appendix A and Attachment A forms be included within the technical proposal PDF or as separate files? Either way is fine.

3. Are we allowed to include links to work samples/reels/case studies, and if so, do you prefer: password-protected portfolio links, or embedded samples, or a single consolidated "work samples" PDF? However you wish to submit. I will compile if there are several attachments.

4. Do anticipated number of hours need to be provided for only key personnel or for all employees assigned to this project?

Document Errors & Clarifications

1. Objective mismatch: Section 1A says "Pre-employment Background Screening," but the rest of the document is for "Advertising Services." Can CCBC confirm the correct objective and that this RFP is strictly for marketing/advertising services? Advertising Services

2. RFP numbering confusion: The footer references "21-011-F" while the title shows "#26-005-H." Can CCBC confirm the correct solicitation number to reference on all submissions and forms? It is 26-005-H

3. Is the stated objective regarding pre-employment background screening correct? No, please disregard.

Presentation/Demonstration Requirements

1. The RFP notes a product demonstration (Feb 23–27, 2026). What does CCBC expect for the demo: a strategic presentation, creative concepts, reporting dashboard walkthrough, media plan sample, or something else?

2. How long is the demo slot, and will it be virtual or in person?

3. Will there be interviews in addition to the demonstration?

Brandy Henry Cross-Out

The presentation provides you the opportunity to build on your proposal and provide an interactive “pitch” for how your firm would approach the specified scope of work.

The presentations will be virtual, and each bidder selected for that round will have one hour.

Vendor Qualifications & Experience Requirements

1. The RFP states to be considered, bidders must have a minimum of five (5) years of successful experience providing integrated marketing, media planning, buying, and creative services. Please clarify: Can either a prime or sub have a minimum of five (5) years of successful experience providing integrated marketing, media planning, buying, and creative services. Is the prime or the sub required to have 5 years of each of the above, one, or all (integrated marketing, media planning, media buying, OR creative services experience)?

CCBC’s relationship is with the prime contractor. This requirement applies to the prime contractor.

2. Are there any additional insurance requirements beyond what's listed (cyber liability, E&O/professional liability)? No

Contract Terms & Duration

1. Can you clarify the expected duration of the project, including the contract year and optional years?

2. Contract term mismatch: Section 1C references a one (3) year term with four

(2) additional one-year renewals (conflicting numbers), while Section 2 says the engagement spans three years with two optional one-year renewals. Can CCBC confirm the exact base term and number of renewal options, and the anticipated start date?

3. What type of contract will this be – T&M, FFP, Labor Hour? We will post an answer to this on Monday, February 2.

4. The contract terms in the text differ from those in the parentheses. Can you please clarify the contract terms? Is this a three-year base period and two option years?

5. Can you please clarify the engagement structure? What scope of work is anticipated for the 6-month period between the First 6 months and Year Two?

The description on page 5 is accurate. It will be a three-year contract with two optional one-year renewals. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2026.

Current Relationships & Procurement Background

1. Is CCBC currently working with a marketing and advertising firm on any existing campaigns? And is this RFP an extension of that contract?

2. Do you have an incumbent agency for this scope of work? Has that agency been invited to bid?

3. What prompted the release of the RFP at this time?

4. What is prompting this search for a new supplier?

5. Is the current media campaign executed in-house or with a partner? If with a partner/incumbent, will they be a part of the RFP process?

6. Within the technical offer, there is reference made to the inclusion of

"transition planning to ensure that CCBC advertising remains in-market between contracts." Could CCBC please clarify whether we would be transitioning from internally managed campaigns or other agency-managed campaigns?

The RFP is being released because our current contract will end June 30, 2026. We do have an incumbent agency, who manages our campaigns and who has been invited to bid. This RFP is similar to the scope of the current contract, but expands the scope to include additional creative and strategic assistance from our future partner.

Budget

1. Is there a project budget range that we can consider so we can more accurately develop our strategic approach to this project and more accurately complete the "Anticipated Personnel Hours per Year" sheet in Appendix A?

2. What is the total budget for the scope of work outlined? Is there a specific budget for each year?

3. Is there an estimated or not-to-exceed budget for agency services, media spend, or the total engagement?

4. Even though pricing is sent to shortlisted firms later, can CCBC provide budget ranges for: annual media spend (approximate), annual agency fees (or target range), production/creative budget?

5. Are there budget caps, minimum spend expectations, or constraints around state/fiscal purchasing?

6. What is the budget allocated for this project? If you are not able to provide an anticipated budget, would you be able to share what has been CCBC's media/advertising spend each of the last four years? Can you share with us a ballpark breakdown between traditional and digital media?

7. To align scope and planning accurately, can you share the anticipated media budget range for the upcoming fiscal year?

8. Will the production/creative budgets be separate and what are those anticipated amounts?

9. Can you share a total budget or not-to-exceed budget for the services outlined in the RFP? Can you share your annual paid media spend/historicals (gross, including commission)?

The budget for this contract is established and approved as part of CCBC’s annual budgeting process. It has ranged from $750,000-$950,000 per year over the past five years. CCBC seeks to maximize each year’s media spend, while ensuring that we are executing creative at a high level. We will work with our partner to determine the annual budget breakdown for each year of the contract depending on developing needs and annual budgeting outcomes.

Market Research, Strategy & Priorities

1. Does CCBC have a preference on the number of target audiences that are included in the audience research process? Are some more priority than others?

2. Are there any priority audience segments—by geography, demographics, or program interest—that CCBC is especially interested in reaching or growing?

3. Which audiences are the top 3 priorities for Year One enrollment impact (e.g., recent HS grads, adult learners, career changers, online/out-of-region)?

4. Are there emerging audiences or program areas that leadership is planning to elevate over the next one to two years?

5. What priority programs would you like to promote? Please share the audience demographics and budget for each program.

6. Do you have any specific recruitment or enrollment goals tied to this initiative?

7. Which programs are considered priority programs for targeted academic program marketing in FY26–FY27?

8. Are there any new enrollment or institutional priorities expected for FY26– FY27 that we should incorporate into our plan?

9. Including credit and non-credit courses, how many priority programs do you anticipate needing paid promotion?

10. Can you confirm if the paid campaigns would work to cover all six campuses? If so, do you anticipate each one of them having differing program needs requiring separate media campaigns?

11. Are there any peer institutions you believe are successfully implementing strategy and advertising efforts?

CCBC anticipates that our partner will be familiar with the Higher Ed market and will perform regular ongoing competitive research to develop and refine the strategy over the contract period. We will help identify key audiences on an annual basis based on enrollment priorities. High school students and recent graduates, adult learners/career changers, and online students are usually among our top targets.

Priority programs change annually. Additional information for the next cycle will be provided at the start of the contract. Examples of priorities include health care, business, workforce development, continuing education and early college access programs. CCBC recognizes that a finite number of priorities can be addressed at one time based on available resources.

12. What market research is available from CCBC? When was the last image and perception study or brand study completed? Will the new partner have access to that research?

13. When it comes to audience research, does CCBC historically prefer quantitative or qualitative research? Or a combination of both?

CCBC has not conducted any broad market research (such as a perception study) recently enough for it to be meaningful. In terms of audience research, CCBC prefers a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Campaign Scope & Strategic Focus

1. Is this engagement part of a broader institutional branding initiative, or is it focused specifically on student recruitment efforts?

The focus is on student recruitment.

2. Should the proposal assume full campaign development and execution by the agency, or will CCBC's internal marketing team serve as a production or implementation partner?

The proposal should assume full campaign development, with the potential for some in-house versioning of assets based on the creative development of the agency.

Implementation, i.e., media placement and digital campaign management and tracking, is to be handled by the agency.

3. Can you please clarify the engagement structure? What scope of work is anticipated for the 6-month period between the First 6 months and Year Two?

4. Milestones vs engagement timeline: The RFP says "first 6 months" includes developing a new campaign for launch "next fiscal year," while also maintaining/optimizing existing campaigns through Summer 2027. Can CCBC clarify the expected start of work and when the new campaign must launch (month/year)?

Throughout the first 12 months, we will rely on our partner to keep us in-market, by providing media services that, at minimum, extend our current strategy. During that time, our partner will also work to develop a new research-backed campaign and produce all associated assets for launch at the start of the next fiscal year, July 1,

5. What is your historical enrollment cycle/campaign cadence, and do you foresee this remaining consistent throughout the contract term?

6. Are there seasonal "must-win" enrollment windows (spring, summer, fall) and dates you want campaigns live?

CCBC is almost always enrolling. For academic credit offerings, this involves up to 14 start dates, generally grouped and promoted across 6 promotional pushes: Fall, Fall late start, Winter, Spring, Spring late start, Summer. Additionally, CCBC’s Continuing Education courses have rolling registration throughout the year, with three big promotions in May-June, August-October, December-February as new groupings of classes are rolled out to students

7. Can you provide an estimate of the number of expected campaigns to be designed and executed over the contract term (or a typical year during the contract term)?

An estimated number of campaigns to be designed and executed across multiple channels would be 3-6. This may vary from year to year. Successful campaigns could be extended or adapted and new opportunities may arise.

8. Do you anticipate CCBC's institutional brand will remain consistent throughout the contract term?

Yes.

Integration & Internal Collaboration

1. “[The RFP states] All campaign work should be fully integrated with CCBC's public relations, digital communications, enrollment marketing, community engagement, event promotion, and social media efforts.” Will CCBC assist with connecting the selected vendor with the appropriate contacts from these different departments?

2. Based on the asks provided in this RFP it is clear that you are looking for a partner that can support you at the highest institutional level, across all institutional priorities. Could CCBC please clarify how centralized or decentralized you envision this project to be managed? I.e. would the selected agency partner be anticipated to create one centralized media plan that may include strategic direction for program/offering specific initiatives.

Or, would the awarded partner be expected to coordinate with one or multiple of CCBC's campus units – functioning as their own unique projects.

The selected agency will work with CCBC Marketing and Communications department, which will gather and provide all CCBC inputs and approvals required to develop advertising creative and the media strategy and schedule. So, in terms of question #2 above, the first scenario would be more accurate.

Historical Data & Performance Sharing

1. Will CCBC provide the selected vendor with data or key learning from any previous audience research or campaigns to help inform the selected vendor's strategic approach for future campaigns?

2. What digital advertising channels have historically been successful? Which channels have been unsuccessful?

3. What channels are currently in use (and approximate mix): SEM, paid social, streaming, OOH/transit, programmatic, print, radio, etc.?

4. For "maintaining/optimizing existing campaigns," will CCBC provide: current creative files and specs, prior media plans, performance reports, account access (Meta/Google/DSP)?

5. Will previous insights into past paid media performance, including platforms that have been most effective (e.g., Google Ads, Facebook, TikTok, Display, Programmatic, OTT, etc.) and any historical cost benchmarks be shared with the new vendor?

CCBC will provide all available strategy documentation, campaign data, platform access and creative assets to our selected partner.

Scope of Services & Responsibilities

1. Scope boundaries: Beyond campaign strategy, creative, media planning/buying, and reporting, please confirm which of the following are in scope for the selected agency vs handled by CCBC or another vendor:

Website/landing page design and development (builds vs design-only), CRM/email marketing (campaign builds, automations, segmentation), Organic social media content (non-paid), Photography/video production (on-campus shoots, editing), Print production and direct mail services (printing, list management, postage, distribution), Call center support (scripts, training, call tracking setup), Event marketing support (event creative, paid promotion, on-site signage)

None of the services in question are in-scope with the exception of video for use in digital advertising (paid social, OTT)

2. Will CCBC require the agency to manage publishing and moderation of social media and/or owned channels, or will internal staff handle those tasks?

3. Should the agency assume responsibility for building, hosting, and maintaining campaign-specific landing pages, or will these be handled internally by CCBC?

CCBC’s internal staff handles publishing and moderation of the college’s social channels. CCBC will likewise handle any campaign-specific landing pages.

4. Are you interested in organic lead generation being a portion of your media mix? Most media scopes are thinking primarily about paid digital advertising and paid media, but there's a lot we can do with organic lead generation, with things like content SEO and content marketing that we would be happy to describe and/or offer as part of this project.

5. We assume the goals of this project are to drive awareness, shape perceptions, drive inquiries, and drive applications. Would you also want to learn about how we are able to support directly with enrollments? For example, we can be hands-on in supporting lead nurture comms strategies powered by your CRM.

Bidder’s proposals should focus on the identified scope of work, but CCBC is open to new tactics that potential partners can bring to bear over the length of the contract as emerging priorities and opportunities arise.

6. Will CCBC provide an anticipated LOE by task area?

No.

Technology Platforms & Tools

1. Are there any required platforms CCBC uses for: ad buying (Google Ads, Meta Business Manager, DSP, etc.), analytics (GA4, Looker Studio, Tableau, PowerBI), CRM/enrollment tools (Slate, Salesforce, Ellucian, etc.), call tracking tools?

In terms of ad buying, the required platforms would depend on our future partner’s media strategy recommendation. (see below for information on additional tools)

2. Who owns / controls media accounts today—CCBC or the incumbent agency?

3. Additionally, in relation to this transition planning, could you please confirm whether CCBC owns its accounts? Or, are they managed in agency owned by accounts on CCBC's behalf?

Some of both, depending on platform. Where we can own and provide partner access we do; where we cannot own, whether due to functionality or resources, our partner does.

4. Does the CCBC have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool in place? If so, what tool are you currently using?

5. Have there been any updates to CCBC's CRM, data systems, analytics platforms, or reporting expectations that should influence our approach?

6. Can you confirm you're using Elements 451 as your CRM system?

7. Can you share what tracking and data infrastructure you currently have in place (e.g., CRM, marketing automation, website analytics, pixels/tags on key properties)?

8. Is your current data infrastructure set up to track applicants at every touchpoint throughout the enrollment funnel within the CRM?

CCBC uses Element 451 as our CRM system, a relatively new development for the college. CCBC uses GTM and GA4 for tracking and analytics. Our current media tracking dashboard is provided by our agency, but CCBC uses PowerBI internally for data visualization and reporting. Our current data infrastructure and processes are not yet sufficiently mature to track applicants at every point in the enrollment funnel, though major touchpoints are covered. The college is actively working in that direction.

Creative Assets & Production

1. Can CCBC provide any guidance on the expected volume and types of creative assets required in Year One? (e.g., paid social graphics, video content, landing pages, print ads, outdoor)

Paid social graphic and video assets for various ad types; SEM copy, programmatic digital display ads for web and OOH comprise the primary types. These ads usually require multiple sizes per platform requirements and are typically updated to align with the enrollment cycles discussed above.

2. Video production can vary widely in its approach and scale. From taking your available photography and B-roll and producing video assets. All the way to expansive commercial shots on location with paid actors – and everything in between. Could CCBC please describe your hopes for the scale of video production component of this project?

Though it will depend on the specific media strategy we develop with our partners, we anticipate that our needs will be more toward the lower end of the scale employed in the question above. We do not foresee expansive commercial shoots as necessary, but may need something more involved if, for instance, we continue to field OTT advertising.

3. Will creative assets for internal/organic social be required as part of the creative execution?

No.

Geographic & Program-Specific Targeting

1. Which geographies matter most (Baltimore County only, region-wide, statewide, out-of-region for online)?

Baltimore County and the larger Baltimore DMA are the primary focus. We target an expanded regional area for online learners.

2. For the Tuition Free Initiative, what are the eligibility rules and required disclaimers that must appear in ads?

See www.ccbcmd.edu/freetuition for mor information on this program. CCBC will discuss specific ad messaging with our selected partner.

3. Should we assume the same approach to out-of-state marketing for online programs, or have there been changes to the college's strategy?

There have been no recent changes to the college’s online marketing strategy.

Brand Guidelines & Messaging

1. Does CCBC have updated brand guidelines, messaging framework, photo/video style guidance, and an accessibility checklist you can share?

CCBC will share these specifications with our selected partner.

2. What is CCBC's current "brand campaign" (tagline/creative platform), and what is working/not working?

CCBC will review current campaigns and branding with our selected partner.

3. Is CCBC anticipating any brand positioning updates or upcoming shifts we should prepare for?

Not at this time.

Approval Process & Workflow

1. What is the expected approval process (chain of decision-making, turnaround time, etc.) for campaign deliverables and media plans?

2. Who are the required internal stakeholders for approvals (Marketing & Comms, Enrollment, Continuing Ed, CCBC Online, PR, leadership)?

3. What is the expected turnaround time for creative review, and how many revision rounds are typical?

4. Are there anticipated changes to review processes, approval timelines, or internal workflows that we should plan around?

Compliance & Accessibility Requirements http://www.ccbcmd.edu/freetuition

1. The RFP notes "accessibility standards." Which standards are required (e.g., WCAG 2.1 AA, Section 508), and do you require: captions/subtitles for all video, audio description for certain placements, accessible PDFs, multilingual/translations?

WCAG 2.1 AA. Language translations are not a requirement.

2. Are there any legal/compliance review requirements for tuition-free claims, financial aid messaging, or workforce credential marketing?

Yes.

Performance Measurement & Reporting

1. What outcomes define "success" for CCBC: inquiries, applications, registrations, event attendance, brand lift, etc.?

All of those, with inquiries, applications and registrations being the most important.

2. What attribution approach does CCBC prefer: last click, multi-touch, media mix modeling, etc.?

Multi-touch.

3. Will CCBC provide access to enrollment funnel data to connect marketing performance to enrollment outcomes?

Yes.

4. Do you require a specific reporting cadence beyond monthly/quarterly (weekly during peak)?

5. Any required dashboard format/tools?

Monthly reporting with an annual review. Dashboard can be in any tool but should be as live and dynamic as possible, allowing CCBC MarComm to self-serve basic reporting of current and past campaigns (those executed during this contract).

6. What current dashboard mechanisms are in place and are those owned by the college or the incumbent (if there is one)? Or, will the selected agency partner be required to set up a new dashboard?

The current dashboard platform is Salesforce Datorama and it is owned by our current agency. A new agency would be required to set up a new dashboard.

7. To align on performance goals, how does CCBC define a "conversion" for this engagement? Is it a lead form submission, application start, completed application, enrollment, event registration, or some combination of these? Do conversion definitions differ by campaign type (awareness vs. direct response) or by academic program?

CCBC will work with our selected partner to define conversions and align on performance goals, which can differ by campaign or even channel.

Continuing Education Digital Transition

8. Does CCBC Continuing Education use an online registration system today— and if yes, what platform?

Yes: QuickReg. it is maintained in house and is built on the bones of a former Ellucian product, FlexReg.

9. What percent of registrations are currently phone vs online, and what target shift does CCBC want (e.g., 60/40 → 80/20)?

85/15, phone/online. There is no set goal at this time, but the college would like to see the majority of registrations online.

10. What are the biggest barriers to digital adoption (stakeholder resistance, platform limitations, audience behavior, internal processes)?

All of those play a factor.

11. Can CCBC share: catalog costs (print + postage), mailing list size and cadence, current response rates, call center capacity constraints?

We will share that information with our selected partner.

12. Is CCBC open to testing alternatives to the large catalog (mini-lookbook, segmented mailers, digital catalog, SMS/email funnels, landing pages)?

Yes.

13. Regarding the challenge outlined in the RFP, are there specific internal stakeholder concerns related to transitioning Continuing Education marketing from print/direct mail to digital that would be helpful for us to address?

Print-call is the way it has always been done. CCBC also has some technology hurdles to clear (see question#1 above).