Amendment 1.docx

State of South Carolina

Request for Proposal

Amendment 1 Solicitation:

Date Issued:

Procurement Officer:

Phone:

E-Mail Address:

Mailing Address:

5400027593 1/8/2025

KAYLA MIDDLETON

803-737-2609 kmiddleton@mmo.sc.gov SFAA, Div. of Procurement Services 1201 Main St., Suite 600 Columbia SC 29201-3734

DESCRIPTION: Launch to Legacy (L2L) Media Campaign

USING GOVERNMENTAL UNIT: Department of Commerce (S.C. Commerce)

SUBMIT YOUR OFFER ON-LINE AT THE FOLLOWING URL: http://www.procurement.sc.gov

SUBMIT OFFER BY (Opening Date/Time): 1/31/2025 11:00:00 (See "Deadline For Submission Of Offer" provision)

QUESTIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY: 12/30/2024 4:00 PM ET (See "Questions From Offerors" provision)

NUMBER OF COPIES TO BE SUBMITTED: One Online Submission and One Redacted Copy Initial here if NO redacted copy is necessary___________

CONFERENCE TYPE: Pre-Bid Conference

DATE & TIME: 12/30/2024 @ 10:00 AM ET

If you’d like to attend email the Procurement Officer for instructions no later than 12/27/2024 by 5:00 PM ET (As appropriate, see "Conferences - Pre-Bid/Proposal" & "Site Visit" provisions) LOCATION: Online via Microsoft Teams

You must submit a signed copy of this form with Your Offer. By signing, You agree to be bound by the terms of the Solicitation. You agree to hold Your Offer open for a minimum of one hundred and twenty (120) calendar days after the Opening Date. (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

NAME OF OFFEROR

(full legal name of business submitting the offer) Any award issued will be issued to, and the contract will be formed with, the entity identified as the Offeror. The entity named as the offeror must be a single and distinct legal entity. Do not use the name of a branch office or a division of a larger entity if the branch or division is not a separate legal entity, i.e., a separate corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, etc.

AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

(Person must be authorized to submit binding offer to contract on behalf of Offeror.)

DATE SIGNED

TITLE

(business title of person signing above)

STATE VENDOR NO.

(Register to Obtain S.C. Vendor No. at www.procurement.sc.gov)

PRINTED NAME

(printed name of person signing above)

STATE OF INCORPORATION

(If you are a corporation, identify the state of incorporation.)

OFFEROR'S TYPE OF ENTITY: (Check one) (See "Signing Your Offer" provision.)

___ Sole Proprietorship ___ Partnership ___ Other_____________________________

___ Corporate entity (not tax-exempt) ___ Corporation (tax-exempt) ___ Government entity (federal, state, or local)

COVER PAGE - ON-LINE ONLY (MAR. 2015)

SAP

SAP

PAGE TWO

(Return Page Two with Your Offer) HOME OFFICE ADDRESS (Address for offeror's home office / principal place of business)

NOTICE ADDRESS (Address to which all procurement and contract related notices should be sent.) (See "Notice" clause)

_________________________________________________ Area Code - Number - Extension Facsimile

_________________________________________________ E-mail Address

PAYMENT ADDRESS (Address to which payments will be sent.) (See "Payment" clause)

____Payment Address same as Home Office Address ____Payment Address same as Notice Address (check only one) ORDER ADDRESS (Address to which purchase orders will be sent) (See "Purchase Orders and "Contract Documents" clauses)

____Order Address same as Home Office Address ____Order Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AMENDMENTS

Offerors acknowledges receipt of amendments by indicating amendment number and its date of issue. (See "Amendments to Solicitation" Provision)

DISCOUNT FOR PROMPT PAYMENT

(See "Discount for Prompt Payment" clause)

____In-State Office Address same as Home Office Address ____In-State Office Address same as Notice Address (check only one)

PAGE TWO (SEP 2009)

End of PAGE TWO

AMENDMENTS TO SOLICITATION (JAN 2004)

(a) The Solicitation may be amended at any time prior to opening. All actual and prospective Offerors should monitor the following web site for the issuance of Amendments: www.procurement.sc.gov (b) Offerors shall acknowledge receipt of any amendment to this solicitation (1) by signing and returning the amendment, (2) by identifying the amendment number and date in the space provided for this purpose on Page Two, (3) by letter, or (4) by submitting a bid that indicates in some way that the bidder received the amendment. (c) If this solicitation is amended, then all terms and conditions which are not modified remain unchanged. [02-2A005-1]

Highlighted text is added to the original provision. Stricken text is deleted.

QUESTIONS FROM OFFERORS (MODIFIED)

(a) Any prospective offeror desiring an explanation or interpretation of the solicitation, drawings, specifications, etc., must request it in writing. All questions must be submitted in writing and received by the Procurement Officer for this solicitation no later than THE DATE AND TIME LISTED ON COVER PAGE 1.

IMPORTANT:

Email is the preferred method for submitting questions to the procurement officer, Title the “Subject Line” of your email, “Questions 5400027542 Investigation & Surveillance Services 5400027593 Launch to Legacy (L2L) Media Campaign”. Questions must be submitted in an easily copied format such as MS Word.

Please do not place your questions in tables.

Email: kmiddleton@mmo.sc.gov

Oral explanations or instructions will not be binding. [See R. 19-445.2042(B)] Any information given a prospective offeror concerning a solicitation will be furnished promptly to all other prospective offerors as an Amendment to the solicitation, if that information is necessary for submitting offers or if the lack of it would be prejudicial to other prospective offerors. See clause entitled "Duty to Inquire." We will not identify you in our answer to your question. (b) The State seeks to permit maximum practicable competition. Offerors are urged to advise the Procurement Officer -- as soon as possible -- regarding any aspect of this procurement, including any aspect of the Solicitation that unnecessarily or inappropriately limits full and open competition. [See R. 19-445.2140]

IV. INFORMATION FOR OFFERORS TO SUBMIT

Response Format:

1. Signed Solicitation Cover Pages One & Two (with acknowledgement of Amendments if applicable)

1. Minority Participation

2. Subcontractor Identification (if applicable)

32 Executive Summary - An executive summary must be provided with the Offeror’s Proposal. The executive summary must describe your understanding of the services to be provided and briefly describe your proposal, highlighting the major features. The reader must be able to determine the essence of the proposal by reading the executive summary.

43 Table of Contents - The Proposal must include a Table of Contents that lists page number references. The Table of Contents must be in sufficient detail to facilitate easy reference to the sections of the Proposal and separate attachments (which shall be included in the main Table of Contents). If supplemental materials are included with the Proposal, each copy of the Proposal must include such supplemental materials. Supplemental information (i.e., information not required) and attachments included by the Offeror must be clearly identified in the Table of Contents and provided as a separate section.

54 Offerors Approach - Offerors must restate each of the items below and provide their response to that item immediately thereafter.

1. Offerors must restate each of the requirements in Part 3 Scope of Work, 1 through 18, and provide, in detail, their proposed approach to each requirement and their method(s) to accomplishing each requirement.

2. Offerors must provide a detailed work plan, to include an itemized list of all proposed services, that demonstrates a full understanding of the services required. Include a detailed timeline of Contract milestones.

65 Offeror’s Key Personnel Qualifications and Experience- Offerors must restate each of the items below and provide their response to that item immediately thereafter.

1. Offerors must provide, in detail, their qualifications and experience. Include the size of the Offeror, total number of employees, the number of years the Offeror has been in business and the Offeror’s ability to provide the services requested in this RFP.

2. Offers must provide a response to Section V Qualifications-Special Standards of Responsibility.

3. Offerors must provide the names, qualifications, and experience (resumes) of the proposed key personnel it will commit to this contract. Submit an organizational chart showing the key personnel proposed for this contract and identify the role of each.

4. Offerors must provide a detailed description of Offeror’s proven success and expertise in qualitative and quantitative research strategies and execution, creative and brand development, including enhancements to existing branding and new placement; strategic development, implementation, and measurement of online marketing initiatives; and media purchasing capabilities.

5. Offerors must provide a detailed description of their technical capabilities to ensure responsiveness and prompt reaction or make proactive changes as needed. The Offeror must demonstrate their ability and capability to service S.C. Commerce’s account from both a technical and staffing perspective.

6. Offerors must provide samples of previous work with similar projects from at least three (3) clients including, but not limited to, samples of branding and creative, strategic research for similar clients, and reporting. Examples of previous work must clearly demonstrate experience with strategic and tactical media, product and brand launch and benchmarking and measurements with similar scope and objectives.

7. Offerors must provide a list of three (3) references for which Offeror has performed similar projects within the past five (5) years. Include a name, address, phone number, and email address of an individual who is familiar with the Offeror’s work. Provide a brief summary of the project completed for the company to include value of the contract, length of the project and measurable results that were directly attributable to the Offeror’s work. Offerors shall discuss any problems that arose during these contracts and how the issues were resolved.

8. Offerors must provide a detailed description of strategies utilized to maintain industry awareness and trends that may be relevant to S.C. Commerce’s marketing efforts.

9. Offerors must provide a detailed description of successful measures to obtain knowledge of target audiences and to make recommendations to S.C. Commerce for enhancements and/or digital campaigns to achieve specific, measurable goals.

76. Price (Business) Proposal - The Business Proposal shall be separate from the Technical Proposal. Offerors must provide their fixed milestone payment amounts to coordinate with each of the Offerors proposed contract milestones (see 5. Offeror’s Approach, item #2.). Offerors must include the hourly rate for each of their key personnel that will commit to this Contract.

QUESTIONS FROM OFFERORS - AMENDMENT (JUN 2017)

THE SOLICITATION IS AMENDED AS PROVIDED HEREIN. INFORMATION OR CHANGES RESULTING FROM QUESTIONS WILL BE SHOWN IN A QUESTION-AND-ANSWER FORMAT. ALL QUESTIONS RECEIVED HAVE BEEN REPRINTED BELOW. THE “STATE’S RESPONSE” SHOULD BE READ WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE QUESTIONS. THE QUESTIONS ARE INCLUDED SOLELY TO PROVIDE A CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE POTENTIAL OFFEROR THAT SUBMITTED THE QUESTION. QUESTIONS DO NOT FORM A PART OF THE CONTRACT; THE “STATE’S RESPONSE” DOES. ANY RESTATEMENT OF PART OR ALL OF AN EXISTING PROVISION OF THE SOLICITATION IN AN ANSWER DOES NOT MODIFY THE ORIGINAL PROVISION EXCEPT AS FOLLOWS: UNDERLINED TEXT IS ADDED TO THE ORIGINAL PROVISON. STRICKEN TEXT IS DELETED. [02-2A097-1]

The following questions were received pursuant to the original date and time specified on the front of the solicitation.

1. Has a paid media budget been established?

State’s Response: Paid media budget information will not be divulged. Offerors should provide their fixed milestone payment amounts to coordinate with the Offeror’s itemized list of all proposed services, that demonstrates a full understanding of the services required.

1. What percent of the paid media budget is expected to be spent domestically? How much internationally?

State’s Response: See response for question #1.

1. RFP Scope of Solicitation states the contract start date is anticipated to be April 1, 2025. However, the RFP Scope of Work later states “S.C. Commerce anticipates research and recommendations, campaign creation and paid media strategy/deployment to be launched no later than March 1, 2025”. Given these varying dates, when does S.C. Commerce anticipate the launch of the campaign?

State’s Response: April 1, 2025, is the anticipated start date of the contract. S.C. Commerce expects campaign deployment no later than Sept. 15, 2025.

1. Do you believe additional research to determine the key factors that influence a business’s decision to relocate or expand is required?

State’s Response: Yes, the agency believes additional research to determine the key factors that influence a business’s decision to relocate or expand is required.

1. Does the current, differentiated positioning for South Carolina still stand? If not, what are the reasons to revisit?

State’s Response: Yes, the current positioning for South Carolina still stands. Additional research is required to ensure appropriate target audience and geographies are identified.

1. Phase one media showed states that were receptive to the campaign. Do you believe additional research is required to identify which states to focus marketing efforts on for L2L?

State’s Response: Yes, additional research is required to identify which states to focus marketing efforts on for L2L.

1. Will Commerce provide the three (3) businesses to feature in Phase 2, or are you looking for the agency to provide recommendations? Are they the same or different for domestic and international communications?

State’s Response: The Department will provide the businesses to feature in Phase 2 for both domestic and international.

1. Should the media-buying portion include SEO?

State’s Response: Yes, the media-buying portion should include SEO.

1. What is the annual budget for the L2L media campaign?

State’s Response: See response for question #1.

1. What is the anticipated budget for media? What percentage should be allocated for domestic efforts and what percentage for international efforts?

State’s Response: See response for question #1.

1. What are the top international countries that you’ve identified for this effort?

State’s Response: The agency is looking to the Contractor to support research in identifying the top international countries for this campaign.

1. The Contractor will develop and implement a comprehensive paid media strategy and multi-media campaign tailored to C-suite decision makers in the identified target states and international countries with messaging related to S.C. Commerce’s strategic framework sectors (advanced energy, biotech/life sciences, headquarters relocation, and research/development) to achieve specific, measurable goals and to reach key stakeholders and target audiences. The agreed upon elements, including but not limited to traditional (TV, radio, print, etc.), digital (streaming, OTT, geofence, display, SEO, etc.), and social media advertising, will be implemented and managed by the Contractor. Media placement costs should be 50% of total contract costs

a. Does “media placement costs” refer to the fees and commissions associated with placing the media or the actual media

b. If the reference is for fees and commissions associated with placing media, how much of the overall budget should be dedicated to paid media?

State’s Response:

a. No, “media placement costs” refers to the actual cost of the media being purchased, also referred to as the “media budget.”

b. 50% of the total contract costs should be allocated to the media budget.

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