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Texas Department of Agriculture
| Addendum Number: |
| 1 |
| Dated: 08/12/2024 |
| Solicitation Number: |
| 5510000321 |
| Solicitation Title: |
| Communication Firm |
| Due Date/Deadline: |
| 08/21/2024 |
| Purchaser: |
| Alfredo Aguirre Jr. |
PURPOSE OF ADDENDUM: Clarifications
Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced herein, remain unchanged and in full force and effect. The following are specifications to this solicitation. This Addendum may be attached to and form a part of the referenced solicitation document and any resulting awarded contract and may be considered in your response.
1. Part A Pre-Proposal Questions and Answers
| Number |
| Respondents Question |
| Answer |
| 1 |
| Is this RFP the same as the initial RFP ? |
| The solicitations are similar; however it is the Respondents responsibility to review all material and ensure responsiveness before submission. The cost proposal format has been updated. |
| 2 |
| Hello! Is there a Contract number for the previous incumbent? |
| TDA previously contracted with multiple vendors, each of which have a unique contract number. The previous solicitation was awarded for FY 2022 and contractors were renewed in FY 23 and FY 24. The base solicitation # was 551-01573 |
| 3 |
| what are the differences between this proposal and the original proposal? |
| See response to Question # 1. |
| 4 |
| What is the best channel to use to contact Jack? |
| Jack.hammond@texasagriculture.gov |
| 5 |
| Can you show the slide with your email address on it again please? |
| Alfredo.aguirre@texasagriculture.gov |
Solicitations are to be submitted to bidroom@texasagriculture.gov
| 6 |
| There is no Quantity for item 3 and pricing differs between Video and Static graphics so how do you judge fairly? |
| See question #3 in the first section of questions. |
| 7 |
| Can we resubmit our original proposal |
| Submit the proposal you feel is best representative of your company. We encourage you to review all information before re-submission. |
| 8 |
| Is it your preference to award to one vendor that is capable of executing all elements of this RFP? |
| It is TDA’s intent to award contracts to multiple vendors. |
| 9 |
| Does the TDA what the potential firm to create the entire campaign for TDA to use? |
| TDA has multiple projects throughout the year that may range from developing a single advertisement to potentially building out an entire campaign, and everything in between. |
| 10 |
| Do you validate if a vendor says they are a Texas provider if they really are doing all work in Texas vs outsourcing outside of the USA? |
TDA follows the vendor check requirements as set forth by Texas Comptroller’s office.
| 11 |
| What is the best way to indicate that your HUB status is in process (certs have been received by other reviewing bodies). |
Indicate as either HUB or non-HUB Certified at the time of submitting your solicitation.
| 12 |
| The cost proposal is designed for an hourly rate per deliverable/item, correct? |
| Please review Exhibit C. |
| 13 |
| Can you please clarify exactly what is expected in the Cost Proposal? Since there isn't a specific scope of work (it's more general about what services TDA is looking for), it would be helpful to have some specific guidance on how TDA expects us to develop an hourly rate including both fee and expenses...I'm referencing this portion of the cost proposal section: "Hourly rates should include all labor, materials, tools, supplies, equipment, and personnel, including but not limited to, travel expenses, associated costs, and incidental costs necessary to provide the deliverables and services according to the minimum specifications, requirements, provisions, and terms set forth in this solicitation." |
| Please develop a blended hourly rate that includes all costs associated with developing deliverables. Contracted vendors will be asked to submit proposals/bids for individual creative briefs throughout the year where you will identify the anticipated hours and timelines for completing the project. |
| 14 |
| Sorry for the typo.. Does TDA expect or want the partner to create the slogans, and theme for the campaign? |
TDA has multiple projects throughout the year that may range from developing a single advertisement to potentially building out an entire campaign, and everything in between.
| 15 |
| Can we submit a complete proposal for all elements and then have TDA breakout different areas that they may wish to use our firm for? |
Yes, please submit a proposal including all elements you have experience with. Creative Briefs throughout the year will aid in TDA selecting vendors for specific projects.
| 16 |
| Can we submit early? |
| Yes |
| 17 |
| if we are only interested in one portion of the deliverables would you take a proposal for only that specific area |
| Yes. |
| 18 |
| With most proposals, showcasing examples and artwork can create too large of a PDF file for email submission. Freddy, how do you want us to handle that if our packet is bigger than email will support |
| You can separate the PDF attachments and submit in multiple emails. Please label emails “Part 1 of 3”, “Part 2 of 3”, etc. |
| 19 |
| Is there a range TDA is wanting to stay in for this campaign? |
TDA does not have an expectation of a range. We will evaluate proposals based on best value to the state taking into consideration examples of vendor work.
Part B: Exhibit E Submitted Questions
| Number |
| Respondent’s Question |
Answers
| 1. |
| On the Per Hour pricing for the implementation of advertising and marketing campaigns, should that cost only include our planning time and not carry any CPM or media purchase cost? |
| The Per Hour rate should include all time and effort (as well as other administrative costs) with the exception of media purchase costs. |
| 2. |
| On the advertising and marketing campaigns, each firm may have different costs for media buys depending on their relationships with the actual media placements such as billboards, digital, social, broadcast, etc. Is there a place in the pricing spreadsheet to provide that information and will it be evaluated as part of the price score? |
| This should be included in the value added section of your response. Although the costs will be evaluated based on the Per Hour rate and commission percentage, you can supplement your response with details such as this. |
| 3. |
| For both Social Media creatives or advertising creatives the types can span from static graphics using stock art to custom photography or for better engagement, even video. The difference in per hour cost of providing static graphic vs animated or edited video can be significant. Can you provide any guidance on amount of work that should include static graphics vs video or complex artwork to help us all price accordingly? |
| Submit as a per hour cost basis on static graphics. |
| 4. |
| What is the technology or web Content Management system if one is used for the GoTexan.org website? |
| The current GOTEXAN.org website is built on DNN as the Content Management System. |
| 5. |
| Can you confirm if the shop.gotexan.org site is Drupal or if another Content Management or eCommerce system is part of the environment? |
| The current shop.GOTEXAN.org website is built on Drupal as the Content Management System. |
| 6. |
| In Section 3 on Business Products the check list references both Supplies Produced in Texas and also USA Produced supplies, will the evaluation confirm vendors that check those boxes actually have their work made in Texas or in the USA? Several recent bids across the state have been secured by vendors outsourcing their work out of the country. We are asking if the pricing evaluation will fairly account for firms that do not openly disclose that they either subcontract or use non-USA labor with lower rates and potentially lower quality. |
Vendor evaluation is based off of the grading criteria set forth in the solicitation. Subcontractors noted on a vendor HUB Subcontracting Plan are validated (HUB/Non-HUB-Active/Not Active) by review of the Centralized Master Bidders List during the evaluation period.
| 7. |
| In selecting vendors for this contract, how will the overall pricing account for lower rates versus amount of work or deliverables provided. In other recent bids across the state where only hourly rates were evaluated instead of amount delivered per cost, we have seen examples of where vendors have bid very low per hour rates to win the bid, but then invoice double or triple the amount of hours to complete the work. For example, in one case a vendor bid $70 an hour to win the bid, but on execution they took 3 times the hours of other vendors meaning their effective per hour rate was really $210. A per hour only evaluation could enable someone to win with this type of strategy vs other firms who bid cost based on estimated amount of work to really be delivered. What parameters will be used in the cost evaluation to help maintain a level comparison of cost per hour vs actual cost of delivery and protect TDA's budget? |
| We appreciate the comment and are aware of this draw back to requesting a per hour rate; however; because the project we work on every year vary we do not want to inadvertently limit what are vendors can work on by narrowing the cost proposal. |
TDA intends to contract with multiple vendors and use a creative brief process for individual projects. Contracted vendors will be required to bid on projects, including providing timelines and not to exceed hours (unless approved by TDA). No amount of work is guaranteed.
| 8. |
| What example challenges has the TDA marketing team experienced in the past that they want to avoid with vendors selected for this procurement? |
| I believe our biggest challenges are based on budget constraints that have limited our ability to fully utilize creative products produced by Contracted vendors in the past. |
| 9. |
| To help us have a better understanding of scope to use in setting our per hour pricing, can you please provide the 3 years average that TDA has paid for services outlined in the cost proposal? |
| FY 2022 expenses - $844,000 |
FY 2023 expenses - $1,010,000 FY 2024 expenses & encumbrances - $514,000
| 10. |
| Does this SOW include campaigns overseen by the F&N team at TDA? |
| No. Although it is possible that this contract could supplement a TDA Food & Nutrition team project, efforts will primarily focus on TDA’s Trade & Business Development programmatic areas. |
| 11. |
| Since TDA is looking to award to multiple contractors, if some of the |
deliverables don’t fall within a contractor’s core competencies/services, should that section of the cost proposal be listed as N/A or how would you like that clarified?
You may respond with N/A, you can also provide additional narrative to explain your business focus.
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