MARKETING_RESEARCH_3_Feb_PGL.pdf

MARKET RESEARCH

1. Is the AF Reserve open to other forms of digital marketing channels such as Email, desktop display, mobile display, Geofencing, Instagram and Facebook?

If not could you please provide an explanation as to why this effective type of digital marketing that can provide valuable response data for future marketing campaigns could not be used.

ANSWER: Yes, Ref PWS 4.14.9 has been amended to clarify. All digital marketing channels are open for consideration. The list in the PWS gives examples. It is not intended to limit possibilities.

2 Could the government please provide additional information and possible examples of the type of work the Contractor will need to perform with Mullins Advertising Agency and why will the

Contractor need to interface with them for this project?

ANSWER: U.S. Armed Forces Joint Advertising and Marketing Research Activity (JAMRS) commercial advertising agency of record as of today is MullenLowe. There are instances where the Contractor will interface with JAMRS and their supporting agencies of outreach and market communication efforts through a Government representative. Some recent instances included Futures Magazine candidate selection and the designing of a joint recruiting station window cover. There is no contractual relationship between JAMRS’ contractor and the Air Force Reserve. We have attached a list of all possible contractors that you may have to interact with through a Government representative in order to identify any OCIs, business relationships, such as joint ventures. Para 4.8.9 has been modified to remove the specific contractor’s name as this may change over the course of the contract.

3. Contractor shall provide research and specific recommendations on any media buys, target market, audience/demographic to achieve maximum ROI for each Operating Location. What is considered ROI? (e.g., click through rates? Application numbers? Viable applicants?)

ANSWER: Ref PWS; 4.14.6.1 Page 17. An accession is considered ROI. As accession is a qualified applicant that is gained in AFFISS-TF.

4. How is media effectiveness currently measured?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Sections 4.8.6. By the number of leads from website sources, social media, qualification center, print and online initiatives and events.

5. Will the government be providing a database for marketing purposes?

ANSWER: Yes. Databases include: AFRISS-TF; Market research from JAMRS; AFR website data; and

Dashboard will be accessible for awardee for marketing purposes.

6. Can an outside database be utilized for digital outreach campaigns?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.14.4.10. Yes as long as it complies with DOD compliance and regulations and is compatible for AF use. All data and data rights will be owned by the Government. The PWS states that the Gov will provide software and hardware, but that is in reference to that currently owned by the government. If an outside database is proposed, the cost of software, licenses sustainment and maintenance may or may not be covered by the Gov depending on the type.

7. What are the primary challenges the AFR faces today?

ANSWER: Maintaining command end-strength. Finding qualified candidates to meet AF standards and are propensed to serve in the military. Overcoming negative perceptions; portraying the Service as a flexible option

Do you have any idea of the perceptions of AFR?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.8.9.1. JAMRS conducts market research on the thoughts, opinions, and attitudes of markets. Currently, the research shows the top reasons to joining are: Connect to the military; Health/medical benefits; Pay/money; pride/honor/self-esteem; and camaraderie.. The market research done by JAMRS is given to AFRC to be used by the AFRC advertising contractor and this information is available to the contractor.

8. Is the AFR currently tracking leads and recruits directly back to marketing and advertising programs?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.12. AFR tracks leads and recruiting directly back to marketing and advertising programs and initiatives by reviewing the contractor’s deliverable of reports that track attendance and leads generated.

9. What do you consider the biggest barrier to generating qualified leads to the Air Force Reserve?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.14.4.9. Finding qualified candidates to meet AF standards and are propensed to serve in the military. Overcoming negative perceptions; portraying the Service as a flexible option

10. What would you consider to be your biggest competitors? Civilian job opportunities, opportunities with higher compensation, mindset of the armed forces? Any insight would be helpful from your past experience.

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.14.1. All ‘other’ military recruiting services. All services compete for the same limited pool of leads. Only 26% of youth are eligible for military service and only 15% are considered a high quality lead.

11. How well is AFRC doing in communicating effectively with African Americans, Hispanics, Asian

Americans, Native Americans and females? Is this being tracked in some specific way?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.8.3. Current enlisted accessions indicate AFRC is doing very well with communication to diverse populations. However, officer diversity continues to lag. We track this via regular demographic reports, both internally, and from DOD sources.

12. What is the Air Force Reserve’s current brand awareness among their target audience?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.8.9.2. Among the 17-24 youth population and their influencers, the Air Force's brand can broadly be described as "technical professionals" and brand recall is at 14%.

Is there any type of media research and tracking that can be shared with prospective bidders?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.8.9.2. Research and tracking is done on events. There is a great deal of media research and tracking that is conducted and is not being released to any prospective bidders.

13. The PWS states that electronic chats, texts and emails are also utilized, what are those daily volumes?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.12. Average annual leads volume for last three years: Call Center – 20K;

AFReserve.com organic leads – 38K; Events, online, and print paid leads – 21K; Chats – 25K; Emails – 5K.

14. Specific to the Scenario-based Presentation: - Have you identified a primary and secondary target market (demographics and psychographic information)?

ANSWER: Ref Sol Page 63, Section L. The Air Force Reserve Advertising Contract Speculative Creative

Scenario states the primary marketing target is new cyber protection mission candidates in the Denver metropolitan area, CO. The secondary target market is increase general, regional awareness of the existence of the Air Force Reserve Command.

15. Does the AFRC have any restrictions on digital ad tracking in terms of using technology to tag ads such as persistent cookies? What metrics are currently in place? If so, please describe.

ANSWER: Ref PWS 4.8 Para. 4.8.6. Yes, it must be compliant with DoD guidelines and PII. This information will be made available to the Contractor.

16. Can the AFRC provide current brand awareness, recall and demographic influence rates so vendor may use these as a benchmark?

ANSWER: Ref PWS 4.8 Para. 4.8.7. Among the 17-24 youth population and their influencers, the Air

Force's brand can broadly be described as "technical professionals" and brand recall is at 14%.

17. Can localized marketing training of recruiters be included in order to develop each AFRC’s local stations ability to market locally the ARFC?

ANSWER: Ref PWS 4.8 Para. 4.8.10. This recommendation could be included in the proposal but is not required under the current PWS.

18. When should the vendor expect approval of the USAFR Recruiter Training plan that is submitted by 1 Sept each year? This answer will support the vendor’s training calendar and also will be synchronized with the seasonal nature of accessions and ship dates. Are there required mechanisms for the training materials or are they at the vendor’s discretion (e.g., PowerPoint, binders, etc.)?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para(s) 4.8 and 4.8.10. Approval of the training plans will be NLT 1 Oct each year.

Advertising training materials will be incorporated into a larger hard copy binder that encompasses all training subjects presented to each recruiter at the annual conference. The bidder may propose additional materials and online supplements.

19. How many local designated area (LDA) studies are conducted by JAMRS annually? How many

LDAs are studied? Are the same LDAs studied each year so that a history built?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Sections 4.8.9.3. JAMRS Research Updates are prepared quarterly to communicate the status of ongoing research. Categories include: Youth Market; Segmentation & Targeting;

Advertising Tracking & Effectiveness; Adult Influencer Market; Recruiter Studies, and Third Party

Research. There are 12 a snapshots and they are studied annually. The studies provided are all national-level studies. JAMRS conducts 12 geographically-specific studies per year as part of the Market

Segmentation. These 12 studies are Core Based Statistical Area case studies.

20. Will the Government please provide examples of “offline interactive media products”?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Sections 4.9.2. Examples of online products would be recruiting campaigns, Air Force

Reserve websites, social media, E-mail, PSA, online media recruiting campaigns are some of the examples. Offline Recruiting media products such as radio and print advertising, including billboards, signs, pamphlets, telemarketing and television ads are some examples.

21. What kind of on-going quantitative and qualitative research is currently conducted by AFRC as desired in PWS 4.8.3?

ANSWER: Ref PWS 4.8.3. Ongoing market research into metrics on topics including but not limited to:

building AF Reserve image (purpose, values, defining characteristics); Educating the public on what we do, opportunities in the AFR; and generating leads/recruits (inspiring, engaging, & recruiting)

22. Is the research to be based upon vendor recommendations at the beginning of the contract or will COR be providing specific subject/demographic/topics for this requirement?

ANSWER: Ref PWS 4.8 Para. 4.8.5; Page 5. The COR will provide a baseline of specific research subjects upon contract award. Any additional research recommendations from the vendor will be considered.

23. For media research and tracking purposes, how many “operating locations” does the AFR have?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Sections 4.8.6. There are 44 Main Operating Locations. In addition to these key locations there are an additional 192 more locations e.g. satellite offices in shopping centers nationwide.

See attachment titled Operating Locations for the Main Operation Locations.

24. The Contractor shall publish an Advertising Summary to the Recruiter Dashboard within five (5) days of initiative execution. How many campaign executions are expected and how often?

ANSWER: Ref PWS; 4.8.6.1. See attachment titled Events.

25. Along with the DNR listing, can the vendor provide third party media “make goods” for the

DNR’s?

ANSWER: Ref PWS 4.8 Para. 4.8.6.2. Yes, if a media outlet makes an error in an insertion for an ad that was already arranged and locked in referred to as Did Not Run” (DNR), the vendor can provide third party media “Make Goods”. These efforts made by the media outlets to make up the error referred to as “Make Goods” will be identified and tracked by the vendor.

26. Will Mullins Advertising Agency make available relevant personnel for discussions with the

Contractor, on topics such as methodology used for gathering quantitative and qualitative Air Force recruitment data?

ANSWER: Ref PWS; 4.8.9. The government will ensure that there is a mechanism to discuss with JAMRS on topics such as methodology used. However, the JAMRS contractor is not responsible for training the

AFRC advertising contractor; nor provide direct support to the contract.

27. How is AFR qualitative research coordinated and integrated with JAMRS research?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Sections 4.8.9.1. The government provides the research to both groups and discuss on a regular basis to eliminate redundancies and to ensure the research is productive.

28. How is AFR quantitative research coordinated and integrated with JAMRS research?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Sections 4.8.9.2. The government provides the research to both groups and discuss on a regular basis to eliminate redundancies and to ensure the research is productive.

29. What kind of lead generation information must be collected?

ANSWER: Ref PWS Para 4.9.8. Potential applicant information including name, address, telephone number, email, date of birth, prior military service, best time to reach applicant, and how they heard about the Air Force Reserve.