QA-_Oct_24.pdf

Questions & Answers – RFQ OPIC-19-Q-0001

1. QUESTION: I am hoping to find out if there is an incumbent contractor currently performing these services or if this is a new requirement. If there is an incumbent, could you please provide the contract number?

ANSWER: This is a new requirement.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

2. QUESTION: Whether companies from Outside USA can apply for this? Will firms outside of the

D.C. area be scored lower for their geographic location? What are the minimum requirements to be considered D.C. area e.g. brick and mortar office, personnel assigned to area or other?

ANSWER: The Agency is seeking a Washington, DC area vendor. Offerors will be evaluated IAW the evaluation criteria listed in the solicitation. The minimum requirements to be considered DC area is that offeror must have a team in the area for ease of meeting scheduling and coordination.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

3. QUESTION: Whether we need to come over there for meetings?

ANSWER: The primary place of performance shall be off-site in the Washington, D.C. area, however the offeror may need to attend meetings at OPIC located at 1100 New York Avenue, NW, Washington DC.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

4. QUESTION: Can we perform the tasks (related to the RFP) outside of the USA?

ANSWER: See the answer to question 2.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

5. QUESTION: Can we submit the proposals via email?

ANSWER: See Section 10.0 - Quotes shall be submitted electronically to Arlette.Tongue@opic.gov and Emily.McLaughlin@opic.gov.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

6. QUESTION: We are a NYC based creative agency, would this be of concern?

ANSWER: See the answer to question 2.

mailto:Arlette.Tongue@opic.gov mailto:Emily.McLaughlin@opic.gov

7. QUESTION: I want to confirm that the OPIC Media Strategy RFQ (OPIC19Q0001) is not a small business set aside, correct?

ANSWER: This is not a small business set aside.

AMEND RFQ: Amendment required. Section 2.0 removed the language “with a small business size standard of $15 million”.

8. QUESTION: Is there a budget for this RFQ?

ANSWER: In lieu of providing a budget, OPIC has provided a 10,000 hour NTE limited for purposes of estimating a scale for this requirement.

9. QUESTION: Which social media accounts is the contractor expected to work on?

ANSWER: LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook

10. QUESTION: What does the service entail?

ANSWER: Helping develop content, advise on themes to tap into to elevate profile, help build audience, capture best practices.

11. QUESTION: Is OPIC looking for the Contractor to solely develop a social media strategy or is the Contractor also in charge of executing the social media calendar, posting on behalf of OPIC and reporting results?

ANSWER: Occasionally in charge of posting on behalf of OPIC and must report on the results.

12. QUESTION: Can you anticipate how many short videos are required in total and how many on a monthly basis?

ANSWER: Up to one video a month.

13. QUESTION: In the “Corporate Capability and Relevant Experience” section on page 6 of the RFQ, does the term “vendor” include all members of the offering team that would implement the OPIC media strategy contract, including both prime and subcontracting team members? For example, could a subcontracting member of an offering team provide examples of past projects performed as a prime contractor within the last three years?

ANSWER: Yes.

14. QUESTION: Can OPIC clarify whether development of the new brand will include a new name for the agency, or whether the name of the agency will be “U.S. International Development Finance Corporation,” as stated on page 1 of the RFQ?

ANSWER: Yes, the new official name is the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

15. QUESTION: Can OPIC provide guidance on the extent to which the contractor will be evaluated on their experience working in the global finance and international development space across public and private sectors? Or is it more important that the contractor have deep experience in branding, logo design, website development, media strategy, and the other services listed in the

RFQ?

ANSWER: Both experiences are critical.

16. QUESTION: This procurement was competed in substantially similar form in 2016 and again in 2017. Can the Government comment on the reason the option years were not exercised?

ANSWER: This contract is supporting the rebranding and development of a new U.S. government agency. This is the first contact of its kind for this purpose.

17. QUESTION: The solicitation States: “The Government intends to provide no more than 3 Vendors with an advisory notification to proceed. However, the Government’s advice will be a recommendation only, and the Vendors who are advised not to proceed may elect to continue their participation in the procurement.” Question: Can the government clarify what it means by “vendors who are advised not to proceed may elect to continue their participation in the procurement”? How would that work?

ANSWER: Offerors who are advised not to proceed beyond Phase 1 may elect to continue to participate in the next phase meaning they can elect to participate in Phase 2, which is oral presentations.

18. QUESTION: Phase 1 Technical Proposal Factor 1 – Technical Approach states: “The Vendor will be evaluated on their ability to demonstrate understanding of the requirement as stated in Sections 3.0 of the SOW by providing a narrative as to how each service will be structured and executed.” Section 3.0 of the SOW pertains to Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR). Question: Can the government clarify and/or confirm which section(s) of the SOW will be evaluated for Phase 1 Technical Proposal Factor 1?

ANSWER: Section 3.0 as stated above is a typo. The correct section is Section 1.7- Required Services.

AMEND RFQ: Yes. Amend RFQ to cite correct section.

19. QUESTION: How will past performance be evaluated?

ANSWER: See Factor 3- Corporate Capability and Relevant Experience.

20. QUESTION: Why was this solicitation not released through GSA EBuy?

ANSWER: An RFQ was previously posted on GSA Ebuy, but when the requirement changed it was decided to post on Fedbizopps.

21. QUESTION: Does OPIC desire to consolidate the current content on opic.gov to have less pages?

If so, will this be the responsibility of OPIC or the contractor?

ANSWER: The contractor will be responsible for building a new website and will coordinate with OPIC on the content.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

22. QUESTION: Does OPIC have any current integrations with 3RD party systems? If so, what are they?

ANSWER: Constant Contact.

23. QUESTION: Does OPIC require any user/role-based access requirements?

ANSWER: Yes, access for limited and relevant staff.

24. QUESTION: Does OPIC have any specific requirements for hosting, languages and content management platforms, or is the agency open to recommendations as long as they fall within the Information Security requirements outlined in Attachment 2?

ANSWER: Microsoft azure for the hosting. English for language. Drupal for content management platforms.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

25. QUESTION: The current site is built on a .NET platform. Is OPIC open to re-platforming the site?

ANSWER: No.

26. QUESTION: Does the contractor need to display the Active OPIC Projects the way it’s currently done (iFrame), or can the contractor adjust the layout and make it part of the page?

ANSWER: The active project page is managed internally.

27. QUESTION: Will there be any new 3RD party systems that the contractor will need to integrate with? If so, which ones?

ANSWER: Constant Contact and possibly others as the new website is created.

28. QUESTION: Are there new types of content that will need to be added to the site (i.e. interactive forms, etc.)?

ANSWER: A completely new site will be created from scratch. It may include forms.

29. QUESTION: Does OPIC desire to add any geo-location integrations (i.e. Google Maps) for its locations or Contact page?

ANSWER: To be determined.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

30. QUESTION: Does OPIC desire to integrate the Newsletter sign-up into the website? If so, what

3RD party platform does OPIC use for e-mail?

ANSWER: Yes, constant contact.

31. QUESTION: Does OPIC desire to integrate the sub-domain 2x.opic.gov site into the full site?

ANSWER: The 2X initiative will continue, but may be subject to rebranding and webpage redesign.

32. QUESTION: Should the contractor plan for a Discovery phase to develop a requirements document for the new site with OPIC (and app, if applicable), or will one be provided to the contractor?

ANSWER: Plan for a discovery phase.

33. QUESTION: Does OPIC desire a mobile app, or a mobile-responsive and optimized site? If mobile app, please provide information on the desire functionality, use cases, and audiences.

ANSWER: Mobile-responsive and optimized site.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

34. QUESTION: Paid Media – Please elaborate on the paid media requirements of the SOW. Most of the Media Strategy and Advertising deliverables are tied to public relations, so it would be helpful to understand if the advertising/digital campaigns are only production/creative, or also paid media strategy, planning, buying and optimization.

ANSWER: OPIC expects proposals to contain a paid media option.

35. QUESTION: Assuming the SOW includes paid media, what percentage of the budget is estimated to be allocated to paid media, or is it up to the contractor to provide strategic recommendations?

ANSWER: OPIC will review contractor recommendations.

36. QUESTION: What international key markets would be supported as a result of the deliverables under this SOW?

ANSWER: The markets in which OPIC currently operates.

37. QUESTION: What are OPIC’s key target audiences within the public and private sectors?

ANSWER: OPIC’s audience includes a variety of stakeholders, such as lawmakers, private sector partners, foreign governments, and the public.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

38. QUESTION: Which channels, if any, of paid media advertising as OPIC secured in the past (i.e.

radio, TV, social, display, pre-roll video, native, streaming radio, etc.)?

ANSWER: OPIC has relied heavily on earned media and plans to review proposals for paid media.

39. QUESTION: Speaker Training – Please provide additional detail around the need for speaker training. Is this around the rebrand of the agency, or broader PR/public speaking training? Are the quarterly training sessions on the same materials/topics for new/different employees?

ANSWER: It is broader, general speaker training.

40. QUESTION: Social Media – Is OPIC happy with its current engagement on its current channels (FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, IG)? Are current social benchmarks/goals in place?

ANSWER: There is always room for improvement.

41. QUESTION: Because the full scope of the deliverables contained in the SOW is not known at this time, is the contractor expected to provide an estimated allocation of hours across only the four labor CLINs identified?

ANSWER: The SOW includes estimates for each service (once a month, once a week, etc). Please provide an estimate for the maximum.

42. QUESTION: (SOW Item #3 Advertising) Who is the target audience for the monthly advertising campaign?

ANSWER: See Question 37.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

43. QUESTION: (SOW Item #3 Advertising) Do you have any baseline research about awareness for

OPIC amongst this audience?

ANSWER: Not at this time.

44. QUESTION: (SOW Item #3 Advertising) What is the internal approval process for approval of advertising strategies and materials?

ANSWER: OPIC has an internal approval process that will weigh the pros and cons of the top applicants.

45. QUESTION: (SOW Item #8 Speaker Training) Will this be presentation training or media training or both?

ANSWER: Both.

46. QUESTION: (SOW Item #8 Speaker Training) Approximately how many staff will participate in the quarterly training sessions?

ANSWER: OPIC anticipates a need for both group training and one-on-one as needed.

47. QUESTION: (SOW Item #8 Speaker Training) With regard to the 10 one-on-one trainings for senior officials, will this be scheduled throughout the year or on a as-needed basis? Would each one-on-one training session happen on a different day? Would up to four hours be sufficient for estimating purposes?

ANSWER: We will determine need on a case-by-case basis.

48. QUESTION: (SOW Item #8 Speaker Training) Does OPIC have a classroom the contractor can use to conduct training sessions?

ANSWER: OPIC has conference rooms for training, but offerors can have a DC-based firm with a studio for TV training.

49. QUESTION: (SOW Item #8 Speaker Training) Would the contractor need to supply video camera equipment with a projector or does OPIC supply that equipment?

ANSWER: OPIC has video equipment, but it is preferred for contractor to come equipped.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

50. QUESTION: To what extent does the new statutory name of the U.S. International Development

Finance Corporation (USIDFC) constrain the contractor’s creative flexibility under Section 1.71 of the RFQ to “[r]ebrand agency with new name and logo?”

ANSWER: The name is dictated by the BUILD Act.

51. QUESTION: Section 1.7.1 of the Statement of Work refers to creation of a “mobile app.” Can OPIC clarify whether this is a reference to a website that is viewable on mobile devices or is a requirement for development of a stand-alone native app, in addition to, and separate from the website?

ANSWER: It refers to a mobile friendly website.

AMEND RFQ: Yes, amend SOW to update definition of a mobile app.

52. QUESTION: If OPIC requires the creation of a separate native app, can you please provide additional information regarding the requirement? For instance, what type of mobile only experiences/functionalities does OPIC want included in the mobile app?

ANSWER: See Question 51.

AMEND RFQ: Yes, amend SOW to update definition of a mobile app.

53. QUESTION: Does OPIC have preferred CMS for the new site?

ANSWER: Drupal

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

54. QUESTION: Are there any organizational factors driving the delivery of the brand and website by May 2019?

ANSWER: The BUILD Act.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

55. QUESTION: Given that brand will not be finalized until May 2019, is there any flexibility in delivery date for the website?

ANSWER: The expectation is that the brand and website will be finalized by May 2019, with a limited level of flexibility.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

56. QUESTION: Does OPIC need a media outreach strategy only, or is the selected partner expected to provide a strategy for other channels like advertising and social media as well? If so, does OPIC have a preference on whether the strategies are separate, or one comprehensive strategy that also coordinates development and usage of creative content (videos, etc.)?

ANSWER: All the requirements listed in the RFQ should be included in one proposal.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

57. QUESTION: Can OPIC please clarify “delivery of targeted materials”? Is this requirement referring to social content, creative collateral, etc.?

ANSWER: Yes.

58. QUESTION: Can you please confirm that media buying and reporting are not included in the scope of this work?

ANSWER: They are included, should OPIC move forward with a media buy.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

59. QUESTION: What, if any, third-party integrations exist (or will exist) on the new website?

ANSWER: Constant contact and possibly others as the site is developed.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

60. QUESTION: What specific types of functionality should the selected partner plan for on the website (i.e., form submission, interactivity, animation, etc.)?

ANSWER: Please refer to current website for scope of probably layout and forms needs.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

61. QUESTION: Attachment 3 - Price, includes line items for both project activities (i.e. Rebranding) and labor categories (i.e. Senior Analyst). Does OPIC expect the Senior Engagement Lead and Senior Analyst not to support Rebranding and Media Strategy Efforts?

ANSWER: No.

AMEND RFQ: No amendment required.

62. QUESTION: Can “Attachment 3 - Price” be modified to include additional labor categories?

ANSWER: Yes.

AMEND RFQ: Amend RFQ to add clarifying instructions for Attachment 3.

63. QUESTION: Attachment 3 includes CLINS for Rebranding and Media Strategy. Are we correct to assume that “Rebranding” includes the activities listed in 1.7.1 of the SOW and that “Media Strategy” includes the activities listed in 1.7.2 of the SOW?

ANSWER: Yes

64. QUESTION: Attachment 3 includes CLINS for Senior Engagement Lead/Project Manager and Senior Analyst. Question: With an annual NTE of 10,000 hours, is our assumption correct that professional hours to support Rebranding and Media Strategy CLINS will include non-key personnel hours?

65. QUESTION: Please provide the Excel (.XLSX) file for this Attachment 3.

ANSWER: See attached Excel file.

AMEND RFQ: Yes, amend RFQ and include Attachment 3 as an Excel spreadsheet.

66. QUESTION: Can OPIC please confirm that cover letter, table of contents, and resumes are excluded from the 15 page limit for the technical volume?

ANSWER: Yes, the cover letter, table of contents and resumes are excluded from the 15 page limit.

AMEND RFQ: Amend RFQ to clarify the 15 page limit.

67. QUESTION: Can OPIC confirm the price chart in Attachment 3 is formatted correctly? The chart implies there are four CLINs, but the scope of work implies there are only two CLINs. Similarly, it appears two of the CLINs listed are actually key personnel. If the chart is formatted correctly, can OPIC provide guidance on how to fill out the chart? We typically use the rate and hours for key personnel to determine the total cost for each CLIN/service. If we fill out the chart as is, it seems hours will be duplicated.

ANSWER: The price chart in Attachment 3 is formatted correctly. Contractor can add rows to identify estimated NTE hours and rates by role/position.

AMEND RFQ: Amend RFQ to add clarifying instructions for Attachment 3.

68. QUESTION: Business Proposal Volume 2 States: “Contractor price quote shall be a separate file from the technical volume. List all other direct prices necessary for the performance of this contract. Contractors must fill out Attachment 3 – Price.” Question: Should vendors only submit

Attachment 3 Pricing; or should vendors submit more detailed pricing that shows the build to Attachment 3?

ANSWER: Offerors are required to submit Attachment 3. However, they can also submit more detailed pricing that shows the build.

69. QUESTION: Is OPIC open to utilizing a different price chart layout to better represent the NTE labor hours we anticipate for key personnel and other staff across each CLIN?

ANSWER: No, all offerors must fill out Attachment 3. Contractor can add rows to identify estimated NTE hours and rates by role/position.

70. QUESTION: For budgeting purposes, can OPIC confirm whether the contractor will be responsible for printing and/or producing the rebranding materials, such as business cards, stationery, tchotchkes, etc.? Or will the contractor only be responsible for designing each item and providing design files to OPIC for printing?

ANSWER: OPIC will work directly with its current contract printers for stationary, business cards, and other tchotchkes.

71. QUESTION: Please confirm that the ODC line items should be included as a NTE cost estimate since the exact requirements of each are to be determined.

72. QUESTION: For the “Rebranding” and “Media Strategy” CLINs, should the contractor add rows to identify estimated NTE hours and rate by role/position, or use an overall NTE number of hours and blended hourly rate for the two CLINs?

ANSWER: Yes, contractor can add rows to identify estimated NTE hours and rates by role/position.