Soures Sought SOW.pdf

SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE (NIH-NICHD-2021-017)

Agency: The National Institutes of Health, National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Title: NIDDK Radio Airtime and Posting Support

NOTE: This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. There is no solicitation available at this time.

This is a Small Business Sources Sought notice. This is NOT a solicitation for proposals, proposal abstracts, or quotations. The purpose of this notice is to obtain information regarding:

(1) the availability and capability of qualified small business sources; (2) whether they are small businesses; HUBZone small businesses; service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses;

8(a) small businesses; veteran-owned small businesses; woman-owned small businesses; or small disadvantaged businesses; and (3) their size classification relative to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for the proposed acquisition. Your responses to the information requested will assist the Government in determining the appropriate acquisition method, including whether a set-aside is possible. An organization that is not considered a small business under the applicable NAICS code should not submit a response to this notice.

Background:

The mission of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is to conduct and support basic and clinical biomedical research and research training. The NIDDK is Congressionally mandated “to facilitate and enhance knowledge and understanding of [diabetes, digestive diseases, kidney and urologic diseases, and nutritional disorders, including obesity] on the part of health professionals, patients, and the public through the effective dissemination of information.” The Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL) within NIDDK is responsible for meeting this mandate. OCPL coordinates the NIDDK’s public inquiry response and explains and translates Institute research activities and scientific advances to the public and media. OCPL provides evidence-based health information resources in the diseases and conditions under NIDDK’s purview.

OCPL explains, translates, and promotes NIDDK-related research by responding to the public, the media, and correspondence, through broad and targeted outreach using appropriate channels of communications, and by collaborating with partners to amplify NIDDK news, information, initiatives, and priorities.

Healthy Moments is one such targeted outreach effort. Healthy Moments is a year-long series of weekly radio reports, featuring NIDDK Director Dr. Griffin Rodgers, with tips on how to prevent and control diseases that are of interest to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Purpose and Objectives:

The NIDDK seeks to procure 50 weeks (one year – off air 2 weeks) of radio time, and promotional and reporting activities on a non-exclusive basis for Healthy Moments reports delivered by the NIDDK Director and his guests. Healthy Moments will feature healthy lifestyle tips and other science-based health information. Through Healthy Moments reports, NIDDK and its Director will convey consistent, reliable, and authoritative health information to African Americans and other English-speaking minority listeners, who are disproportionately affected by diabetes; kidney, hematologic, and digestive diseases; and other health problems.

The Contractor shall deliver Healthy Moments reports on-air via a minimum of six radio stations that target adult African American and other English-speaking minority listeners in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, GA, Houston, TX, Cleveland, OH, Dallas, TX plus one of the following: Baltimore, MD, New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, or Miami-Ft. Lauderdale. The Contractor shall also deliver Healthy Moments reports on-air for a nationally syndicated morning program targeting the same audiences that are available in no fewer than 35 markets with a desired cumulative DMA reach of 75,000 listeners, hereafter referred to as the nationally syndicated morning program.

NIDDK will provide Healthy Moments audio files, transcripts, and other supplementary web content to the contractor to provide to the stations for the duration of the contract.

Project Requirements:

Independently, and not as an agent of the Government, the Contractor shall furnish all the necessary services, qualified personnel, material, equipment, and facilities, not otherwise provided by the Government as needed to perform the Statement of Work below. Specifically, the Contractor shall:

Provide on-air broadcasting of a designated number of Healthy Moments audio reports; provide announcements throughout the week to promote the on-air reports; and display web promotions for Healthy Moments. Additionally, the Contractor shall also provide consistent feedback to NIDDK on audience impressions and quality control by providing NIDDK with monthly online engagement and Arbitron rating data. To ensure quality control is on target, the Contractor shall supply accurate air-checks for each broadcast and offer make-good time, during the celebrity morning shows, for any spots that are bumped, omitted, or delivered outside agreed-upon parameters using that week’s scheduled Healthy Moments report.

Task 1 – On-Air Radio Broadcast

The Contractor shall provide 50 weeks of on-air broadcasting of Healthy Moments on a minimum of 6 radio stations in 6 different markets targeting African American and other English-speaking, minority adult listeners 25 to 55. The stations’ listenership shall generate a minimum of 5 million impressions monthly. The Contractor shall also provide 50 weeks of on-air broadcasting on all current and future affiliates a nationally syndicated morning program.

The 6 markets will include Washington, D.C., Atlanta, GA, Houston, TX, Cleveland, OH, Dallas, TX plus one of the following: Baltimore, MD, New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, or Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, as follows:

a. Station one, in Washington, DC: to include 20 Healthy Moments unwired spots per week. Three (3) of these spots must be designated to air after 7 a.m. and before 9 a.m. on three different weekdays during a nationally recognizable radio show that features a well-known African American radio personality (from here on, referred to as a “Celebrity, Morning Radio Show”).

b. Station two, in Atlanta, GA: to include 10 Healthy Moments unwired spots per week.

Three (3) of these spots must be designated to air after 7 a.m. and before 9 a.m. on three different weekdays during a Celebrity, Morning Radio Show.

c. Station three in Houston, TX: to include 10 Healthy Moments unwired spots per week.

Three (3) of these spots must be designated to air after 7 a.m. and before 9 a.m. on three different weekdays during a Celebrity Morning Radio Show.

d. Station four in Cleveland, OH: to include 2 Healthy Moments unwired spots per week.

Two (2) of these spots must be designated to air after 7 a.m. and before 9 a.m. on three different weekdays during a Celebrity, Morning Radio Show.

e. Station five in Dallas, TX: to include 2 Healthy Moments unwired spots per week. Two

(2) of these spots must be designated to air after 7 a.m. and before 9 a.m. on three different weekdays during a Celebrity, Morning Radio Show.

f. Station six in one of the following cities: Baltimore, MD, New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, or Miami-Ft. Lauderdale: to include 10 Healthy Moments unwired spots per week for each of the two stations. Three (3) of these spots must be designated to air before 9 a.m. on three different weekdays during a Celebrity, Morning Radio Show.

g. Current and future wired network affiliates of the nationally syndicated morning program: to include 4 Healthy Moments wired spots per week. These spots must be designated to air after 7 a.m. and before 9 a.m. on 5 weekdays.

Each of the six radio stations that broadcast Healthy Moments shall provide: ten, ten-second (:10) on-air announcements per week, Monday- Sunday, 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. for 50 weeks (which is an annual total of 500 announcements per station). NIDDK will supply the copy to be used by the Contractor for the on-air announcements at least two weeks in advance to allow for production.

Task 2 – Seasonal National Broadcast Spots

In the base year and each option year thereafter, the Contractor shall provide the NIDDK with ten (10) 60 second, unwired network spots on a Celebrity, Morning Radio Show, called national spots. The spots and air dates will be provided by NIDDK and will run across a minimum of 10 markets in addition to the 5 markets defined by the Contractor in accordance with the Task 1 requirements and generate a minimum of 600,000 impressions per spot.

Task 3 – Online Promotion and Reporting

Social Media Promotion

The Contractor shall leverage its existing social media promotional channels, including but not limited to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, to promote Healthy Moments. The Contractor shall coordinate the posting of messages related to Healthy Moments with the NIDDK on a monthly basis. The NIDDK shall manage the NIDDK Twitter identity @NIDDKgov. The Contractor shall re-tweet or re-post messages from the @NIDDKgov as appropriate to support the promotion of Healthy Moments.

The Contractors should plan for 10 additional social media posts through the social media account of the celebrity morning radio show. Content for the celebrity morning show posts will be in collaboration with the government.

In the base year and each option year thereafter, the Contractor shall provide the NIDDK with a minimum of audio streaming for each of the 6 markets including Washington, D.C., Atlanta, GA, Houston, TX, Cleveland, OH, Dallas, TX plus one of the following: Baltimore, MD, New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, or Miami-Ft. Lauderdale. The audio streaming spots will generate a minimum of 400,000 impressions per year.

Task 4: Additional Activities (Optional)

In addition to the current scope of work to procure 50 weeks (one year – off air 2 weeks) of radio time, and promotional and reporting activities on a non-exclusive basis for Healthy Moments reports delivered by NIDDK Director Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers and his guests, the Contractor shall

a. Deliver Healthy Moments reports on-air via one additional radio station that target adult African American and other English-speaking minority listeners outside of the Washington, D.C., Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, Houston, TX, Baltimore, MD, Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, New York, NY, Los Angeles, CA, or Miami-Ft. Lauderdale markets. NIDDK will provide Healthy Moments audio files, transcripts, and other supplementary web content.

b. The Contractor shall provide placement of two or more rich media graphics of approximately 300 px by 320 px on the top third of the station’s home page or another online property with an equivalent reach that links to an NIDDK Healthy Moments web page that shall display for one full business day each week. The content of the graphic will be provided to the contractor by NIDDK.

c. NIDDK will provide the graphic on a monthly or as-needed basis and at least two weeks in advance to allow for online preview prior to publishing. The Contractor must be willing to adjust the placement of the graphics, described above, to fit the needs of NIDDK and Healthy Moments and to avoid the appearance of endorsement of any commercial entity by NIDDK.

Graphics must be approved by the NIDDK in advance of publishing and modified per NIDDK’s request.

d. The Contractor shall leverage its existing social media promotional channels from the additional markets outlined in the first bullet, including but not limited to Twitter and Facebook, to promote Healthy Moments. The Contractor shall coordinate the posting of messages related to Healthy Moments with the NIDDK on a monthly basis. The Contractor shall re-tweet or re-post messages from the @NIDDKgov as appropriate to support the promotion of Healthy Moments.

e. The Contractor shall plan for 5 additional (15 spots total) social media posts through the social media account of the celebrity morning radio show. The Contractor shall specify outlets for each additional social media post for seasonal national spots. Content of seasonal national posts will be in collaboration with the government.

Anticipated Period of Performance:

Base Period: 8/29/2021 – 8/28/2022 Option Period 1: 8/29/2022 – 8/28/2023 Option Period 2: 8/29/2023 – 8/28/2024 Option Period 3: 8/29/2024 – 8/28/2025 Option Period 4: 8/29/2025 – 8/28/2026

Other Important Considerations:

N/A

Special Instructions:

If you or your firm/business has an interest and possess the required expertise we invite you to submit a corporate capability statement to assist the Government in determining in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 19.502-2(b) whether or not this procurement will be set-aside for any of the programs described above. The intended procurement will be classified under North American Industrial Classification (NAICS) code 515111 size standard of $32.5M. All respondents are requested to identify their firm's size and type of business.

Interested firms responding to this Small Business Sources Sought Notice should adhere to the following:

(a) Provide a capability statement demonstrating relevant experience, skills and ability to fulfill the Government's requirements for the above. The capability statement should contain sufficient detail for the Government to make an informed decision regarding your capabilities and at a minimum address the below:

a. respondents’ opinions about the difficulty and/or feasibility of the potential requirement or proposed acquisition, possible solutions and approaches that may currently exist in the marketplace, and information regarding innovative ideas or concepts;

b. information regarding respondents’: (a) staff expertise, including their availability, experience, and formal and other training; (b) current in-house capability and capacity to perform the work; (c) prior completed projects of similar nature; (d) corporate experience and management capability; and (e) examples of prior completed Government contracts, references, and other related information

c. respondents’ DUNS number, organization name, address, point of contact, and size and type of business (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc) pursuant to the applicable NAICS code;

d. any other information that may be helpful in developing or finalizing the requirement.

(b) The capability statement should not exceed 15 pages using a font size 10 or larger and shall include:

a. respondents’ technical and administrative points of contact, including names, titles, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses; and

b. the name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the Contract Specialist or Contracting Officer to whom the information should be sent.

(c) All capability statements sent in response to this Small Business Sources Sought notice must be submitted electronically (via email) to the april.martin@nih.gov in MS Word or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). The subject line must specify NIH- NICHD-2021-017. Facsimile responses will not be accepted. Electronically submitted capability statements are due no later than 2:00 PM (Eastern Prevailing Time) on July 15, 2021.

Disclaimer and Important Notes. This notice does not obligate the Government to award a contract or otherwise pay for the information provided in response. The Government reserves the right to use information provided by respondents for any purpose deemed necessary and legally appropriate. Any organization responding to this notice should ensure that its response is complete and sufficiently detailed to allow the Government to determine the organization’s qualifications to perform the work. Respondents are advised that the Government is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted. After a review of the responses received, a pre-solicitation synopsis and solicitation may be published in Federal Business Opportunities. However, responses to this notice will not be considered adequate responses to a solicitation.

Confidentiality. No proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive information should be included in your response. The Government reserves the right to use any non-proprietary technical information in any resultant solicitation(s).”

SMALL BUSINESS SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE (NIH-NICHD-2021-017)