J A_W91WAW-07-D-0012-P00008.pdf

Control Number: JA-11-0251

(b) (6)

(b) (6)

(b) (6)

(b) (6)

(b) (6)

(b) (6)

(b) (6)

(b) (6)

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity: The US Army Contracting Command - National Capital Region (ACC-NCR).

2. Description of Action: Approval is sought to reestablish Indefinite-delivery/Indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract W91WAW-07-D-0012. Option Year 4 of the JAMRS single-award ID/IQ contract no. W91WAW-07-D-0012 was not exercised on 28 July 2011, though exercise of the option was the intent of JAMRS, and the expectation of the contractor, Mullen Communications, Inc. The ID/IQ contract was competitively-awarded as a commercial contract using FAR Part 12 procedures. The intent is to reestablish the contract and include the rates negotiated for Option Year 4 with a performance period of date of award through 27 July 2012. This action will be implemented through a bilateral modification to the contract.

Simultaneously, the Government intends to transition the current contract from a Labor-Hour (LH) type to a Firm- Fixed-Priced (FFP) type contract for the remaining period of performance. In accordance with ACC-NCR Policy Implementation Memorandum (PIM) 11-003: Use of Time and Materials (T&M) or Labor Hour (LH) Contracts, the Government has obtained concurrence from all parties to expedite the change in contract type to a FFP contract.

Due to rules that changed from the time of award to the current contract action, it is determined advantageous to the Government to execute a FFP type contract. Further, the contract is transitioned to a FFP type with an Other Direct Cost CLIN for travel at rates previously negotiated under the ID/IQ contract. The performance period will not extend beyond that which was originally stated if all options were exercised (i.e., ending 27 July 2012). While ID/IQ contracts do not contain funding on the basic contracts, the subsequent task orders shall be issued consistent with the CLIN structure of the reestablished FFP ID/IQ contract. Each task order shall cite the current fiscal year Operation & Maintenance (O&M) funds available at the time of task order award.

The purpose of this action is to provide continuity of support to JAMRS.

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

a. JAMRS leads the Defense Human Resource Activity (DHRA) marketing communications effort and performs work on behalf of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness (USD (P&R)). Policy oversight for the JAMRS program is provided by the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Military Personnel Policy (DUSD/MPP) office. JAMRS focuses its corporate advertising efforts on adults and the general American public who influence youths’ career decisions. JAMRS leaves the responsibility of youth prospects and member retention advertising to the Military Services. Demands on today’s military and their families have never been greater, as DoD continues to experience challenges despite achieving its all-volunteer force recruiting goals. While the Services have recently been successful in meeting their recruiting missions, recruiting still faces considerable ongoing challenges.

Specifically, the DoD faces significant difficulties in meeting its mission: for certain billets (e.g., medical specialties, chaplains, etc.); for ensuring diversity, especially among its officer ranks; and, most importantly, in maintaining the status of an All-Volunteer Force that represents its nation, rather than standing apart from it. It is becoming increasingly clear, as former Secretary Gates recently stated that “…for a growing number of Americans, service in the military, no matter how laudable, has become something for other people to do.” Recruiting is a long-term effort and joining the Military is a monumental decision that takes an extended period of time and involves the prospects’ family, close friends, and educators. In addition to these immediately pressing issues, there are several long-term trends working against military recruitment. These issues require ongoing attention and treatment, and will eventually need to be reversed if the Military is to be successful at maintaining the All-Volunteer Force when the economy recovers. In response to this situation, JAMRS provides valuable resources and communications programs from a holistic military perspective enabling DoD and the Services to make smarter decisions and enhance their individual recruitment efforts. JAMRS current mission is to provide actionable information and knowledge to enhance the Services’ recruiting efforts and create a receptive recruiting environment by promoting the value of Military Service to influencers. JAMRS maintains databases and conducts research on a wide variety of military-related populations. JAMRS also executes programs on behalf of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), including the corporate branding, advertising and marketing program. Under the JAMRS task orders, the contractor provides support to DoD stakeholders to include DoD Personnel and Readiness Leadership (including Military

Personnel Policy and the Office of Accession Policy) and Recruiting Command leadership with branding, advertising and marketing support in the following areas of expertise:

Account Service. JAMRS executes its mission through expert level account service, management oversight and labor provided by the contractor in support of the Government’s approved Joint Advertising, Marketing Research and Studies (JAMRS) Fiscal Year 2011 and 2012 Marketing/Communications Plan. Specific tasks include but are not limited to, lead brand & communication strategy, including working with brand planning and JAMRS to begin development of a communications plan. The Contractor ensures brand standards and integration across all platforms and disciplines, facilitate monthly account status reporting, develop and distribute monthly metric dashboard and coordinate/lead account status conference calls with JAMRS, as well as assist JAMRS with development of ad hoc presentation material requests. Through Campaign Assets & Talent Management, the Contractor manages all print and broadcast campaign assets, including but not limited to: monitoring usage expiration dates; negotiating usage rights when necessary; payment of all talent; and storage of all original film for the current “Conversations” campaign. Through budget and financial administration, the contractor shall provide all necessary financial support for the Advertising, Direct Marketing, Interactive and Public Relations initiatives conducted on behalf of the JAMRS program, including, but not limited to, budget development, invoicing, reporting and reconciliation of financial documents, subcontracting, subcontract analysis and assisting in developing program budget projections.

Management Reports are necessary in order to outline all key tasks associated with all deliverables and their associated weekly timelines required for complete execution of each task order within the period of performance.

Public Relations. JAMRS is responsible for outreach programs and services to positively reach influencer targets which will help JAMRS address and defuse potential issues (e.g., consumer and special interest group protests about capturing and using consumer data for recruiting). Services include, but are not limited to: promotion of JAMRS advertising and other marketing initiatives, media relations efforts (e.g., responding to DoD public affairs media queries), planning and production of PR products using partnerships (e.g., Futures magazine), coordination, collection and execution of all media services including wire releases, broadcast clippings, media training and Factiva® searches. JAMRS needs the ability to coordinate and execute an all-Service PR round-table discussion-group circuit to facilitate cross-Service speaking engagements on public relations related issues and strategies, and also develop and produce press releases, public affairs guidance, press kits and other media materials. Most importantly, services include maintaining and updating existing crisis communications plans to help defuse issues that arise.

Interactive. JAMRS currently utilizes outreach through interactive communications services related to the development and maintenance of websites, planning and execution of online advertising and the planning and execution of other forms of interactive/direct media, including new and developing forms (mobile media, blogs, podcasts, etc.). Services shall include, but are not limited, to the following: support of the Government’s targeted web sites (www.todaysmilitary.com, www.myfuture.com, www.jamrs.org, www.dmren.org and JAMRS/DoD .mil or .gov related sites), information technology resources and web hosting/mastering capability, coordination with JAMRS to execute graphic design, information architecture, copy writing, technical development and code updates to maintain accurate and timely information on the aforementioned web sites for reasons including, but not limited to, unforeseen contingencies, national holidays, changing DoD policies in the area of military career job-specialties, the Montgomery GI Bill and other benefits. JAMRS needs support in conducting user testing (e.g., digital experience, focus groups and web site content reviews), e-mailing JAMRS stakeholders about program updates and events (e.g., market research results, Direct Marketing/Interactive Conferences and new products), conducting online maintenance updates (e.g., photo changes, site management and architectural improvements), and maintaining ongoing web site metrics analysis reporting capability. The Contractor needs to insure that their web based reporting tool is available with industry-standard security and service-level (e.g., 99% or greater connection) and complies with all applicable DoD web site administration and privacy policies.

Direct Marketing/Recruiting Database. JAMRS has the sole responsibility in DoD to collect and maintain a recruiting database for the Services’ direct marketing needs. This database provides over 30.5 million names that are provided to the Services for their use in recruiting. In total, this database has information on more than 90% of the Service’s target population. This essential information directly fuels all of the DoD’s direct marketing efforts.

JAMRS maintains, processes and provides the following files to support the Services' recruitment efforts:

http://www.myfuture.com/�

• Selective Service System (SSS) Quarterly Processing/Distribution/Reporting-JAMRS obtains from the PO approximately one file per month (for a per-quarter total of three files and about 550,000 names of new SSS registrants).

• High School Master File (HSMF) Program-JAMRS compiles, processes and provides to the Services' data management offices/subcontractors, lists of high school aged names. These contain records from many sources including a) Commercial vendors b) AASVAB test takers (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) and c) Department of Motor Vehicles/Public Safety

• Joint Lead Program Fulfillment-JAMRS obtains leads information from the Government's primary lead generation programs, including toll-free telephone numbers, Business Reply cards (BRCs)/white mail from Selective Service and web sites. JAMRS also edits all leads to validate source codes, and checks them against the suppression files, which are continually updated for daily processing and merge/purge processing. JAMRS adds the new leads to the JAMRS consolidated database and coordinate with the Services' data management offices/subcontractors for appropriate dissemination channels/vehicles, frequency and timing. JAMRS will then disseminate the leads to the Services' data management offices/subcontractors.

• Master Suppression File-JAMRS continually updates the Master Suppression List and provides an updated list to all the Services' data management offices/subcontractors on a monthly basis. This includes but is not limited to data keying of names received through opt-out forms. This list shall contain records from many sources, including, but not limited to:

a) Names provided by the Services

b) Names received from JAMRS opt-out program

Under the JAMRS task orders, the contractor also provides branding, advertising and marketing support to the components of the Defense Human Resource Activity (DHRA) to include:

• Civilian Personnel Management Services (CPMS)

• Sexual Assault Prevention Office (SAPRO)

• Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP)

• Common Access Card (CAC)

b. In accordance with AFARS 5153.9005, the estimated total value is NTE $49,871,716.58. This amount reflects the total amount of all orders expected to be placed against the ID/IQ contract from the date of the modification through 28 July 2012. The CLINS for Option 4 in the original contract add up to $49,871,716.58.

c. Preliminary Schedule for the re-compete:

The re-compete for a new contract vehicle requires at least an 11-month Base Period for the continuation of services on contract W91WAW-07-D-0012 in order to meet the following Milestone Schedule for the new contract:

1. Market Research 6 Weeks

2. Develop Requirement Package 2 Weeks

3. Develop Request for Proposal (RFP) 1 Month

4. Issue Draft RFP with Synopsis 4 Weeks

5. Issue Final RFP 1 Month

6. Review Proposal 2 Weeks

7. Conduct Evaluations 2 Weeks

8. SSA & SAC Briefing 1 Week

9. Competitive Range Determination 1 Week

10. Create / Obtain Approval for POM 2 Weeks

11. Conduct Discussions 1 Month

12. Final Proposals 2 Weeks

13. Contract Review Board 1 Month

14. Price Negotiation Memorandum (PNM) 2 Weeks

15. EEO Clearance 1 Week

16. Develop Contracts 2 Weeks

17. Award 1 Week

TOTAL 11 Months

4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C. 2304(c) (1) as implemented in FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)—a limited number of responsible sources and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: Pursuant to FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(B), this requirement is available only from the incumbent contractor for highly specialized services described above. Award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling JAMRS’ requirements.

The JAMRS contract (Contract Number W91WAW-07-D-0012) was awarded on 07 June 2007 as a single award, Indefinite-delivery/Indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ), LH contract with cost CLINS, in which Firm-Fixed-Price task orders would be issued and funded by the Requiring Activity. The period of performance for the awarded contract was:

Base Period 28 July 2007 through 27 July 2008 Option Year I 28 July 2008 through 27 July 2009 Option Year II 28 July 2009 through 27 July 2010 Option Year III 28 July 2010 through 27 July 2011 Option Year IV 28 July 2011 through 27 July 2012

a. Background:

The JAMRS program has had two (2) full and open competitions since 2002. In 2002, 17 vendors submitted proposals in response to the JAMRS solicitation. Five of these vendors ( , and Mullen) were evaluated as “within the competitive range.” Mullen was awarded the contract.

During the 2007 full and open competition, Mullen was the only vendor to submit a proposal and was awarded the contract.

Why Turnover Is Infrequent Among The Advertising Agency Contractors Who Serve The Services?

For comparison purposes note that for the Services:

• McCann-Erickson awarded the Army account in 2005; retains account in 2011 after successful recompete.

• GSD&M Idea City has handled Air Force account since November 2000

• LM&O has handled the National Guard for more than 10 years

• Campbell-Ewald has handled the Navy for over 10 years

• J Walter Thompson has handled Marine Corps account for more than 60 years

The longevity of account relationships between the Services and their respective advertising agency contractors is due to a number of factors and the unique requirements the Services place on their agency partners.

When compared to most commercial and consumer accounts, the Services and the DoD require much more specialized experienced and unique, acquired knowledge from their advertising contractors. The learning curve is steep for an agency to gain an understanding of the Service’s unique culture and to create cost-effective strategies to address its communication needs. It requires in-depth research and applied knowledge. It requires an investment by the agency in specialized training of its personnel above and beyond what would be required for a typical commercial or consumer account. It also requires the agency to set up complex management and reporting systems to monitor and quality control the services it delivers to the DoD. Furthermore, it means the agency must acquire arcane knowledge about government contracting requirements and obligations, acquire and maintain information and data security standards, and practice a thorough understanding of Government privacy and PII requirements.

(b) (4)

(b) (4)

Finally, staffing a DoD account from the agency perspective requires an investment by the agency in the caliber and quality of its personnel. It requires account directors at the agency who have proven and extensive advertising and communications experience because, unlike the situations with commercial accounts where the client company has its own senior-level marketing and communications executives, the DoD has no comparable “in-house” marketing expertise.

Given all the requirements and the unique needs of these DoD accounts, agency contractors have to make substantial investments in time, resources and personnel to successfully service the Government’s business. In short, from the agency perspective it is no small undertaking. Once the initial learning curve has been achieved and the agency infrastructure and resources have been established to address these unique needs, however, the results and benefits of a successful Service and agency partnership are ongoing and tend to build year after year. That result is one important measure of the return on investment from the marketing partnership between agency and DoD. It is the differentiator for a successful service contract, and it is also a major contributing factor to the longevity of the relationships these agencies have developed with the Government.

b. Alternatives:

The JAMRS program does not have the ability to use in-house personnel/expertise to satisfy the advertising and communications requirement. The lack of in-house Government expertise to perform JAMRS’ functions is due to a minimal amount of personnel assigned to the program, both civilian and military, and subject matter experts who can contribute to an effective integrated marketing communications and advertising plan.

Suspending operations until a new contract can be awarded is not an option for several reasons:

• The Office of Secretary of Defense and the Services regard the services and products that JAMRS provides as essential to their efforts to acquire and retain the number and quality of young men and women necessary to execute their missions. In JAMRS’ absence, the Services would need to offset a significant amount of their media dollars to fund similar JAMRS programs, and to do so redundantly nine times over.

This would depress their share of voice and media presence, adversely affecting their ability to recruit high quality youth.

• Influencer advertising must be maintained. The most powerful stimulus to encourage a young person to consider a military career is contact with a veteran of military service. With progressively fewer veterans in our society, this positive effect on recruitment continues to decline. A campaign to explain the benefits of service to parents, teachers and other influencers of young men and women benefits the Services by “softening” a target (i.e., adult influencers) on which the Services don’t concentrate.

• Joint Websites: Over 3.3 million visitors have been to todaysmilitary.com, with over 13.5 million page views since the site was re-launched in FY2008. Furthermore, almost a third of these visitors are spending a meaningful amount of time on the site. Additionally, more than 443,000 people have visited myfuture.com since its re-launch on April 1, 2010, a 31% increase from the same time period in 2009. In September alone there were 107,899 visitors, with 441,737 page views, 928 new user signups, one-third (32.8%) of visitors spent over 5 minutes on the site, and 3,238 user accounts were created. These metrics indicate that the public is using both of the JAMRS websites as key online resources. Taking these sites down would be a loss of valuable resources, expensive to bring back up and create a public relations nightmare for the Department.

c. Justification:

(1) The minimum requirement needed is equivalent to the ceiling value that would be remaining under the current ID/IQ contract had the contract not lapsed. The minimum need is NTE $49,871,716.58.

The minimum need was determined using 1) the original awarded amount of $256,516,456.13; 2) future requirements that may be processed within this period of performance; and 3) work that was previously scheduled that used alternate contract vehicles.

(2) The proposed contractor is the same offeror who proposed on the JAMRS requirement in 2007:

Mullen Communications, Inc. (Mullen)

Award to any other sources would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling JAMRS’ mission requirements because services are only currently available from the incumbent contractor. These delays would prohibit JAMRS from providing DoD and the Services with essential recruiting and marketing support that is required for recruiting success to include joint-Service leads, the joint-Service Recruiting database, Futures Magazine, Influencer Advertising, joint-Service and career websites. In addition, key DoD programs such as the Sexual Assault Prevention Office (SAPRO) and the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) would lose their communications platforms to the American Public during critical cycles.

The JAMRS Database is the lifeblood of the Services’ direct-marketing efforts, and their ability to get recruiters face to face with potential recruits depends on it. If the Services had to create their own individual High School Master Files (as it exists today), they would have to: a) make arrangements with the 46 participating states that provide Department of Motor Vehicle names, b) procure lists from commercial vendors, and c) contract with list-processing shops to run a series of merges/purges, just to recreate the High School Master Files and Selective Service files.

Additional expenses would be incurred to append data for phone numbers and National Change of Address processing. If JAMRS operations were to cease, all Services would also stop receiving leads from JAMRS’ Joint Leads System. No other effort of this type exists anywhere in the Department. This database provides over 30.5 million names that are provided to the Services for their use in recruiting. In total, this database has information on more than 90% of the Service’s target population. This essential information directly fuels all of the DoD’s direct marketing efforts. In fact, many of the Services have recently revamped their systems so that their recruiting efforts are fundamentally based on the JAMRS database. These Service-specific decisions essentially prevent the acquisition of other vendor lists at the Service’s own cost, eliminating a tremendous amount of unnecessary duplication of effort within the Department. Further, JAMRS has DIACAP (Department of Defense Information Assurance Certification Accreditation Process) certification and has received the official Authority to Operate this database. JAMRS is the only program in the Department with this authority and thus the only program approved for this effort. The centralizing of the database efforts creates efficiencies not only for the Services but also for the public, allowing parents and their children to remove themselves from the military recruiting process without needing to contact each Service separately.

(3) This action is requested to resume the JAMRS ID/IQ contract that would be available to the Government had the contract not lapsed after the third Option Year. All options in Contract Number W91WAW-07-D-0012 were evaluated as part of the full and open competitive process. The period of performance for the continuation of services on contract W91WAW-07-D-0012 will be from the date of the modification through 27 July 2012.

Over the past nine years, JAMRS adopted several marketing best practices from Mullen in order to better communicate the JAMRS program message to potential prospects. These best practices encompass: 1) how the marketing function is organized within the JAMRS program and the source of key marketing leadership talent; 2) the processes for delivering marketing strategy and execution; 3) research into consumer needs and attitudes; and 4) the relationship that JAMRS had with its advertising agency.

It would be neither cost effective nor realistic to expect another team of contractors to perform during the brief period of performance. Currently 25 contract employees are performing the services. It would be impossible to provide immediate full service due to the time and expense involved in recruiting and replacing those contract employees with the expertise of the current contractor. Mullen is the only contractor capable of timely providing the level of services required. Non-recoverable start-up costs, performance delay, and a learning curve will be experienced with a different contractor. Mullen has a qualified and experienced workforce already engaged in and successfully performing the required services. In light of this knowledge and experience with the contract requirements, Mullen is the only contractor capable of timely providing the services needed to fulfill the Agency’s needs.

d. Impact:

(1) The impact of the expiration of the JAMRS ID/IQ contracts has been mitigated due to the issuance of task orders prior to the lapse. Currently, Contract W91WAW-07-D-0012 has nine (9) task orders issued between September 2010 and June 2011 expiring August 2011.

(2) The JAMRS task orders support the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Personnel and Readiness, Defense Human Resources Activity and its components. As a contractor to Joint Advertising Market Research & Studies (JAMRS) since January 2002, Mullen has developed, managed and implemented numerous advertising outreach communications plans, including integrated online advertising campaigns, and it has developed, managed and maintained all of JAMRS internal and external websites. During the past nine years, Mullen’s team has acquired not only an in-depth understanding of JAMRS target audiences and their information needs, but also an expert understanding of how to develop impactful and engaging content, and engaging and rewarding site experiences for the constituents JAMRS serves.

(3) Recruiting and retention represent a continual challenge for the Department of Defense. While the Services have recently been successful in meeting their recruiting missions, recruiting still faces considerable ongoing challenges. Specifically, the DoD faces significant difficulties in meeting its mission: for certain billets (e.g., medical specialties, chaplains, etc.); for ensuring diversity, especially among its officer ranks; and, most importantly, in maintaining the status of an All-Volunteer Force that represents its nation, rather than standing apart from it. It is becoming increasingly clear, as former Secretary Gates recently stated that “…for a growing number of Americans, service in the military, no matter how laudable, has become something for other people to do.”

Recruiting is a long-term effort and joining the Military is a monumental decision that takes an extended period of time and involves the prospect, his/her family, close friends, and educators. To stay successful, we must stay relevant.

In addition to these immediately pressing issues, there are several long-term trends working against military recruitment. These issues require ongoing attention and treatment, and will eventually need to be reversed if the Military is to be successful at maintaining the All-Volunteer Force when the economy recovers. The DoD Youth Poll, administered semi-annually to recruitment-age youth nationwide1

A slow but steady climb in the number of youth ruling out military service at younger ages (39% of 16 year olds said they would Definitely Not join the Military in November 2001, the figure in the December 2010 poll was 50%).

, has been tracking downward trends across several metrics related to youth’s propensity to join the Military. Some examples include:

A steady increase over the last decade in the number of youth who have never even considered joining the military (30% in November 2001, 45% in December 2010).

A decline in the proportion of youth who feel it is important to do something for their country (77% in December 2008, 54% in December 2010).

Lower youth approval of the Obama Administration’s use of Military Forces (75% at beginning of Administration, 50% by the end of 2010)

A decline in youth beliefs that joining the Military would allow them to have a good paying job (79% in December 2009, 65% in December 2010). This problem will be exacerbated by recent public discussion of reducing military benefit and pay in the news (e.g., Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said "You can't

1 Department of Defense, Joint Advertising Market Research Studies (2010). Youth Poll: December 2010.

Alexandria, VA: Joint Advertising Market Research Studies.

approach a (federal) deficit the size we're dealing with and expect that you're only going to be dealing with it at the margins. You've got to look at everything."2

Declining ratings of favorability of the Military among recruit age youth (steady decline from a mean rating of

8.4 out of 10 in November 2001 to 6.1 out of 10 in December 2010.

Recent drops in the youth perceptions that joining the U.S. Military would allow them to have a lifestyle that is attractive to them (59% in December 2009, 44% in December 2010).

In general, the impact of these issues has been masked by the dire state of the economy and job market. Today’s armed forces may be called an All-Volunteer Force, but it is really an all-recruited force and military recruiters continue to face significant challenges. As cited above, the majority of young Americans do not think about joining the military when they are determining what they want to do after high school, and seventy-two (72) percent of youth intend to pursue higher education after high school.3 Meanwhile, the veteran population is on a steady decline with 26.6 million veterans in September 2000 down to 22.2 million veterans in September 2011 and a projected continued decline.4 Fewer military veterans among members of Congress5 and the executive branch, in state and local government, in the education system, and in the public at large means there are fewer role models with knowledge of and support for military service. Only about six (6) percent of Americans under age 65 have served in the military.6 In addition, the DoD has closed many facilities and has experienced a reduction in size of about 65% of active personnel since the 1987 post-Vietnam peak in active personnel, further hindering the recruiting sphere of influence.7 Other competing factors, which affect both recruiting and retention, include increased time spent deployed away from home among other quality of life issues. Despite record-high perceived difficulty in finding a job among youth (57%), private sector employment opportunities are viewed as preferable because of these factors.8

While the Services focus more directly on meeting their recruiting missions, the JAMRS program provides websites, marketing communications, research and information resources. These efforts, in addition to providing crucial support to the ongoing success of meeting overall recruiting missions, tackle vital issues like specific shortfalls and issues with the composition of the Military. In particular, deteriorating attitudes toward the Military and military service need to be addressed by communicating with adult influencers of youth even more so than by attempting to communicate directly with youth, as social norms play a very large role in the development of youth attitudes towards military service.

(4) It is imperative that the DHRA have continued contract support under the JAMRS ID/IQ contract. If the contract is not resumed, it will mean overall mission failure to the DHRA, because advertising, direct marketing, database marketing, interactive marketing, public relations, and strategic planning/research performed for recruiting and retention of the military workforce would be eliminated at the strategic DoD level. The individual Recruiting Services (Active, Guard, Reserve) have their own marketing contracts but it’s highly doubtful that the scope of work required by JAMRS from a joint-Service perspective would fit into any of the Services’ contract vehicles or contract ceiling limits.

2 USA Today, Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-09- 07/Proposed-changes-in-military-benefits-have-troops-worried/50305324/1 3 Department of Defense, Joint Advertising Market Research Studies (2010). Youth Poll: December 2010.

Alexandria, VA: Joint Advertising Market Research Studies.

4 National Center for Veteran Analysis and Statistics (2007). VetPop2007 National Tables: Table 5L. Retrieved

September 9, 2011, from http://www1.va.gov/VETDATA/Demographics/Demographics.asp 5 Military Officers Association of America (2011). Declining Military Experience in Congress. Retrieved September

9, 2011 from http://www.moaa.org/lac/lac_resources/lac_resources_tips/lac_resources_tips_decline.htm 6 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau (2011). Current Population Survey (August 2011). Retrieved

September 9, 2011, from http://www.census.gov/cps/ 7 U.S. Census Bureau (2011). Table 507 Military Personnel on Active Duty by Location: 1980 to 2009. Retrieved September 9, 2011, from http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/national security veterans affairs/military personnel and expe nditures.html/ 8 State of the Market 9 Department of Defense December 2010 Youth Poll http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-09-07/Proposed-changes-in-military-benefits-have-troops-worried/50305324/1� http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-09-07/Proposed-changes-in-military-benefits-have-troops-worried/50305324/1� http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/national_security_veterans_affairs/military_personnel_and_expenditures.html/� http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/national_security_veterans_affairs/military_personnel_and_expenditures.html/�

Additionally, complete functionality would be lost for critical websites such as: 1) todaysmilitary.com; 2) myfuture.com; and 3) dmren.org. Without these websites, the JAMRS program would not be able to support the needs of the recruiting commands, stakeholders, and the mission mandated by the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Dr. Clifford Stanley. As stated in the President’s budget submission under the Defense Human Resources Activity, “JAMRS is the Department's program for joint marketing communications and market research and studies. JAMRS mission is to preserve and enhance the All-Volunteer Force by focusing on the pre-enlistment environment. Specifically, JAMRS external programs help broaden the public's understanding of Military Service as a career option, while JAMRS internal programs bolster the effectiveness of all the Services’ recruiting and retention efforts by enabling them to better understand and adapt to the complexities of the pre-enlistment environment. JAMRS provides the Services with corporate-level joint market research and personal contact information millions of prospective recruits, provides Joint and Service-specific recruiting resources and information, and tracks the effectiveness of the Services’ specific marketing initiatives. JAMRS eliminates redundancies in the Services’ advertising and market research efforts.”

Not only is the DHRA mission impacted, there will also be several major impacts within DoD from the loss of this ID/IQ contract such as a duplication of both cost /effort, and either work delays, and/or work stoppages to critical on-going DoD programs such as the joint-Service leads program, the joint-Service database, joint-Service websites and Influencer advertising.

(5) If awarded to another contractor, the Government will suffer unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Government's requirements. As this requirement includes not only prior marketing knowledge and expertise, but also the development of a cost effective online media plan and the knowledge of how to employ and optimize media channels per the prior learning’s and campaigns performed for JAMRS, it is estimated that another contractor would require a minimum of 90-120 days to learn the media targeting requirements already in place on the Government’s behalf. Further, another contractor would be required to deploy a team of systems analysts, coders and developers to analyze, learn and gain firsthand knowledge of the web design and architecture of JAMRS websites to ensure they continue to run smoothly and continuously. This deployment of expert technical labor required to familiarize itself with JAMRS websites would require several months of delays at a minimum, before any new development or maintenance could be performed. Any delay of this sort would jeopardize the Government’s plans to continue uninterrupted delivery of its 2012 online communications outreach programs and its online information services.

In 2002, when transitioning from its old contractor, Bates, to its new contractor, Mullen, JAMRS issued two task orders designed solely for transition purposes. One task order was under the Bates contract to “Transition Out” and one was under the new Mullen contract to “Transition In.” These task orders were three months in length (standard industry practice for this type of work) and designed to facilitate a timely and seamless transition from the outgoing contractor in order to preclude any adverse impact on the Government’s existing advertising efforts, and to facilitate the incoming contractor’s ability to smoothly execute any new projects. During the transition phase the outgoing contractor prepared detailed functional area information packages to be given to the incoming contractor. In addition, a complete inventory list of all Government materials was given to the new contractor as well a prioritized list of all projects that needed contract support. It would be JAMRS’ intent to execute these transition task orders if the 2012 solicitation is awarded to a new contractor.

Furthermore, if a competition were conducted for this effort, it is estimated the Government would pay approximately $3.672M more if another contractor were to be awarded a contract, and the Government would then incur this cost again if there was again a change in contractors when the requirement goes out to bid in September 2012. The $3.672M cost is based on the estimated minimum number of man hours (6 months, 10 people x 10 hours/per week at $136/hour = $2.448M) a new vendor would require to remove the learning curve and begin of production web-based learning management systems already implemented and to execute a integrated advertising planning cycle, in addition to paying the current contractor’s time to transfer the knowledge (3 months, 10 people at 10 hours/per week at $136/hour = $1.224M). It is not anticipated that this start-up cost would be offset by savings from competition in light of the limited time available to complete the Government's requirements.

Other contractors do perform the types of services required, but none possess the capabilities to provide the necessary work in the timeframe required by the Government. Any contractor, no matter how well qualified, will require time to assemble a workforce and other resources, and to learn the peculiarities of Mullen’s requirements because other contractors do not have the knowledge and experience that the current contractor has. Under these circumstances, the conclusion is unavoidable that only Mullen, and no other contractor, can perform the functions they are currently performing without a break in service.

Given the scope and complexity of this effort, the Contractor must have subject matter expertise within the realm of JAMRS program. They must have sufficient infrastructure, qualifications, and experience to ensure that JAMRS and DHRA receive the breadth of services it requires.

Without this type of support, the JAMRS program would not be able to provide the critical advertising, communications, joint leads, and market research to recruiting commands. A lack of vital information would result in unnecessary cost to the Department of Defense.

To maintain program continuity, it is critical to retain personnel with experience, knowledge, and expertise in DoD advertising and communications. A change in contractors would result in a lack of experienced personnel with the advanced training required for this effort, and ultimately result in complete mission failure by JAMRS.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The proposed contract action was issued as a labor hour contract, the transition to a firm fixed priced type contract is consistent with ACC-NCR Policy Implementation Memorandum 11-03 dated 19 July 2011. The J&A shall be synopsized IAW FAR 5.201 consistent with AFARS 5153.9005 at fedbizopps.gov for a period of five (5) days. The requiring activity is currently preparing specifications that will be adequate for full and open competition on a follow-on requirement anticipated for execution during FY12. Market research will be performed for the follow-on requirement to identify all potential sources. Other contractors do perform the types of services required, but none possess the capabilities to provide the necessary work in the timeframe required by the Government. It is anticipated that a yet undetermined contractor may propose when the new FY 12 solicitation is released. It is the intent of the ACC-NCR and the customer to immediately begin the acquisition process for the follow-on contract.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: The history of this requirement and the results of the market research have demonstrated that sufficient interest exists for a competitive solicitation. The requiring activity is currently reviewing its PWS and DoD requirements to ensure a full and open competition for the JAMRS re-compete anticipated during FY12. Market research will be updated for the follow-on requirement to identify all potential sources.

8. Market Research: The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) conducted market research from July through August 2011 on relevant companies that perform similar work. The COR utilized the Advertising Council (Ad Council) to survey existing companies and their capabilities in order to assess whether there were any companies that satisfied the JAMRS contract requirements for integrated advertising and communications expertise and required skill sets. The Ad Council is an organization considered to be Subject Matter Experts (SME) for the advertising industry.

Market research revealed that other companies providing production and distribution of public service announcements were few and had less effective results (i.e., lower return on investment in terms of average value of donated media for a Public Service Announcement (PSA), and estimated viewers and markets in which PSAs appeared). The results were further confirmed by a review of advertising literature (i.e., Advertising Age, Ad Week, and Business Marketing) which yielded similar results.

During the full and open competition in 2002, four other contractors besides Mullen were identified as potentially having the capability to perform the JAMRS contract. This indicates that other contractors do perform the types of services required. However, no contractor possesses the capabilities to provide the necessary work in the timeframe required by the Government. Any contractor, no matter how well qualified, will require six (6) months to one (1) year to assemble a workforce, acquire resources, and to learn the peculiarities of JAMRS requirements because other contractors do not have the knowledge and experience held by the current contractor. Under these circumstances, the conclusion is unavoidable that only Mullen, and no other contractor, can perform the functions they are currently performing without an unacceptable break in service.

9. Interested Sources: To date, no other sources than the incumbent contractor has expressed interest. This J&A will be published on ASFI/FedBizOpps within 14 days after the modification is issued.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement history of this requirement is based on historical contract files and computer records, and provided below:

(1) Contract Number W91WAW-07-D-0012 was awarded on 07 June 2007 as a single award, Indefinite-delivery/Indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ), LH contract with cost CLINs, in which Firm Fixed Price task orders would be issued and funded by the Requiring Activity. Contract Number W91WAW-07-D-0012 had a Base Year with four

(4) Option Years. The period of performance spans from 28 July 2007 through 27 July 2012. Option Year 4 of Contract Number W91WAW-07-D-0012 was not exercised on 28 July 2011.

(2) Circumstances have not changed and a new competitive contract, not yet in place, is planned and is in process for this requirement.

b. Acquisition data availability. The Government’s requirements are defined in the Performance Work Statement (PWS) for the existing contract and continue to apply to extension of the contract. Requirement documents suitable for full and open competition are still being developed. Please refer to the Preliminary Schedule for the Re-Compete in Section 3(c) of this document for the timeline regarding final requirement document submission.

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of Defense Human Resources Activity’s Joint Advertising Market Research and Studies (JAMRS) Program services on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Date: _________________________________

Signature: _ E-Signed by HUTCHISON.MICHAEL.R.1209241788

VERIFY authe ticit with App oveIt

Michael R. Hutchison Principal Assistant Responsible for Contracting