The Freedom 250 – Taste of America Nationwide Campaign

The Department of State seeks promotional services for the Freedom 250 – Taste of America Nationwide Campaign supporting the U.S. Mission Japan, with quotations due September 29, 2026 (by 12:00 noon Japan Standard Time on September 30, per the RFQ package) and questions due September 18 at 3:00 p.m. JST. The award will be firm-fixed-price to the lowest priced, technically acceptable, responsible quoter, evaluated on initial quotations without discussions unless a competitive range exists.

Place of performance is Tokyo, Japan, with campaign execution across Okinawa (January–February 2027) and Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, and Fukuoka (Spring 2027).

Contractor eligibility requires headquarters or branch office in Japan, ability to deploy staff to all event cities at contractor expense, native-level Japanese language capability within the core team, minimum three years food and beverage or restaurant promotional experience in Japan, established networks of Japanese media contacts, existing relationships with Japanese influencers and Key Opinion Leaders (excluding TikTok), established relationships with Japanese transit advertising operators including the Tokyo metropolitan nine-operator network, existing relationships with Japanese printing and logistics vendors, and capability to conduct all communications and reporting in both Japanese and English. Confirmation of availability for in-person meetings in Tokyo and event cities at contractor expense is required.

The campaign spans approximately 125–150 participating restaurants across two phases and includes transit advertising, launch events with minimum ten media outlets per city, digital advertising, influencer and KOL engagement, social media management, press releases, creative asset production, physical materials, and event coordination. Contractor serves as primary PR operations secretariat. Deliverables include a promotional strategy document (six weeks prior to Phase 1), creative assets (four weeks prior), promotional materials (two weeks prior to each phase), event reports (within two weeks of each event), monthly progress reports, and a final evaluation report by June 30, 2027. All work product becomes U.S. Government property.

U.S. contractors must register in SAM prior to quotation submission. U.S. firms quote in U.S. dollars; foreign firms quote in Japanese Yen. Quotations submit electronically to Masao Chuma (ChumaMX@state.gov), not exceeding 15MB per email, with phone confirmation required.

The NAICS code is 561920 (Convention and Trade Show Organizers); PSC is R708 (Support – Management: Public Relations).