RFP 25OEA002 2026-29 DIR Public Awareness Campaigns

The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has issued Request for Proposal (RFP) 25OEA002 seeking a media consultant contractor to develop and manage paid advertising media plans for public awareness campaigns over a 48-month contract period. The primary deliverables include developing and managing paid media plans for four main campaigns: Heat Illness Prevention (May-October annually), Protection from Wildfire Smoke (July-December annually), Wage Theft Is A Crime (intermittent year-round), and Women in Construction (intermittent year-round). Secondary deliverables encompass designing outreach materials in multiple languages, providing printing and shipping services, and offering translation and interpretation services targeting Spanish and non-English speaking workers earning less than $50,000 annually employed in construction, agriculture, landscaping, janitorial, car wash, restaurant, warehouse, and security industries. The RFP requires minimum qualifications of at least three years of experience designing and administering multilingual advertising campaigns for limited English audiences in California, at least two years managing public awareness campaigns for government agencies, and three prior media campaigns of similar scope utilizing radio and outdoor advertising. Proposals must adhere to a required cost structure of 10% for contractor labor fees and 90% for direct costs, with proposals exceeding this amount deemed non-responsive. Evaluation will allocate 30 of 100 total scoring points to cost, with the technically qualified proposal having the lowest cost receiving the maximum 30 points, and proposals must score a minimum of 70 combined points to be eligible for award. The written questions deadline is April 3, 2026, the proposal submission deadline is April 17, 2026, at 3:00 p.m., optional interviews of the three highest-scoring proposers are scheduled for April 27, 2026, and contract execution is anticipated by May 22, 2026.

The RFP includes optional socio-economic preference programs designed to encourage participation from disadvantaged enterprises, including Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) incentive options allowing for 1-5% participation, Small Business (SB) or Microbusiness (MB) preferences offering 5% preference with a required 25% or more subcontracting commitment, and Target Area Contract Preference Act (TACPA) preferences. No incumbent vendor or current contractor information is specified in the procurement documentation. The total contract budget is $7,350,000 over the 48-month contract period, with work commencing only after all required approvals and signatures are obtained and the DIR Project Manager provides direction.