Jul. 8, 2015

Professional Services for Economic Development

Strategy Development, Brand Identity,

and Associated Collateral

• What is the total budget for this effort?

• Is there a budget range in mind for the scope of work?

We have budgeted approximately $40,000 for the deliverables identified in the RFP. If necessary, there is additional funding available for any ancillary deliverables or services recommended (e.g. new website, videos).

• What percentage of the budget are you looking to locate to the research and foundation portion? 

We anticipate less than 20% of the budget.

• When you say “educate the Community on what branding is and why it is important for economic development” - how do you see this working?

This item could simply be accomplished as a single agenda item during a town hall meeting with or a smaller committee of economic development stakeholders to further expand upon the importance of the work effort.

• What will your approval process be? Will there be an EDC employee leading the effort, or would the firm collaborate with a committee? Are there any other stakeholders that will be involved?

Staff will serve as the selected firm’s point of contact throughout the process. However, staff currently envisions the selected firm will engage a committee of economic development stakeholders twice to develop the branding message and present a final recommendation to Town Council for adoption. Alternative methods to build consensus for this type of project are encouraged to be included in the proposals.

• Does your budget include outside expenses such as printing, photography or mailing services?

Staff envisions receiving the deliverables in electronic format so printing, mailing, etc. can be done apart from this process. If the selected firm needs photography or another service to provide a final deliverable, the expectation is for that to be included in the budget.

• What is your budget moving forward, year-to-year?

This amount has not yet been determined.

• Is there any advantage for local agencies or firms to be selected?

No

• Would it be an option to include a website in our RFP?

Yes

• Under "Branding & Message Development" on page 3, one of the deliverables is a possibility for a new economic development website. Do you have a scope of work put together for the website project? I see further in the RFP that the website build is not meant to be part of this RFP, but we would recommend the site come before the client spend money on advertising and economic development material that would naturally drive your audience back to the website.

• Do you want the website priced as part of this RFP, and if so, do you have a scope for what you want that site to include/provide?

No scope of work for the website project has been created. Any advertising or economic development material will likely utilize the existing web address of http://townofsunnyvale.us/. If recommended, staff will consider proposals that recommend a new website as a first phase, with the deliverables requested as part of the RFP as a second phase. However, no advantage or disadvantage will be given to proposals that include or do not include a website deliverable. Any pricing for the website should be listed as a supplemental deliverable and clearly delineated.

• Under “Research & Foundation” on page 2 you mention that the selected firm will be able to “draw from existing research and community planning documents.” Would it be possible to review those documents as part of the bidding process? We're trying to figure out how much research has already been done so we’re not recommending duplicated efforts.

Within the last 30 days, staff has given Aaron Farmer with The Retail Coach notice to proceed for the creation of a Retail Economic Development Plan. To date no deliverables have been provided and are therefore unavailable for review. As documents are made available, staff will share the data, analytics, and other information with the selected firm.

• Under “Brand Implementation” on page 3, it sounds like the implementation process you’re asking for will span across a three year period. Are you interested in pricing for a retainer to manage the implementation process?

Yes, staff is interested in pricing for an optional retainer to manage the implementation process. However, no advantage or disadvantage will be given to proposals that include or do not include a retainer.

• Under “Brand Implementation” on page 3, what “Tracking and Performance Measurement” metrics are you interested in? Staff has not identified specific performance measures for this project, however is interested in utilizing best practices if available.

• I see that the project start date is October 2015. Do you have deadline dates for any of this work to be completed? Is there an overall timeline for the project?

Staff would prefer to start utilizing the deliverables early 2016.