Marketing Agencies for Brand, Digital & Media Buying

The University is seeking to award contracts to commence in July 2023, with an option to extend beyond the initial three year period for a further period of 12 months (3+1) subject to satisfactory contractor performance. Agencies are able to bid for one, two or all three lots. The University of South Wales (USW) wishes to work in partnership with a marketing agency to: i. Develop strategy and respond to tactical briefs for the recruitment of undergraduate and postgraduate students ii. In addition, to positively present the brand and our products across all stakeholder groups ie, prospective students/ enquirers, current students, alumni, businesses, research community etc. iii. To work cooperatively with any other appointed ATL media and digital agency supporting USW across brand and campaign activity Please note, digital activities ie, PPC, website creation, SEO etc has its own separate Lot (Lot Two: Integrated Marketing Campaigns – Digital), and all ATL media buying sits under a third lot (Lot Three: ATL Media Buying Provider). The appointed agency will be required to work in partnership with the Digital and ATL media Agency(ies) to represent the brand as best as possible. Though USW operates globally, the scope of work will include: To work as a strategy partner developing, implementing, and evaluating market strategy to deliver on UK student recruitment KPIs. Increase awareness and consideration of USW in the UK. Drive domestic enquiries and applications for USW courses. Improve the quality of our domestic student intake and increase applications and enrolments. Provide expert advice (based on data) to enhance activities i.e., drive UK enquirers and applicants through the conversion funnel. Support with positively presenting the USW brand and values across all stakeholder groups ie, Alumni projects, International recruitment. The contract will be managed by the University’s Future Students department, to ensure quality control, brand compliance and monitoring against KPIs. The HE operating environment is fiercely competitive, therefore working in partnership with the agency, USW will provide insights and data to support strategic planning and evaluation. Work will typically have two strands, ‘central’ and ‘course marketing’ – the ‘central’ campaign work ie, Open Day advertising, supports ‘course marketing’ activities, therefore marketing plans and activities should be integrated into one plan and both strands treated equally important by the agency. All staff recruitment and media, and public relations activities are outside the scope of this tender. The University's main competitors are Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan, Swansea University, Trinity St David’s, University of Gloucestershire and University of West of England, Bath Spa University ("Main Competitors"). Potential bidders that currently, or intend to (for example, under an existing framework), deliver integrated Marketing Campaigns (brand and/or digital and/or media buying) services to one or more of the Main Competitors will need to demonstrate at PQQ Stage 1 how they will effectively manage any conflict of interest. Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the selection criteria - please note section III.1 (Conditions for Participation) of this OJEU Notice. This procurement process is being conducted as a Competitive Procedure with Negotiation, which consists of a PQQ Stage 1, ITT Stage 2. The Competitive procedure with Negotiation allows for the process of negotiation. The negotiation stage will take place after bidders have submitted their ITT returns and they have been evaluated in line with the criteria set out below. The University of South Wales may award the contract on the basis of the initial tenders without negotiation. This we have indicated, in the contract notice and in the invitation to confirm interest - PQQ, that we reserve the possibility of doing so.

The University is seeking to award contracts to commence in July 2023, with an option to extend beyond the initial three year period for a further period of 12 months (3+1) subject to satisfactory contractor performance. Agencies are able to bid for one, two or all three lots. The University of South Wales (USW) wishes to work in partnership with a digital marketing agency to: i. Develop a digital strategy and respond to tactical briefs for the recruitment of undergraduate and postgraduate students ii. In addition, to positively present the brand and our products across all stakeholder groups i.e., prospective students/ enquirers, parents, carers, current students, alumni, businesses, research community etc. iii. To work cooperatively with any other appointed non-digital agency supporting the USW across branding and campaign activity. Please note, branding, strategy and ATL media buying activities have their own Lots (Lot 1: Brand and Marketing Provider and Lot 3: Media Buying Provider) and any digital agency appointed will have to work in partnership to represent the brand as best as possible within a digital space. The appointed agency will have authority over representation of the brand in a digital space, in conjunction with the Future Students department at the USW. Note: Web development will be handled internally, so this is not an opportunity for web build, but influence and assistance where necessary for SEO and CRO. USW operates globally and the scope of work will include: To work as a strategy partner developing, implementing, and evaluating market strategy to deliver on student recruitment KPIs. Increase awareness and consideration of USW. Drive enquiries and applications for USW courses. Improve the quality of our student intake and increase applications. Provide expert advice (based on data) to enhance activities ie, drive enquirers and applicants through the conversion funnel. Support with positively presenting the USW brand and values across all stakeholder groups ie, Alumni projects, International recruitment. The contract will be managed by the University’s Future Students department, to ensure quality control, brand compliance and monitoring against KPIs. The HE operating environment is fiercely competitive, therefore working in partnership with the agency, USW will provide insights and data to support campaign planning and monitoring. Work will typically have two strands, ‘central’ and ‘faculty’ – the ‘central’ campaign work supports the ‘faculty’ activities, therefore marketing plans and activities should be integrated into one plan and both strands treated equally important by the agency. All staff recruitment and media, and public relations activities are outside the scope of this ITT. The University's main competitors are Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan, Swansea University, Trinity St David’s, University of Gloucestershire and University of West of England, Bath Spa University ("Main Competitors"). Potential bidders that currently, or intend to (for example, under an existing framework), deliver integrated Marketing Campaigns (brand and/or digital and/or media buying) services to one or more of the Main Competitors will need to demonstrate at PQQ Stage 1 how they will effectively manage any conflict of interest. Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the selection criteria - please note section III.1 (Conditions for Participation) of this OJEU Notice. This procurement process is being conducted as a Competitive Procedure with Negotiation, which consists of a PQQ Stage 1, ITT Stage 2. The Competitive procedure with Negotiation allows for the process of negotiation. The negotiation stage will take place after bidders have submitted their ITT returns and they have been evaluated in line with the criteria set out below. Additional information: The University of South Wales may award the contract on the basis of the initial tenders without negotiation. This we have indicated, in the contract notice and in the invitation to confirm interest - PQQ, that we reserve the possibility of doing so.

Agencies are able to bid for one, two or all three lots. The University of South Wales (USW) wishes to work in partnership with a marketing agency to: i. Develop an ATL media strategy and respond to tactical briefs for the recruitment of domicile undergraduate and postgraduate students ii. Work cooperatively with any other appointed creative and digital agency to ensure all plans developed are done so as part of an integrated plan in conjunction with the digital and creative agency(ies) iii. Consider new and creative ways to target our core UG and PG audiences, as well as parents and influencers The appointed agency will have authority over representation of the media buying strategy outside of the digital space, in conjunction with the Future Students department at USW. Please note, brand and creative activities has its own separate lot (Lot One: Brand) as does all digital activities ie, PPC, website creation, SEO etc. (Lot Two: Digital). The appointed agency will be required to work in partnership with the Creative and Digital Agency(ies) to represent the brand as best as possible. Though USW operates globally, the scope of work will include: To work as a strategy partner developing, implementing, and evaluating market strategy to deliver on UK student recruitment KPIs. Increase awareness and consideration of USW in the UK. Drive domestic enquiries and applications for USW courses. Improve the quality of our domestic student intake and increase applications and enrolments. Provide expert advice (based on data) to enhance activities i.e., drive UK enquirers and applicants through the conversion funnel. Support with positively presenting the USW brand and values across all stakeholder groups i.e., Alumni projects, International recruitment. The contract will be managed by the University’s Future Students department, to ensure quality control, brand compliance and monitoring against KPIs. The HE operating environment is fiercely competitive, therefore working in partnership with the agency, USW will provide insights and data to support strategic planning and evaluation. Work will typically have two strands, ‘central’ and ‘course marketing’ – the ‘central’ campaign work ie, Open Day advertising, supports ‘course marketing’ activities, therefore marketing plans and activities should be integrated into one plan and both strands treated equally important by the agency. All staff recruitment and media, and public relations activities are outside the scope of this tender. AGENCY REQUIREMENTS Support with the creation of UK ATL marketing plans to deliver on set KPIs. Support with the creation of strategic short and medium-term i.e. 2-3 year cycle marketing plans to deliver on set KPIs. Marketing insight into the target audiences, media landscape, competitive environment including share of voice and competitor marketing spend. Plan, buy and implement ATL advertising to deliver on our objectives and maximise return on investment. Campaign optimisation in conjunction with the digital and creative agency(ies), reporting and evaluation to ensure the University gains the highest return on investment. The University's main competitors are Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan, Swansea University, Trinity St David’s, University of Gloucestershire and University of West of England, Bath Spa University ("Main Competitors"). Potential bidders that currently, or intend to (for example, under an existing framework), deliver integrated Marketing Campaigns (brand and/or digital and/or media buying) services to one or more of the Main Competitors will need to demonstrate at PQQ Stage 1 how they will effectively manage any conflict of interest. Proposals will be evaluated in accordance with the selection criteria - please note section III.1 (Conditions for Participation) of this OJEU Notice