Credit: Dan Freeman via Unsplash
Auckland Council has launched a tender for a refreshed panel of creative agencies, AdNews can reveal.
The council’s tender covers strategic planning, audience insight, creative concepting, design, video, digital and social services.
Auckland Council said it wants a flexible network of agency partners to complement its in-house team, matching agencies to projects based on individual strengths.
Media buying and placement sit outside the deal unless required for a project.
Incumbent agencies on the creative panel include Motion Sickness, Ogilvy, Federation, and Clemenger Group, which utilises Clemenger UnLtd and OMD.
Shortlisted agencies must show they can handle a creative portfolio worth up to NZ$2 million a year across several projects and clients at once.
Auckland Council will score responses under a weighted attributes model.
Creative, strategic and design capability carries 55% of the total mark, strategic alignment and quality of service carries the remaining 45%.
Agencies will be required to submit five creative case studies including a project under $50k, one between $50k and $250k, an example engaging Māori, Pasifika or other diverse communities, an audience-segmented campaign, and a social-first or socially led strategy.
The quality-of-service score covers account management, collaboration with outside partners and how agencies build sustainability, responsible design and Te Ao Māori principles into their work.
Two years of audited accounts will also form part of the assessment.
Agencies must also clear a set of preconditions before scoring begins, which includes an Auckland office able to service the council group, and at least three years' experience working with a New Zealand government, public sector or large multi-stakeholder organisation on strategic communications, creative campaigns, design, engagement or video.
Auckland Council Group frames the work around behaviour change, pointing to waste minimisation and the city's zero-waste target for 2040 as an example.
Stated goals for the panel include more consistent communications across the group, less procurement duplication, and more work for Māori, Pasifika, social enterprise and other diverse suppliers, either directly or through partnerships.
The council group will shortlist up to six agencies for a second, RFP stage, ranked on their REOI score.
It may also choose to shortlist more or fewer depending on response quality.
Panel work is due to kick off from October, on a two-year term to October 2028, with three one-year extension options available, for a potential five-year run.
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