Prior Information Notice - Advertising, Media Buying & Creative Services

Please note, there is no commitment or guarantee that procurement activity will go ahead, this procurement is subject to internal approvals. This note is therefore intended for information purposes and to alert potential suppliers of a possible opportunity that may be of interest.

We may seek a contract which can provide advertising, media & creative design services for Government Recruitment Service (GRS) to help drive attraction and optimise our centralised recruitment service. GRS falls within Government Business Services (GBS) which is hosted by Cabinet Office. GRS is delivering a centralised recruitment service across the core UK Civil Service and some wider public sector organisations.

The contract value is anticipated to be circa £14 million with a potential contract duration of 36 months (3 years) and is subject to change.

It's not possible to predict the volume of work that the Supplier can expect to receive. It is not uncommon for work flow to follow a trend of peaks and troughs, sometimes with rapid and significant changes in volume. However, we can say that historically the average number of campaigns commissioned per month has been 50-60 (circa 600 commissions in a 12 month period). It is not unusual for a number of large and complex campaigns to be commissioned at the same time, therefore the ability for a supplier to be adaptable and flexible is essential.

Please see section 6 (additional text) for information relating to the scope of the requirement including an indicative timeline.

Potential Route to Market & how to register:

Should the procurement go ahead, the potential route to market may be via the RM6124 Communications Marketplace, which is a Dynamic Purchasing System framework. Crown Commercial Services may coordinate the procurement on behalf of Government Recruitment Service.

What you need to do:

If you are not already registered you will need to visit the following webpage to register as a new supplier:

https://supplierregistration.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/sr

Register to increase your visibility to over 6,000 government buyers. Please allow 10-15 days for registration on the DPS platform.

Additional information: Scope of the requirement:

We would be seeking a contract which can provide advertising, media & creative design services for GRS.

There are 4 main areas within scope which include but are not limited to:

Media planning, negotiating and buying

Offering attraction strategy advice

Media advertising such as print, digital, social

Offering market insight

A broad reach is required, therefore the supplier is expected to have the ability to access more than 150+ different media options.

GRS requirements may include, but are not limited to the following:

- Print press - Recruitment guides and publications - Television advertisements - Radio advertisements - Digital and social media - Billboards and poster boards - Promotional material - this includes brochures, flyers - Landing pages - Content creation for microsites and landing pages as part of an advertising and media campaign - Job Boards

As well as:

- Providing tailored campaign planning and media buying advice (inc tailored market analysis) for all new commissions, incorporating digital, social, print and online media and other specialist channels, job boards, job aggregators, Search Engines, programmatic advertising and channels - Providing expert advice on the most suitable forms/types of media to include - Provide in-campaign performance reporting - Provide bespoke copy production, copy-writing, copy editing and creative input, as required - Working with media providers to ensure that advertising campaigns are successful and delivering value for money - Developing creative content and branding

Timeline:

Dates are subject to change, therefore this timeline is for indicative purposes only.

ITT launch; late Jan / early Feb 2023 (Inc. period open for clarification questions)

ITT close; end of Feb 2023 / early March 2023

Evaluation, standstill, internal approvals: April into May 2023

Contract award May 2023