Cymru Wales Gateway Website C138/2019/2020

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done We have developed a strong award winning nation brand identity – one that is fresh, contemporary and inspiring. This provides a foundation for Cymru Wales brand marketing activity and the brand is being adopted by customer facing teams across the whole of Welsh Government. The associated marketing strategy is firmly rooted in a content-led approach where creating and supporting the distribution of great content about the depth and breadth of things on offer in Wales underpins everything. Earlier this year we launched two new brand websites to support the approach - wales.com and visitwales.com Problem to Be Solved The scope of this contract covers the user experience, design, build and ongoing maintenance of a network of outward facing Cymru Wales brand sites. That includes the recently launched sites wales.com and visitwales.com but also the redevelopment of tradeandinvest.wales and potentially other areas of the Cymru Wales brand. Ultimately we are trying to create a platform for our content from which we can tell our story and support the distribution of those stories further and wider. That in turn should drive more interest in Wales through better visibility of our content for a larger and more valuable audience. Who Are the Users Users cover defined tourism audiences (visitwales.com), inward investment audiences (tradeandinvest.wales) and our more general Wales audiences (wales.com) - including those people that might be interested in studying, living and working in Wales. We want our users to engage with our content and take positive messages from it. In some cases we want to drive specific on site events e.g. search for accommodation, download something, make an enquiry. We also want to drive higher volumes of relevant search – tracked via search trends - and we want to be talked about more and more positively – tracked via media monitoring. Early Market Engagement We have conducted initial meetings with a handful of suppliers and key take outs include: Whilst this contract will inevitably include the design and build of new Cymru Wales Brand sites the flavour of it is very much to support the ongoing and iterative improvement of the recently launched sites and those that we will be launching. To that end ongoing experimentation, testing and user research needs to form a core part of what we do. Importantly, we also need to be able to provide support and iterative improvements alongside other development activities so the associated resources and process must support this. Whilst this is a web development brief like many organisations we are on a digital transformation journey. The appointed suppliers will be part of a wider agency team and they need to be able to support our capability and capacity building more generally - through training, development and knowledge sharing as well as helping guide associated digital and brand strategy. Finally, as ‘doing good things’ is fundamental to our brand all suppliers are to propose a specific Community Benefits programme in relation to your contract. This should be cost neutral and relative to the contract’s value. Work Already Done Beyond redeveloping wales.com and visitwales.com we have put in place a much more joined-up and efficient content production structure aimed at driving search visibility, cost-efficiencies, as well as an improved on-site experience The websites are underpinned with a strategic and carefully managed network of social media channels. We are improving our content distribution via third-party platforms such as those of major media brands and developing a more sophisticated digital marketing strategy aimed at growing users across and between the portfolio of websites. Finally, we are introducing a new evaluation framework to better inform tactical and strategic decision-making. Existing Team This work will be managed by our digital team sitting within the Cymru Wales Brand Marketing Team. We are developing a new approach to Cymru Wales Brand Marketing’s agency structure and this will be introduced in March 2020. We will be placing new contracts to support all aspects of our work. The successful supplier will be expected to operate as an extension of the in-house team – and a strong partnership approach will be established. All appointed agencies will also be required to work in close integration with each other to deliver seamless, coherent and high-impact brand marketing programmes. Current Phase Live Work Location It is expected to be a mixture of on-site and off-site working - including our offices in Cardiff and Pontypridd. A co-location space will be procured via the Content Production and Distribution Partner contract to facilitate this culture of co-working and collaboration – and we will expect all contractors to play an active role in setting-up this ‘hub’ and being highly visible members of the wider team. We will also expect all suppliers to fully support and buy-into the new, flexible and creative collaborative ethos, space and approach we want to establish – to make it work for Wales. Working Arrangments Beyond that outlined above a steering group will be established to oversee the collective work programme of the in-house team and all agencies, and will work together to set a clear direction for 2-4 years. A very strong project management and planning structure will also be put in place to facilitate a strategic but efficient and flexible work programme. We expect that the supplier will also support the digital transformation agenda across WG and our industry partners which might also include provision of relevant training. Our work will be underpinned by insight, data and analytics - a core marketing function. Security Clearance Supplier staff, including sub-contractors, undertaking any work related to the contract must be subject to Baseline Personnel Security Standards (BPSS). Any supplier staff, including sub-contractors, operating in a system administration function or with administration access to live data must undergo UK National Security Vetting to SC following contract award. Additional T&Cs The successful Supplier will be required to sign a Security Aspects Letter detailing the security requirements. The Supplier shall be required to hold Cyber Essentials and ISO27001 certification. Please contact us (NPSICTCategoryTeam@gov.wales) for further and full information. The project will also need to adhere to the Welsh Language Standards. Skills & Experience Outstanding web design, creative and user experience ability Proven and evidenced technical support solution that is proactive, flexible and reactive Accreditation and security clearances i.e. cyber essentials, ISO 27001 and status on staff security clearance (SC) Proven ability and experience with Drupal 8 and associated technology Experience of developing content rich sites that support a content led approach to digital marketing and the integration of APIs to deliver on site product search or transactional functionality Experience of delivering multi-lingual platforms and websites Experience using agile project management - and a hybrid approach where required, describe your project methodology Developing responsive websites from a mobile first approach based on user needs Conducting qualitative and quantitative evidence based user testing methodologies and monitoring Experience delivering web projects that support exemplar customer and user experiences Knowledge of delivering projects in line with Government Digital Service Standard. Evidence of delivering projects at speed with clearly identified deliverables and timescales Designing websites that are intuitive and easy to use on all devices Technical knowledge of website hosting environments - specifically MS Azure - and ability to support DevOps Experience of mitigating security and cyber threats to websites Describe how you will enable security controls and list the VMS security functions to prevent the loss of information and demonstrate how you will comply with Client security How will the Client recover any data cached on the VMS device and/or data stored in the supplier operational platform Evidence of understanding, experience and implementing website analytics such as Google Analytics Working with third party stakeholders - Client and relationship management Experienced with project planning, coordination, communication and project management skills and the ability to support a flexible approach Nice to Haves Provide an example of a content rich site with a purpose to increasing content engagement to increase associates outcomes and impact. What tools and processes you choose to use How you chose those tools and processes How it supported the digital transformation agenda No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria Describe and detail the proposed Technical Solution What is your approach and methodology Detail team structure and governance arrangements for project How will the Technical Solution meet all our customers needs Demonstrate value for money with technical improvements How to identify risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them Cultural Fit Criteria Articulate how you will work collaboratively and transparently with the client Demonstrate how you will comply with project timescales and deliverables set by the Client. Explain how issues will be escalated and resolved quickly Outline knowledge transfer activities - to include the provision of training as required Demonstrate how you will take account of the Client's expertise and experience Provide a statement outlining how you will support the well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 on a cost neutral basis Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers Budget range the budget we have allocated to the scope outlined above and the first two years amounts to circa £1,000,000 but we have also identified a contingency of £500,000 for activities related to the ux, design, build and ongoing maintenance of further cymru wales brand sites.