Advertising and marketing services

Tender description

The University is seeking to appoint a media planning and buying agency to assist in achieving its strategic marketing and student recruitment objectives, which include: — delivering student recruitment success and engagement across pre-applicant, applicant, student and alumni audiences, in line with academic and financial targets globally; — raising the profile and enhancing the reputation of the University through institutional positioning and research impact; — promoting the new University brand campaign achieving stand out and cut through in our competitive market place. The appointed agency will work with two central marketing teams — the prospective student marketing team and the strategic marketing team. All references to ‘the University’ include all wholly owned subsidiaries of the University, including but not limited to SHU Law. The University seeks an agency that will, in summary: — form a professional and effective relationship, committed to regular dialogue and review; — offer informed, innovative and cost-effective advice on all aspects of media planning and buying; — demonstrate the ability to: • plan and deliver integrated media campaigns across a range of audiences in order to achieve agreed objectives within the higher education sector, • procure media inventory, with the necessary professional standing to ensure the optimum price and placement can be negotiated across a range of channels — above and below the line — drawing on a range of factors such as (but not limited to) format, pricing rates, demographics, geographic and behavioural analysis, • liaise with the University in-house marketing teams or appointed third party creative agencies to ensure campaigns are delivered effectively and on time; — be conversant with all relevant technical and media specifications with up to date digital knowledge and expertise to effectively plan, optimise and evaluate campaigns; — manage multiple work requests and deliver to brief and on time; — take full accountability for service delivery and offer solutions to any challenges faced; — take financial accountability for any issues that arise due to an error caused by the agency; — ensure all media activity is optimised, trackable and able to deliver measurable results, in a transparent way and is fully costed in order to achieve the agreed objectives and inform future activities; — query the quality of copy and/or choice of media where this appears to be unnecessarily costly or inappropriate and provide corrective advice, including the preparation of edited/improved copy; — query anything which may not comply with equal opportunities/disability, discrimination legislation, the social value act or any other related legislation affecting recruitment activities. The pre-publication approval of the department concerned must be obtained by the agency for any amendments to copy Service/solution expectations The University requires an agency that will proactively support and work in partnership the Marketing Department. In scope are all media planning and buying activities across prospective student recruitment marketing and all brand level marketing. Out of scope is lead generation business to business marketing, paid search activity across all audiences and social media paid campaigns which are done in-house. Specifically, it will seek an agency that will, in summary: — form a professional and effective relationship, committed to regular dialogue and reviews; — offer informed, innovative and cost-effective advice on all aspects of media planning and buying; — manage multiple work requests and deliver to brief and on time; — take full accountability for service delivery and offer solutions to any challenges faced; — take financial accountability for any issues that arise due to an error caused by the agency; — track, measure and provide routine management information (MI) and analysis on the success and cost-effectiveness of all media; — query the quality of copy and/or choice of media where this appears to be unnecessarily costly or inappropriate and provide corrective advice, including the preparation of edited/ improved copy; — query anything which may not comply with equal opportunities/disability, discrimination legislation, the social value act or any other related legislation affecting recruitment activities. The pre-publication approval of the department concerned must be obtained by the agency for any amendments to copy.