Question

Topic: Branding

Rfi For Brand Development - What Info To Include?

Posted by kim.h on 8/29/2013 at 5:43 PM ET 250 Points
Hi,

We are preparing to send out an RFP or RFI to a handful of agencies that specialize in brand strategy and brand development. (We are a medium-sized communications/tech company that sells B2B, B2G (government), and B2C with a pretty large portfolio of products and services.)

I'd like some guidance in what information to include in our RFP/RFI, in order to give the agencies enough of an understanding of what we are looking for help with, so that they can respond appropriately.


Our goal for this is NOT visual identity/logo (that will be a follow-on project), but rather we are looking for expert help in the following areas:

- defining and articulating our brand,
- defining brand voice,
- refining some pesky "problem areas" or inconsistencies in our brand architecture and brand alignment
- positioning and messaging at both a high company-wide level as well as at market segment or product level, in a manner that connects the "10-foot level message" back to the "30,000-foot level message" in a consistent way, across a broad portfolio of products, services, and markets
- information architecture guidance to help us organize the way we tell our (complicated) story to customers

If anyone has worked on a similar brand development project, could you share a sample RFP or RFI that you have used to initiate conversations with agencies at the start of their brand development projects?

Or can anyone share an outline of what information or topics should be included in our RFP so that we give agencies a clear idea of what we are looking for and how they should respond?

And are there specific deliverables that we should expect that we should specify in our RFP?

Thank you for anything you can share.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 8/29/2013 at 6:54 PM Accepted
    Here are a few homework points for you:

    1. Sum your brand up in one adjective.
    2. Give your brand voice a name, a face, a personality, and vocal infection.
    3. Define the foundation of your brand. There can be no point in architecture until the foundation is firm. Stabilize the crap out of things NOW.
    4. Before you look at messaging, look first at positioning your brand as X, and at conditioning your ideal prospect's thinking about your brand as Y and Z. Connect the dots first.
    5. To tell the story, omit the fluff. What can you cut and STILL have the tale make sense and have it flow logically?
  • Posted on 8/29/2013 at 8:34 PM Accepted
    I don't have a sample RFP I can share, but I have certainly worked (as a consultant) on projects like the one you describe for a number of different client companies -- including several for Fortune top 100 corporations B2B, B2C, some B2G.

    The best companies invite us in for a half-day briefing and exchange of credentials in lieu of a formal RFP. Sometime they do this with 2 or 3 different consulting firms; sometime they just have one and then decide if they need/want more options after the meeting. Usually they find us based on a referral. (How would you know where to send the RFP if not based on a referral?)

    Once you have determined that the consultant is qualified and interested, ask for a written proposal. This will give you a good idea of the consultant's grasp of the situation and the way they will approach the task, what they think the deliverables ought to be, etc. Let THEM answer your RFP questions in their proposal.

    For the kind of project you're describing this should not be a selection based primarily on price. You are not trying to get the cheapest answer. You want someone who has successfully done this before, who listens carefully, who is a quick study, and who asks smart questions. And you want someone who will bow out if they are not right for the assignment.

    If this makes sense to you, think about what you'd tell the consultant in that meeting, how you'd explain the situation, and what you think success would look like for the project. That's a great start. And then ask around for some likely candidates.

    Oh, and if this fits for me/my company I'd be interested! :)

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