Closing gaps between public tenders and advertisers

Johanna McDowell, MD of the Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS), says high value public contracts can be very attractive for advertising agencies – but dealing with corporate or government tenders can be rigorous, confusing and off-putting.

The public sector spend huge amounts each year looking for new suppliers, but have recently come under fire for not spending their budget adequately to reach the desired effects.

Each year the marketing departments of corporate public companies as well as government departments receive a substantial advertising budget and very often, due to a lack of understanding about the advertising space, spend the money unwisely on last minute marketing campaigns.

The problem and pitfalls with public tenders and the processes thereafter are that the procurement officers drafting the tender most often do not fully understand the technical scope within the advertising industry and how the processes and people fit together. In addition, there is a real shortage in consultants to manage the tender process.

Advertising can be a strategic and ongoing tool that government agencies and departments wield to communicate effective messages to the public and improve performance and service delivery. Public service advertising has to communicate messages effectively to a number of target audiences. However, public sector organisations often fall short of these goals because of a lack of research as well as weak implementation due to limited understanding and communication during, and after the tender process.

The IAS can play a major role in assisting government departments’ fine tune their marketing campaigns and provide a hands-on role to advise government procurement officers on how to put together and fine tune a tender to ensure the full scope of work is detailed and that their budget is being spent wisely. Its UK partners, the AAR Group, has over 33 years of experience in assisting the UK government with its tendering processes and this wealth of information is available to the IAS in order for us to produce a quality service for government officials.

One of the biggest bugbears among agencies is the total lack of communication between both parties. As a result agencies are reluctant to ask difficult questions. Often there can be too many process and procedures and people to go through before any form of decision is made, which can often hinder the process. If the client is unavailable, hard to pin down or the client is constantly changing their mind in terms of the marketing strategy, the deliverable are not going to be met and the relationship is going to fail. There has to be a simple communication plan that has to be put in place right from the beginning to ensure decisions and approvals can be made swiftly.

Another important element to a successful tender process is tracking and measuring the campaign targets. Procurement officers are always looking for good quality suppliers with the right skills, but they don’t have the skills to evaluate the agency itself and the results of the campaign.

Agencies have to put the time and effort into drafting simple reports on the deliverables because government departments rely on data. Often agencies complain about the sluggish payment structures, however cash flow can almost be guaranteed if agencies are able to continuously track and present the deliverable of the campaign. Measuring and evaluating the tender itself and its results is essential as it allows the IAS to present the pitfalls and success of the tender process and provide recommendations for the future.

There is an art to putting together a flawless tender that is professional and streamlined. There needs to be a lot of thought and assistance from an intermediary specialist like the IAS. We have the experience and the tools in place to assist the public sector to create a more efficient tender process that allows them to choose the right service providers who suits their sector.

About the IAS: The Independent Agency Search and Selection Company specialises in helping clients find agencies and is committed to the international and local pitch guidelines as defined by both the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising UK) and the ACA (The Association of Communications Agencies SA).

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