National Guard Reevaluates its 5-year Public Relations Contract

A new request for proposal has been developed by the National Guard Bureau for its event marketing account. The entire budget is about $477 million and it is spread over a period of five years. It has yearly renewal options and the contract can be given to 2 or more agencies in accordance with public filing.

This report was put together this summer by the National Guard Bureau. 2 p.m. EST on Nov. 4 is the deadline that is fixed for the submission of proposals. The NGB has not made any comment on this issue.

In the request for proposal (RFP), the National Guard Bureau which includes the Air National Guard and the Army National Guard directorates submitted a list of three tasks. These are the website development and video and DVD production; ARNG mobile recruiting and retention programs; promotions and tie-ins, sponsorships and public relations.

The document further stated that the services will provide support for the requirements of state public affairs offices, national marketing needs and the local marketing needs of the ANG and the ARNG in the fifty four states and territories.

With reference to this 172-page RFP, the task and scope will give support to its Strength Maintenance Philosophy. This philosophy aims to recruit quality soldiers, carry out attrition management which is designed to lessen the loss of first-term soldiers and the retention and extension of these quality soldiers prior to the end of their service term.

Although the thrust of this review could be related to the expiration of a present contract, which is the way it is with a lot of government contracts, the National Guard Bureau will definitely be expecting a successful affair and sponsorship strategy.

In the early part of the summer, Colonel Rob Porter, the chief of the U.S. National Guard’s strength directorate, that covers recruiting, marketing and housing said that there are better results from the social media side than the event sponsorship side.

The agency that wins will work with the National Guard Bureau to achieve its seventeen to twenty four year-old target audience. This will focus on partnership with Nascar and other organizations and also create online marketing campaigns that can be compared to the Yahoo “Fantasy Career” that the Department of Defense hosts. Some of the examples of promotional tie-ins offered by the NGB include “Year of the Employer,” “Year of Diversity,” “Reconnect with America,” and “Year of the Family.”Mobile, the 3rd major task is likely to include large-scale mobile exhibits, interactive outdoor displays, motor coach-RV-based mobile exhibits plus recruiting support space, tractor-trailer mobile exhibits and more.

Presently, the organization works with LM&O, the advertising shop. It is implicit that this review will not affect the existing contract of the agency. The NGB is also listed as a client on the RedPeg Marketing website.