Agency selection

Once your RFP Package has been released, the Selection Committee will review creative agency submissions to identify the agency best suited to your campaign’s needs in two steps:

1. Review all creative agency proposals submitted in response to the RFP, selecting two or three agencies who should be invited to participate in interviews and creative pitch presentations. 
2. Assess the selected agencies’ creative pitch presentations and review the combined proposal and pitch assessments to choose which agency best meets the needs of the programme.

During each step, the RFP Selection Committee will evaluate each agency independently, and the Programme Manager will compile scores and feedback. 
 

1. Assess agency proposals

Agency proposals should highlight their skills and capability to address your campaign needs based on the information you shared in the RFP Package. The RFP Review Committee will evaluate the submissions against the criteria requested.

The Creative Agency Assessment will help you to assess the agencies and should be customised using criteria based on your RFP Package. Based on instructions from the programme manager, each reviewer will use an assessment tool to score the proposals using either a Likert Scale, for e.g., each element receives a score, with one as low to five as high, or a stoplight approach, for e.g., green meaning elements that are clearly addressed, yellow as partially addressed, and red is not adequately addressed. Qualitative feedback should also be captured so it can be shared with the creative agencies, as appropriate.

Once the RFP Review Committee has reviewed the submitted proposals, the top two or three creative agencies will be invited to participate in interviews and creative pitch presentations. At this stage, all agencies should receive a Interview Invitation Letter either inviting them to continue with the selection process or a Rejection Letter thanking them for their submission. 

2. Creative agency pitch presentations

Once selected, invite creative agencies to take part in the interview and pitch presentation, and decide how to structure the presentation meetings. In general, the agency will present their creative pitch for about 30 minutes, then the RFP Committee will follow up with questions, lasting another 30 minutes.

When planning the Q&A session following each of the agencies’ presentations, consider the following:

1. Presentation-related questions: It is common for the RFP Selection Committee to ask the agency to clarify elements of the creative presentation during the meeting. It may have questions about the campaign ideas, strategic approach, look and feel of the materials, and more that can be discussed. However, committee members should not provide the agency with feedback in the meeting.
2. Proposal questions: Your team may have questions or clarifications about the creative agencies’ written proposal that they would like to ask after the pitch presentation. These questions should be agreed upon by the committee ahead of the meeting.
3. Interview questions: Depending upon your team and campaign, the RFP Selection Committee may choose to ask a series of standardised interview questions. These should be agreed upon in advance and could include information about ways of working and collaboration, previous creative work, process for addressing feedback during the development process, ways of engaging community members or interest in the programme.

The programme manager should facilitate the meeting to ensure that the presentation and Q&A session does not exceed the allotted time. They should also remind the creative agency to forward an electronic copy of the creative pitch presentation for the committee’s reference.

In response to the information you shared in the RFP Package, agency creative presentations should aim to showcase their strategic and creative approaches to your campaign. During and immediately following the presentation, the RFP Review Committee will review submissions against the criteria requested. 

The Creative Agency Assessment will also be used to score the agencies' performance during the presentation. 

For the successful agency, respond with an award letter and feedback about their performance. Each non-successful agency should receive a rejection letter, while also providing constructive feedback  so the agencies can learn about how they could have better met the needs of your team and project.