IBEF/BIAP/2018-19/001

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RFP for branding of Indian agri-products for

India Brand Equity Foundation

Request for Proposal [RFP]

Date: June 15, 2018

India Brand Equity Foundation

20th Floor, Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan

Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi

110001

[Total Number of Pages including this page of the RFP: 16]

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SECTION 1: INSTRUCTIONS TO AGENCIES

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 The India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) is a Trust established by Department of Commerce,

Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. IBEF’s primary objective is to promote and

create international awareness of the Brand India label in markets overseas and to facilitate

dissemination of knowledge of Indian products and services. Towards this objective, IBEF works

closely with stakeholders across government and industry.

1.1.2. IBEF is working with APEDA, Tea Board, Coffee Board and Spices Board for the promotion of

agricultural & processed foods, tea, coffee and spices sectors respectively. IBEF proposes to appoint

a Creative Agency for designing and production of the required creative and publicity material and to

provide a creative vision and strategy for executing the branding campaign for Indian agri-products. A

major focus of these campaigns will be overseas trade fairs and exhibitions.

1.1.3. The Creative Agency needs to identify the possible positioning routes, taglines and strategic

platforms for positioning Indian agri-products as a whole as well as the individual sectors - agricultural

and processed food products, tea, coffee and spices.

1.1.4. As part of the campaign, IBEF will also undertake production of publicity and promotional

material on a regular basis, including brochures, banners, hoardings, advertisements, USBs, leaflets,

posters, etc. which will be circulated and distributed to prospective buyers, exporters, industry and

trade associations, other stakeholders in the industry, media, embassies and high commissions, etc.,

in India and overseas.

1.1.6. The Creative Agency would be appointed for a period of one year, with the provision that either

party (IBEF or the creative agency) may terminate the contract by giving each other one month’s

notice without citing any specific reason. There will also be a provision for extension for another year,

to be decided based on a review of the performance.

1.1.7. Interested Agencies are invited to submit their proposals for the assignment, which must

include the following, as detailed subsequently in this document:

a. Pre-Qualification Proposal

b. Technical Proposal and

c. Financial Proposal

1.1.8. It may be noted that

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(i) The costs of preparing the proposal are not reimbursable and

(ii) IBEF is not bound to accept any of the proposals submitted.

1.1.9. The Agencies are required to provide professional, objective, and impartial service and at all

times hold the IBEF’s interests paramount, without any consideration for future work, and strictly avoid

conflicts with other assignments or their own corporate interests.

1.1.10. Agencies have an obligation to disclose any situation of actual or potential conflict that

impacts their capacity to serve the best interest of IBEF, or that may be reasonably perceived as

having this effect. Failure to disclose such situations by the Agency may lead to disqualification of the

Agency or termination of the contract.

1.1.11. Agencies must observe the highest standards of ethics during the selection and execution of

the contract. IBEF may reject a proposal at any stage if it is found that the firm recommended for

award has indulged in corrupt or fraudulent activities in competing for the contract in question, and

may also declare a firm ineligible or blacklist the firm, either indefinitely or for a stated period of time, if

at any time it is found that the firm has engaged in corrupt or fraudulent practices in competing for, or

in executing, the contract.

1.1.12. The family members/blood relations of employees and/or full-time consultants (i.e.

consultants working exclusively with IBEF on retainership basis) of IBEF shall not be eligible to

participate in the RFP process. Any proposal submitted by them may be summarily rejected. In case,

IBEF comes to know of the relationship subsequent of the award of contract, the contract shall be

liable to be cancelled and IBEF shall be entitled to claim damages apart from engaging any other

consultant/vendor at the cost and risk of defaulting consultant. It is clarified that the term full time

consultants of IBEF does not refer to agencies/people, which may have been shortlisted for an

assignment/project of IBEF through an RFP process.

1.1.13. Participating Agencies are advised to regularly refer to the tender page on the IBEF website

for any updates/amendments in the tender document or relevant dates.

1.2. Minimum Eligibility Criteria

1.2.1. Agency must be in operation for a minimum of five years (in the scope of services mentioned in

RFP), as on the date of issue of this RFP.

1.2.2. The Agency must have a turnover of minimum Rs. 2 crore either as a single firm or group of

firms under the same holding company, for the last three financial years (calendar year or financial

year followed by the firm).

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1.2.3 The Agency should be able to provide a qualified creative team, for undertaking the project for

IBEF. This team would need to work closely with IBEF.

1.2.4. The Agency should not have been blacklisted by any government department/division/PSU as

on the date of submission of this RFP.

The following documents have to be submitted by participating agencies in support of pre-eligibility

criteria for IBEF under the Pre-Qualification Proposal:

Pre-eligibility criteria Document to be submitted (in Pre-Qualification

Proposal)

Agency should be in operation for a minimum

of 5 years. Certificate of Registration/Incorporation

Agency turnover of a minimum of Rs 2 crore

for each of the last three financial years

Financial statements/P&L for 2014-15, 2015-16 and

2016-17. (Refer letter format in Annexure 3(a))

Agency should be able to provide a qualified

creative team for undertaking the project with

IBEF.

Undertaking on the letterhead of the agency that it will

provide a qualified creative team for the project. (Refer

format in Annexure 3(b))

Agency should not have been blacklisted by

the Government as on the date of issue of this

RFP.

Undertaking on the letterhead of the creative agency

that it has not been blacklisted by any government

department/division/PSU. (Refer format in Annexure

3(c))

1.3 Scope of Work and Deliverables

1.3.1. Developing an overall brand positioning strategy and designing creative elements for branding

of Indian agri-products. The branding must highlight India’s strengths, achievements and potential in

these sectors and would have to be tailor-made to specific domestic and global audiences as briefed

by IBEF.

1.3.2. The Agency has to develop creative elements including, but not limited to, the following*:

I) 25 creatives on themes that would be identified and communicated by IBEF. These creatives would

be adaptable for use in all other media formats. The Agency has to formulate a core umbrella

branding concept (logo, tagline, messaging, creatives) for the overall agri-products sector and

develop adaptations of the same for the promotion of individual sectors – agricultural and processed

food products, tea, coffee and spices.

II) Fifty adaptations of the creatives to any desired format as required by IBEF^.

III) One short film (with editing, mixing and recreation from existing secondary shoots/final approved

still creatives) of up to 1 minute*.

IV) One high quality brochure on the agri-products sector covering all sectors - agricultural and

processed food products, tea, coffee and spices in a creative and user friendly format with engaging

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content, interesting blurbs, infographics along with innovative and attractive design templates. The

brochure would be 32 pages including front and back covers@

.

^A standard rate has to be quoted for all possible adaptations. Agencies would be advised to quote

the rate per adaptation accordingly.

*Scope of work is indicative. The actual quantum of work may be higher or lower than the mentioned

scope of work above.

@Indicative page count; if number of pages actually required are more or less, the price will be

adjusted on a pro rata basis

- IBEF may increase the scope of engagement/provide a separate work order to the selected

agency for similar branding assignments during the course of the contract, provided the terms

and conditions are agreeable to both parties.

- All open files for the completed assignments (post-final approvals) have to be provided to

IBEF in an appropriate storage device.

1.4 Preparation of Proposals

1.4.1 Agencies are required to submit a Pre-Qualification Proposal (as per Section 1.2), a Technical

Proposal and a Financial Proposal as specified below.

1.4.2 Technical proposal

The Agencies are expected to provide the Technical Proposal as specified in this RFP document.

a) The Technical Proposal shall contain the following:

i) A letter of Technical Proposal Submission

ii) An undertaking on the letterhead of the Agency and signed by an authorised signatory, that the

Agency will undertake the assignment, in accordance with the Scope of Work and Deliverables

detailed in the RFP document and at the cost submitted by the Agency in the financial proposal (the

cost is not to be indicated in the undertaking). The above undertaking submitted by the agencies

would be binding on the Agency;

iii) Concept note detailing proposed umbrella branding route for the campaign for Indian agri-products

as discussed in this RFP.

The overall branding concept should achieve the following objectives:

a) The core messaging and creatives should effectively capture India’s strengths as an exporting

country in the agri-products and plantations sectors, including agricultural and processed food

products, tea, coffee and spices.

b) Targeted at international institutional buyers visiting overseas trade fairs and exhibitions where

Indian exporters participate.

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c) The creative concepts should be eye catching, innovative, impactful and also extendable to

digital media. They should incorporate Indian elements in the design and also be relevant to the

international audience.

d) Details of the sectors can be found in the following links:

Sector Website

Agricultural & Processed Foods

This consists of six product sub-categories:

Cereals

Fresh fruits and vegetables

Processed foods

Animal Products

Organic products

Floriculture & seeds

www.apeda.gov.in

Tea www.teaboard.gov.in

Coffee www.indiacoffee.org

Spices www.indianspices.com

e) Agencies also have to elaborate on how they will adapt the umbrella branding - creative and

messaging to the individual sectors.

iv) At least one high quality print rendition of each of the following must be provided:

a) Fascia design for the India Pavilion incorporating logo and tagline (under the proposed

umbrella branding route) and thematic background

b) Any product category under agricultural and processed food products (as per table above)

c) Tea

d) Coffee

e) Spices

For reference on desired creative output, brand campaigns executed by IBEF last year for agri-

products can be viewed on the following links:

a) https://www.ibef.org/Gulfood-Dubai-2018/index.html

b) https://www.ibef.org/India-at-Anuga/index.html

c) https://www.ibef.org/summer-fancy-food-show-2017/index-.html

v) Agency details:

a) Brief profile of the agency including details of core areas of business and creative work done

across different mediums.

b) The agency should provide details of at least two similar campaigns undertaken in the past.

c) Details of the proposed team structure along with qualifications and experience of the team

members who will be deployed to work on the project with IBEF.

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vi) Two client testimonials for work done in the past, on both the quality of work as well as delivery

within timelines.

The Technical Proposal shall not include any financial information.

1.4.3 Financial Proposal

In preparing the Financial Proposal, Agencies are expected to take into account the requirements and

conditions outlined in the RFP document.

a) Letter of Financial Proposal should include:

i. Total cost of the project (in INR): The Agency has to provide its quotations as follows (the elements

are as per the specifications in Section 1.3):

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

- Agencies should factor in the costs of any image library/libraries that they may have to access for

procurement of stock images for the creatives. IBEF will not entertain any additional charges for

the same.

- The cost to be quoted does not include printing.

- The agency has to quote one standard cost that will be applicable for every adaptation, be it

hoarding, banner, poster, digital display, etc.

- The assignment may involve delivering work under tight deadlines. Agencies should have the

desired flexibility to be able to meet expectations in this regard.

- The Total Cost (L) provided will be considered for the evaluation of the financial scores of

Agencies

ii. Break-up of costs for each of the items of work listed in the Scope of Work and Deliverables

(Point 1.3 of this RFP Document) are to be submitted as per the format in the above table.

iii. Cost for any other element, which is not specified in the Scope of work and deliverables of this

RFP document and is considered relevant for the concept execution by the RFP participant may be

Creative element Cost per unit Quantity

Cost for

indicated

quantity

I. CREATIVES FOR

CAMPAIGN 25

II. ADAPTATIONS OF

CREATIVES 50

III. III. FILM (upto 1 minute

duration) 1

IV. IV. Brochure on agri-

products sector (32 pages

including front)

1

Total cost (L)

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highlighted separately. Only fixed costs should be quoted and no conditional/variable costs should be

quoted. The total cost quoted shall be considered for the evaluation of the financial bid.

b) Taxes/VAT as applicable in India will be paid as per actuals and the same are not required to be

indicated in the financial bid.

c) The cost quoted will be firm and fixed for the duration of performance of the contract. At no point of

time will any deviation from the quoted rate be entertained by IBEF.

d) The Financial Bid shall not include any conditions attached to it and any such conditional financial

proposal shall be rejected summarily.

5. Submission of Proposals

1.5.1 The original proposal (Pre-Qualification Proposal, Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal)

shall be prepared in indelible ink. It shall contain no interlineations or overwriting, except as necessary

to correct errors made by the firm itself. Any such corrections must be authenticated by the persons or

person who sign(s) the proposals.

1.5.2. The Pre-Qualification Proposal should be placed in a separate sealed envelope and super

scribed “Pre-Qualification Proposal for Brand Campaign to promote Indian agri-products for

IBEF”.

The Technical Proposal should be placed in a separate sealed envelope and super scribed

“Technical Proposal for Brand Campaign to promote Indian agri-products for IBEF”.

The Financial Proposal shall be placed in a separate sealed envelope and super scribed “Financial

Proposal for Brand Campaign to promote Indian agri-products for IBEF”.

1.5.3. If the three proposals are not submitted in separate sealed envelopes duly super scribed as

indicated above, this will constitute grounds for declaring the Bid non-responsive.

All the three sealed envelopes should be put into an outer envelope and sealed. The outer envelope

shall be superscribed “Proposal for Brand Campaign to promote Indian agri-products for IBEF”

with the due date for submission. The Bottom Left corner of the outer cover should carry the full

name, address, telephone numbers, e-mail ID etc. of the agency submitting the Proposal.

1.5.4 The outer envelope containing the sealed Technical and Financial Proposals should be

addressed and delivered to:

Mr Virat Bahri

Associate Director – Knowledge Centre

India Brand Equity Foundation

20th Floor, Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan

Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi

110001

E mail: virat.bahri@ibef.org

Any queries related to the above RFP have to be sent on the above mail in writing by May 25, 2018.

Response(s) if any, shall be uploaded on the website of IBEF.

1.5.5. The Proposal should be submitted by 6.00 pm on July 2, 2018 by hand or post (delivered).

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1.5.6 No Proposal will be accepted after the deadline for submission and in the event of any proposal

being received after the closing time for submission of proposals, the same shall be returned

unopened.

Important dates:

Date of floating of RFP: June 15, 2018, 2:00 pm

Opening date for sending queries: June 15, 2018, 5:00 pm

Closing date for addressing queries: June 25, 2018, 5:30 pm

Pre-bid meeting#: June 20, 2018, 12:00 am

Last date for submission of proposals: July 2, 2018 (by 6:00 pm)

#Venue: IBEF Office, 20

th Floor, Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan, Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi – 110001

Bidders are advised to visit IBEF website as any changes in time and venue and addendum, if

required, shall be communicated on the IBEF website. One representative from each bidder is invited

for the opening of the technical and financial proposals.

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6. Opening of Proposals and Selection Process

1.6.1 The two bid system will be followed - the technical bids will be opened at first instance. It is

clarified that prospective bidders scoring 70% and more in the Technical Proposal (please refer to

Annexure 1) will be deemed to qualify for the second stage of the bid.

1.6.2. At the second stage, the financial bids of only technically qualifying bidding parties will be

opened and winning agency will be selected on QCBS (Quality and Cost Based Selection) score

(please refer to Annexure 2). Weightage of technical and financial scores will be 70% and 30%

respectively. Financial score will be calculated as follows:

Financial score:

a) FL1 = 100

b) Other agencies:

FLa = (L1/La) x 100

FL1 - Financial score of agency that has submitted the lowest quotation

FLa - Financial score of the agency that is to be calculated

L1 - Financial quote by the agency that has submitted the lowest quotation

La - Financial quote given by the particular agency

1.6.2. From the time the Technical Proposals are opened to the time the contract is awarded, if any

Agency wishes to contact IBEF on any matter related to its proposal, it should do so only in writing.

Any effort by the Agency to influence the IBEF in the proposal evaluation or contract award decisions

may result in rejection of the proposal of the Agency.

.

Disclaimer

1. This RFP document is neither an agreement nor an offer by India Brand Equity Foundation

(hereinafter referred to as IBEF) to the prospective Applicants or any other person. The purpose of

this RFP is to provide information to the interested parties that may be useful to them in the

formulation of their proposal pursuant to this RFP.

2. IBEF does not make any representation or warranty as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness

of the information in this RFP document and it is not possible for IBEF to consider particular needs of

each party who reads or uses this RFP document. This RFP includes statements which reflect various

assumptions and assessments arrived at by IBEF in relation to the statement of work. Such

assumptions, assessments and statements do not purport to contain all the information that each

Applicant may require. Each prospective Applicant should conduct its own investigations and

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analyses and check the accuracy, reliability and completeness of the information provided in this RFP

document and obtain independent advice from appropriate sources.

3. IBEF will not have any liability to any prospective Applicant/ Firm/ or any other person under any

laws (including without limitation the law of contract, tort), the principles of equity, restitution or unjust

enrichment or otherwise for any loss, expense or damage which may arise from or be incurred or

suffered in connection with anything contained in this RFP document, any matter deemed to form part

of this RFP document, the award of the Assignment, the information and any other information

supplied by or on behalf of IBEF or their employees, any Agency or otherwise arising in any way from

the selection process for the Assignment. IBEF will also not be liable in any manner whether resulting

from negligence or otherwise however caused arising from reliance of any Applicant upon any

statements contained in this RFP.

4. IBEF will not be responsible for any delay in receiving the proposals. The issue of this RFP does

not imply that IBEF is bound to select an Applicant or to appoint the Selected Applicant, as the case

may be, for the services and IBEF reserves the right to accept/reject any or all of proposals submitted

in response to this RFP document at any stage without assigning any reasons whatsoever. IBEF also

reserves the right to withhold or withdraw the process at any stage with intimation to all who submitted

the RFP Application.

5. The information given is not exhaustive on account of statutory requirements and should not be

regarded as a complete or authoritative statement of law. IBEF accepts no responsibility for the

accuracy or otherwise for any interpretation or opinion on the law expressed herein.

6. IBEF reserves the right to change/ modify/amend any or all provisions of this RFP document. Such

revisions to the RFP/amended RFP will be made available on the website of IBEF.

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Annexure 1

The technical proposal has to be presented in the format specified in Section 1.4.2. The break up of

scoring is as follows:

Technical Proposal

1. Completeness of proposal - 5

2. Concept note for campaign detailing the proposed brand positioning route to be followed – 10

3. Proposed logo, tagline, and rendition of designs in print – 60

4. Agency Credentials - 20

- Profile

- Details of similar projects undertaken earlier for other clients

- Proposed team structure

5. Discipline and commitment to timelines and quality supported by testimonials from past/current

clients - 5

- It is clarified that prospective bidders scoring 70% and more in the Technical Proposal will

deem to qualify for the second stage.

- At the second stage, the financial bids of only technically qualifying bidding parties will be

opened.

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Annexure 2

Financial Proposal

- Total cost of project as per the entire scope of work defined in Section 1.3 and break-up and

conditions provided in Section 1.4.3.

- Only the financial proposals of agencies that qualify after technical evaluation will be opened,

and the agency with the highest total QCBS score will be selected for the assignment.

- Total cost (L) will be considered for evaluation of the financial scores of Agencies

CREATIVE ELEMENT Cost per unit Quantity

Cost for

indicated

quantity

I. Creatives for campaign 25

II. Adaptations of

creatives 50

II. III. Film (upto 1 minute

duration) 1

III. IV. Brochure on agri-

products sector (32 pages

including front)

1

Total cost (L)

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Annexure 3(a)

Format for Annexure 3(a)-

Certificate of Charted Accountant- Annual Revenue (Turnover) during last three financial years 2014-

15, 2015-16 and 2016-17

[Location, Date]

From: [Name of the Firm]

To:

India Brand Equity Foundation

20th Floor, Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan

Tolstoy Marg

New Delhi - 110001

India

Subject:- Certificate of Charted Accountant- for Annual Revenue (turnover) during last three years

2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17

Sir,

This has reference to the IBEF RFP dated 15.06.2018 titled ‘Request for Proposal for branding of

Indian agri-products for India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)’.

I……………………….. here by certify that the Company/ firm is having the below mentioned

turnovers for the respective financial years.

Financial Year- 1

1st April 2014- 31

st March 2015 – Annual Revenue (Turnover) - INR

Financial Year- 2

1st April 2015- 31

st March 2016 – Annual Revenue (Turnover) - INR

Financial Year-3

1st April 2016-31

st March 2017 – Annual Revenue (Turnover) - INR

Thanking you,

Name of the Certifying Authority

Signature of Certifying Authority (with firm seal)

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Name of Firm

Authorized Signatory

Date:

Place:

Name of the Bidder:

Authorised Signatory ________________

Name:

Seal:

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Annexure 3(b)

Format for Annexure 3(b) - Certificate for Providing Qualified team

[Location, Date]

From: [Name of the Firm]

To:

India Brand Equity Foundation

20th Floor, Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan

Tolstoy Marg

New Delhi - 110001

India

Subject:- Certificate for providing qualified team.

Sir,

This has reference to the IBEF RFP dated 15.06.2018 titled ‘Request for Proposal for branding of

Indian agri-products for India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)’.

In this context, I, as an authorized representative of company, certify that we shall be able to

provide a qualified servicing and content team for undertaking the work as detailed in the mentioned

RFP. The team would work closely with IBEF.

Thanking you,

Name of the Bidder:

Authorised Signatory ________________

Name:

Seal:

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Annexure 3(c)

Format for Annexure 3(c) - Declaration of ineligibility for corrupt or fraudulent practices

[Location, Date]

From: [Name of the Firm]

To:

India Brand Equity Foundation

20th Floor, Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan

Tolstoy Marg

New Delhi - 110001

India

Subject: - Declaration of no ineligibility for corrupt or fraudulent practices.

Sir,

This has reference to the IBEF RFP dated 15.06.2018 titled ‘Request for Proposal for branding of

Indian agri-products for India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF)’.

In this context, I, as an authorized representative of company, declare that presently Company/

firm is having an unblemished record and is not declared ineligible for corrupt & fraudulent practices,

blacklisted either indefinitely or for a particular period of time, or had work withdrawn, by any state/

central government/PSU in the past.

If this declaration is found to be incorrect then without prejudice to any other action that may be

taken, and the tender if any to the extent accepted may be cancelled.

Thanking you,

Name of the Bidder:

Authorized Signatory ________________

Name:

Seal:

****************************