RFP: PREQUALIFICATION OF CREATIVE AGENCIES FOR CHHAA JAA (INDIA) (2021-2023)

RFP: PREQUALIFICATION OF CREATIVE AGENCIES FOR CHHAA JAA (INDIA) (2021-2023)

Working with girls in India, Girl Effect UK (a UK based charity) has created Chhaa Jaa (Go Forth and Shine) – a powerful youth brand that girls can access via social media. Chhaa Jaa’s focus is on inspiring, entertaining and empowering girls with the right skills and confidence to navigate adolescence – from accessing information about sexual and reproductive health to preparing them to enter the workforce.

WHO WE ARE

We’re a global creative non-profit combining expertise in media, mobile, brand and international development, a unique mix of skills we use to solve global problems in a new way. Started by the Nike Foundation in 2004, we’re now an independent organisation working from nine global locations in more than 50 countries where girls are marginalised and vulnerable.

We use our in-depth understanding of girls’ real needs so that they are enabled to make choices about their health, education, and economic future. We use multiple touchpoints for branded story-telling and participation that millions of girls, and boys, love and interact with - from apps that build skills, to TV dramas that explore vital issues, to magazines written and distributed by girls.

We help girls change their lives by tackling social, cultural and gender norms – leveraging digital technologies to create change, through creative content that engages and entertains audiences - designed to change and shift attitudes, knowledge and behaviours in tangible, measurable ways.

Our work is supported and funded by many people and organisations, from governments and philanthropists to NGOs and corporates. Recent examples include GAVI (The Vaccine Alliance), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Facebook, UNICEF, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), Vodafone Foundation, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Nutrition International, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

About Chhaa Jaa

In June 2019, Girl Effect launched Chhaa Jaa (छा जा) – an online youth brand inspiring, entertaining and empowering girls with the right skills and confidence to navigate adolescence from accessing information about sexual and reproductive health to preparing them to enter the workforce.

Chhaa Jaa’s content is aimed at older adolescent girls living in towns and cities in the Hindi Belt of India, accessible online and via mobile – because we know that’s the best way to reach and interact with girls in a country where shared and owned usage of smartphones has grown exponentially. Girls access our content (on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube) that is entertaining and informative.

All of this content links to youth-friendly services and products – both online and offline – to help girls improve their sexual and reproductive health, from booking doctor consultations to speaking to helplines.

CONTEXT OF RFP

Girl Effect is in the process of identifying creative partners who will support the shape and production of our content over the next two years. We will be creating a range of short-form content across scripted information-heavy formats and fiction and talk shows, etc., that will live on our Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube channels.

We are conducting a one-time process to set up a roster of preferred partners whom we will keep turning to for giving specific briefs over the next two years. This is in the spirit of building steady creative partnerships and reducing time spent on more administrative processes at our end around agency identification, onboarding, and due diligence.

Towards this process of identifying our preferred partners, we are rolling out three live briefs that will be produced over the next few months - across fiction, non-fiction, case studies/impact films (details in the next section)

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR

Girl Effect has expertise in behaviour change, research and insights, and brand strategy and is looking for a strategic partner that has best in class credentials in producing engaging and entertaining content for young audiences in the Hindi belt. We are looking for a partner that understands the nuances of our young audience’s culture, language, and aspirations. Hence the pitching process is limited to partners from India.

Because of the complexity of the social issues we are grappling with, we are keen to explore ways to design a genuinely collaborative partnership rather than a pure outsource relationship. We are looking for your pitch for the following three ongoing projects. You may choose to apply for all or one of them.

1. Coping with Covid: Mental resilience amidst change

Within this, we are looking at creating short-form fiction and other allied content that can be used for promotion and deepening the messages

1. Taking on gendered barriers to the Covid vaccine

Within this, we are looking at creating short-form nonfiction videos (we are currently thinking listicles, face to camera, etc.)

1. Chhaa Jaa Impact Film

We are making a case study/impact film that tells the story of our journey and successes over the last two years since our brand launch.

You should have expertise in:

1. Content and creative strategy across Non-fiction videos, Episodic fiction web series based on briefs/concepts and other digital content

2. Expertise in video production, casting and post-production

3. Social media posts/shoulder content - like inspirational quotes, photos, listicles, polls, etc.

4. Influencer tie-ups

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

We are looking for proposals that respond to this RFP. If you are responding to more than one brief shared above, some of the sections below will be common across. Please ensure your proposals include the following details:

1. Content Ideas

Please detail out format ideas that are entertaining and respond to the specific objectives mentioned in the briefs you are responding to.

We are keen on understanding your strategic and creative thinking around this - why it works for the audience, how it delivers objectives and how it breaks a cluttered media environment.

With the confusion around Wave 3 and the uncertainty around shoot guidelines - please share an understanding of how formats will be produced in a remote environment and a physical shoot location.

1. Credentials

Please showcase work that you consider relevant to what we are trying to achieve through this video (reference videos).

1. Team

Please put forward a team and a structure you see as necessary to deliver against this project. We recognise that writing and creating for young adolescent girls is best done by teams that understand girls’ emotional complexity and lived realities.

Please let us know how you would approach the set-up of this project to ensure the best chances possible of an effective working relationship.

1. Costs

Please cost up the different activities and deliverables mentioned above. Please confirm whether you offer a cost reduction for charitable organisations. Please note technical and financial proposals should be sent separately.

EXPECTED COMMITMENT

All prequalified agencies/consultants will be classified as preferred vendors and be in the GE supplier roster for two years.

You will work with Girl Effect’s India Content team.

TIMEFRAME:

• Prequalification call published: Thursday 19th August

• Deadline for responses: September 3rd

• Pitching, supplier selection, contracting and briefing: Mid September

• Project commencement: October

EVALUATION CRITERIA

All proposals will be judged internally by a team on the following criteria towards selection for the preferred creative partner panel (and within that for the three live briefs):

1. Understanding of our strategy, target audience (15%)

2. Creative Ideation (40%) (within this, we are looking at innovative ideas, effectiveness in delivering messaging, and overall content plan)

3. Relevant Experience and Credentials (15%)

4. Costs and Work plan (20%)

5. Cultural Fit and Approach to Partnership (10%)

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS

• Applicants will be informed, in due course, regarding the result of the evaluation of their applications. Only prequalified firms under this process will be invited to bid for the projects at a later stage.

• Any false statement(s) by the Applicant will result in disqualification at any stage of the process.

• The clarifications (if required by GE) may be asked by email.

• We have a strong preference for agencies working and based in India.

TAX

Applicants are advised to ensure that they have a clear understanding of their tax position regarding provisions of the India jurisdiction tax legislation when developing their proposals.

DISCLAIMER

GE reserves the right to determine the structure of the process, number of short-listed participants, the right to withdraw from the proposal process, the right to change this timetable at any time without notice and reserves the right to withdraw this tender at any time, without prior notice and without liability to compensate and/or reimburse any party. GE shall inform ONLY successful applicant(s). The process of negotiation and signing of the contract with the successful applicant(s) will follow.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

Girl Effect is committed to equal opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.

We are committed to building an organization that is increasingly representative of and works extensively with the communities that we serve. To this end, due regard will be paid to procuring consultancy service organisations and individuals with diverse professional, academic and cultural backgrounds.**

How to apply:

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit proposals, as outlined above, to piyush.garud@girleffect.org and pooja.singh@girleffect.org by September 3rd, 2021, 5:00 pm IST latest. Please clearly mark your email with the subject ‘’Creative Partner for Chhaa Jaa”’