DEADLINE: 15TH NOVEMBER, 2022
BRITISH COUNCIL
INVITATION TO TENDER (ITT) FOR AGENCY FRAMEWORK FOR MARKET RESEARCH AGENCIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
(1) Overview of the British Council
(1.1) The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. Its purpose is to promote friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and people worldwide; making a positive contribution to all the countries we work with; and making a lasting difference to the UK’s security, prosperity and influence. It seeks to achieve its aims by working in education, science, governance, English and the arts. In 2019-2021, its programmes reached a total audience of 791 million people worldwide. The British Council aims to have annual turnover of £1 billion by 2025. some of the strategic priorities will include successful delivery of our digital strategy, improve our commercial performance across English and Exams, strategic resilience to large- scale disruption, now and in the future, compliance and risk management culture, Information security, and an overall financial sustainability.
(1.2) The British Council was established in 1934 and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1940. It is registered as a charity in England and Wales (charity no. 209131) and Scotland (charity no. SCO37733). It is also an executive non-departmental public body, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as its sponsoring department.
(1.3) Its primary charitable objects are set out in the Charter and are stated to be to:
- Promote cultural relationships and the understanding of different cultures between people and peoples of the United Kingdom and other countries.
- Promote a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom;
- Develop a wider knowledge of the English language.
- Encourage cultural, scientific, technological and other educational co-operation between the United Kingdom and other countries; and
- Otherwise promote the advancement of education.
(1.4) The British Council works in more than 110 countries around the world and employs over 7000 staff worldwide. It has its headquarters in the UK, with offices in London, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh. Further information can be viewed at www.britishcouncil.org.
(2) Introduction and Background
(2.1) British Council anticipates that it will spend up to £150,000 annually on market research in SubSaharan Southern Africa (SSA), please refer to point 2.2 for further information with regards to location and therefore it wishes to retain 3-4 agencies as its regional supplier for the SSA region for the provision of planning and executing its marketing strategy end to end.
The objective is to provide British Council with a centralised, effective & integrated network of marketing support for quantitative and qualitative market research.
(2.2) The purpose and scope of this ITT and supporting documents is to explain in further detail the requirements of the British Council and the procurement process for submitting a tender proposal for Sub-Saharan Southern Africa (SSA), which is the Africa region where British Council operates. The 19 countries that are in scope are as follows:
- Nigeria
- Ghana
- Kenya
- South Africa
- Mauritius
- Zimbabwe
- Botswana
- Namibia
- Mozambique
- Malawi
- Rwanda
- Tanzania
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Ethiopia
- Sudan
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Cameroon
(2.3) Winning supplier may need to sign with more than one British council entity
(2.4) The particular focus for this tender exercise is the British Council’s SSA Marketing Business Unit. Please find further information about the British Councils business units below:
- Exams (IELTS and School Exams): https://www.britishcouncil.org/exam
- Cultural Engagement: https://www.britishcouncil.org/programmes
(2.5) From time to time the British Council may require the selected agency to support work in other locations that it operates in globally. Please refer to https://www.britishcouncil.org/about-us for more information around locations the British Council operates in.
(7) Specification
(7.1) The services which the integrated agency(s) will deliver across the 19 countries in SSA will include but not be limited to;
(7.1.1) Quantitative research – collecting large numbers of data points or interviewing large numbers of people. We expect detailed recruitment/ project management support from an established field department within the organisation. Below outlines the main functional areas not limited to;
(7.1.1.1) Online Surveys – Conducted via an online questionnaire sent to respondents and completed by them in their own time
(7.1.1.2) Telephone Surveys – Conducted by an interviewer over the telephone
(7.1.1.3) Face-to-face interviews – An interview conducted by a trained interviewer with a respondent
(7.1.1.4) Muti-Mode – initial telephone interview may be used to recruit respondents who are then asked to access and complete a web-based questionnaire
(7.1.2) Qualitative research – collecting a range of views from individuals or small groups of people through an in-depth discussion of the topic being investigated. We expect detailed recruitment/ project management support from an established field department within the organisation. Below outlines the main functional areas not limited to;
(7.1.2.1) Focus groups/group discussions – a small group of (typically) six or eight respondents hold a discussion around a particular topic of relevance to the client. The group is led by a professional moderator, who guides the discussion in order to ensure that every pre-determined key element is covered in a natural and relaxed fashion. The standard length is around one and a half hours.
(7.1.2.2) In-depth interviews (one-to-one, paired depths etc) – A similar process to a focus group: an unstructured conversation around certain pre-determined topic areas conducted by a skilled moderator. Depth interviews can be conducted face to face, by telephone or online.
(7.1.2.3) Ethnography (e.g., online dairies) – the observation of how different groups behave under different circumstances.
(7.1.2.4) Accompanied shops/journeys – a researcher actually accompanies a respondent on (for example) a shopping trip, during which behaviour is observed and questions asked
(7.1.2.5) Mystery shopping visits and evaluations
(7.1.2.6) Observation research – observing customers or people in their actual element
(7.1.3) Secondary/desk research, below outlines the main functional areas but not limited to;
(7.1.3.1) Online desk research – using general search, paid reports, summarizing existing data etc.
(7.1.4) Field and tab requests such as only moderation, transcription, recruiting respondents etc.
(7.1.5) Market strategy planning of omnichannel communications and campaigns
(7.1.5.2) Brand positioning, perception and awareness
(7.1.5.3) Audience segmentation and persona development
(7.1.5.4) Market sizing and share analysis
(7.1.5.5) Usability testing
(7.1.6) Social Media listening and media measurement
(7.1.7) Modelling/ Advanced Analytics
List of Annexes forming part of this ITT (issued as separate documents):
Annex 1 – Framework Agreement
Annex 2 – Supplier Response
Annex 3 – Pricing Approach
