Marketing agency to provide services to regional USAID TradeHub-supported firms

The USAID TradeHub is seeking a suitably qualified and experienced marketing agency to assess the most important marketing needs of selected regional export firms to enhance their capability to lure South African buyers. In addition, the assignment includes developing a plan on how to most efficiently address the identified needs and to solve these needs with the refinement or development of marketing collateral. The marketing collateral could include a short corporate video, product photos, website, product catalogues, social media presence or other suggestions for marketing the firm and its’ products. The work needs to be conducted with a total of 28 regional export firms from seven countries (four firms per country). The USAID TradeHub priority countries include Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia.

The marketing collateral will enhance regional export firms’ digital presence and positioning with South African buyers and facilitate market actors’ ability to support enterprise-level marketing efforts. As a secondary objective, the marketing material should be relevant for the U.S. market in line with supporting regional exporters to take advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The USAID TradeHub works with market actors to identify and resolve enterprise constraints and to implement sustainable solutions through market-based trade and investment facilitation services. The main objective of this activity is to develop marketing collateral designed to enhance the firms’ ability to enter the South African market through supplying South African retailers, manufacturers, distributors or other buyers. The appointed firm will be expected to work on the needs assessments, recommendations, development and implementation of at-least three marketing tools for each of the 28 firms. The materials will be produced in close coordination with the selected firms and USAID TradeHub portfolio leads.

Please email moc.iad@tnemerucorP_HITAS by 18 November 2020 at 16h00 (South Africa Standard Time) to receive the full Request for Proposal (RFP) with the scope of services. Proposals will be due on 2 December 2020 at 12h00 midday (South Africa Standard Time). Please do not contact USAID TradeHub employees regarding this solicitation. No questions will be answered by phone. Any verbal information received shall not be considered as an official response to any question regarding this RFP.