The city of Knoxville, Tennessee is seeking proposals from marketing firms than can develop and deliver a comprehensive marketing/branding campaign to enhance the Knoxville Police Department’s recruiting efforts.

The City wants an agency to work with the Knoxville Police Department’s Recruitment Team for the purpose of devising a multimedia communications campaign that will boost Knoxville’s current law enforcement officer recruitment numbers.

Knoxville

“The Knoxville Police Department, like many other law enforcement agencies around the nation, has struggled in recent years to attract an abundance of qualified applicants,” the City writes in the RFP document. “One of the most challenging issues currently facing law enforcement agencies is recruiting, selecting, and retaining both sworn and professional staff. Given the current climate of the law enforcement profession, recruiting the next generation of police officers has proven to be more difficult than ever. Law enforcement agencies in East Tennessee are competing for the same diminishing pool of applicants.”

Scope of the work includes: designing a brand identity for the Knoxville Police Department to be utilized across multiple applications and mediums (signs, letterhead, social media, marketing materials, websites, etc.); creating and providing a detailed strategy for the recommended deliverables; developing creative marketing elements (design concepts, logos, messages, tagline, brand, as well as other products that uniquely represent the Knoxville Police Department); creating graphic representations of the brand for use on business cards, billboards, newsletters, brochures, social media and other marketing materials; developing an advertising plan that utilizes traditional media (billboards, television, print materials, etc.) as well as social media outlets; filming/production of photos (department image/branding) and videos (recruitment videos, commercials); conducting market research to determine the most effective messaging and advertising platforms and placements; devising strategies for marketing to diverse employment candidates (i.e. minorities and females); and developing an online recruiting campaign (search engine optimization, search engine marketing, YouTube advertising, Gmail email campaign and social media advertising).

The City anticipates a contract being awarded immediately following the evaluation of proposals, with the contract term ending on June 30, 2020.

Proposals are due by 11:00 a.m. (EST) October 31 and should be sent to:

City of Knoxville
Purchasing Division
City/County Building
Room 667-674
400 Main Street
Knoxville, Tennessee 37902

All proposal documents should be printed on both sides and left unbound—held together with a staple or a binder clip only—in sealed envelopes marked “Marketing Campaign for Police Department Personnel Recruitment.”

Questions should be directed to procurement specialist Julie Smith Maxwell, [email protected], by 5 p.m. (EST) Oct. 24.

View the RFP (PDF).