U.S. Embassy & Consulates
in South Africa

SCOPE OF WORK: FY 2024 FAS SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN

SUMMARY:

Southern Africa is a diverse market for U.S. food and agricultural products with sophisticated consumer segments and a food manufacturing industry that places great value on quality, safety, value, and consistency. To succeed at selling American food and agricultural products in the region, especially in South Africa (the largest economy in the area), the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), which is the diplomatic branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), must share the story of American food, specifically the values, diversity, and quality associated with American food and agriculture products.

In FY23, FAS South Africa, through a contract with a media company, created the DelicioUS South Africa social media campaign to educate consumers, as well as increase consumer awareness and knowledge of U.S. food and beverage products and build consumer preference for these products by sharing the rich agricultural and culinary history of the United States. FAS South Africa now seeks to continue the work of the established campaign for another year.

The contract will operate through the 2024 fiscal year, ending September 30, 2024. Potential exists for additional follow-up contracts, depending on product delivery, success in meeting initial goals/objectives, and available funding.

OBJECTIVES:

• Using the DelicioUS! South Africa branding, continue to create and publish content on the existing Instagram and Facebook campaign platforms;
• Continue existing social media outreach campaign through content development of social media posts at least three times per week (same content on both platforms);
• Amplify the reach of posts and the DelicioUS! account platforms through paid boosting of posts; and
• Create and execute strategy to increase the number of followers on both social media platforms.

It is imperative that the campaign highlight the positive attributes of various U.S. foods, U.S. technologies, and agricultural production methods. The contracted vendor will continue implementation of the multi-platform DelicioUS! branding campaign to improve the image of U.S. food and agriculture in South Africa by promoting the distinct advantages of U.S. food products, including sustainability, diversity, quality, consistency, and safety.

STATEMENT OF WORK:

Under this agreement, the vendor will execute the following tasks and/or deliver the following products:

1. Media Content Development:

• The contracted firm will be responsible for creating and publishing at least three social media posts per week to achieve the objectives to expand awareness, familiarity, and trust in U.S. food and beverage products. Content should be appropriate for business-to-consumer (B-to-C) communication. The contracted firm will work closely with FAS to ensure adherence to U.S. government policies, protocols, regulations, and preferences. Content creation may include, but is not limited to:
• Recipes: development of recipes featuring one or more U.S. ingredients
• Cooking demonstrations – i.e. photos, videos, etc. featuring to showcase U.S. ingredients
• Highlighting the story and attributes of specific U.S. food and beverage products already available in the South African market
• Description and promotion of various U.S. food “cultures,” e.g. “Southern Kitchen,” “Texas BBQ,” and “California Cool”
• Creation of unique hashtags to highlight U.S. food and beverage products and their attributes and to encourage interactive participation from followers
• Links to various U.S. exporter resources
• Upcoming events and U.S. food promotions
• Running select competitions for followers to win U.S. food and beverage products procured by the contracted vendor.

1. Consumer Engagement:

• The selected firm will be expected to create and carry out a campaign to attract consumer engagement to the content posted to the DelicioUS! South Africa Instagram and Facebook platforms. This could potentially include paid promotion on social media networks, print advertisements, collaborations with South African social media influencers, and/or conducting promotions and contests to give away U.S. food and beverage products.
• The contracted vendor should factor the costs associated with these activities into their proposal budget and provide a description of the intended methods in the proposal narrative.
• The aim of these activities should be to increase the number of followers on the targeted social media platforms, as well as the number of impressions/users reached on each platform.
• The vendor is responsible for monitoring all interactions with both accounts, including comments and direct messages. The vendor must respond when appropriate and should notify FAS if the commenter is asking a question that is better suited for FAS to answer. The vendor should delete/remove all inappropriate comments and public messages on both accounts, including spam messages, financial scams, advertisements, harassing comments, etc.

REPORTING:

The vendor will be responsible for providing regular updates (every 30 days or as agreed upon by vendor and FAS), detailing the content created for the campaign, as well as outreach initiatives to boost exposure on both platforms.

Vendor is also responsible for delivering a final written report due by September 30, 2024, as well as a PowerPoint that should include, but is not limited to the following:

• An overview of the project including successes and lessons learned,
• Final review of followers and consumer impressions, specifically noting improved consumer perceptions and brand recognition,
• Recommended next steps and future outreach events, and
• Assessment of potential future trends (marketing, consumer, political, etc.) that might affect outreach efforts by FAS South Africa.

PHASE DEADLINE DETAIL/DELIVERABLES:

For questions, please contact AgPretoria@usda.gov.

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