5 ways agencies can impress for National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre's creative and media pitch

The National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre (NVPC) is on the lookout for creative and media agency partners to conceptualise, design, plan and execute the marketing campaigns of two key products. These are namely a brand-building campaign for its "City of Good" vision, and the SG Cares Giving Week. The length of the appointment will be for one year, with the option to extend for another. 

Additionally, a tender document seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE said NVPC is seeking agency partners which can strategise a holistic and synergistic advertising roadmap for both campaigns in its effort to build a culture of giving in the City of Good. For each campaign, the key marketing objective NVPC looks to achieve is to grow its brand awareness by 2% points year-on-year. The campaigns also need to drive consideration and call-to-action with each of its programmes.

Jeffrey Tan, director, marketing and advocacy, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that interested agencies can impress NVPC in these five ways:

1. The City of Good brand is made up of three pillars - people, organisations and leaders of good. Each pillar carries a wealth of stories that NVPC wishes to share with the various target audiences. Tan said it is looking for an effective and impactful media strategy for its City of Good campaign, and an integrated creative and media strategy for its SG Cares Giving Week campaign to meet its marketing objectives in this post-pandemic media landscape.

2. What does the City of Good mean to you? Agencies must be able to communicate NVPC's brand, vision and initiatives clearly and effectively. In doing so, kindle the spark that will ignite people, organisations and leaders of good to take action. "We want our advertising partner to believe in our vision and be advocates as well," Tan said.

3. NVPC has made it its purpose to capture hearts and shift mindsets, and are looking for agencies that can identify the best media channels to amplify the City of Good narrative and the stories within.

4. Experience working on government or non-profit organisation accounts is a plus, especially if they have been involved in shaping a national movement.

5. A demonstrated ability to maximise ROI while spending efficiently.

For the City of Good brand-building campaign, NVPC is looking to raise awareness of its brand, increasing the level at which people understand, resonate with, and are inspired to take action through NVPC initiatives beyond understanding the City of Good vision. NVPC intends to launch the campaign in August, in line with National Day, since it is when the public tends to feel most unified and inspired to be of service to the nation. The campaign will last about three to four weeks, and the media budget set for the campaign is SG$300,000. 

Through the campaign, NVPC wants people who interact with its branded communications to believe that Singapore can become and be known as a City of Good, that they themselves are part of becoming City of Good, and that they know how and where to become a City of Good together. 

Meanwhile, for the SG Cares Giving Week 2021, NVPC looks to not only drive awareness of its brands but also to educate the public on causes, charities and needs deepening mindset shift, as well as various ways of giving (time, talent, treasure, voice). The campaign will run from 1 December to 7 December, and the organisation aims to use the event to inspire people and the community to give. Through the campaign, the appointed agency will have to encourage community involvement in the various SG Cares Giving Week events and activities, as well as to give or volunteer on Giving.sg. It will also have to engage corporates, public agencies, non-profits and individuals to give during this period and provide opportunities to bring non-givers into the giving journey. The budget for the entire campaign is set at SG$600,000. 

The closing date for the tender is 21 April 2021, and the tender can be also found on TenderBoard.

Last year, to raise funds for various charities and causes, NVPC worked with a group of local ground-up comedians to stage a comedic series titled "City of Good Show". The aim of the show was to raise funds for 126 charities which faced up to 80% decline in donations due to COVID-19 pandemic. Every episode would target a different category of charities, with each episode featuring at least 14 charities. NVPC also timed the seven episodes as a lead-up to National Day, with the final one airing just after National Day on 12 August.

The City of Good Show was live-streamed on Facebook, and its pilot episode garnered over 88,000 views and raised over SG$196,000. The follow-up series then amassed an additional 581,000 views and raise an additional SG$800,000. Compared to the baseline, that was an increase of 178% in donations for the charities.

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