Ruder Finn Asia and Ninemer beat out competition to nab MSF PR account

The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has appointed Ruder Finn Asia and Ninemer Communications to handle PR duties, beating out Asia PR Werkz and Waggener Edstrom Worldwide. According to Gebiz, the appointment is for a year with the option to extend for another two. 

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understands that MSF previously worked with Asia PR Werkz in 2018 for PR duties. Asia PR Werkz was tasked to raise awareness of the Ministry’s Rehabilitation and Protection Group’s work, which included caring for and protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect and self-neglect. 

The appointment comes amidst MSF looking for partners to manage digital duties for a period of two years, with an option to extend for up to two more years. According to a Gebiz tender document seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, the agency will support MSF's digital communications efforts and transform its eco-system of digital platforms to better serve and engage citizens. Duties include digital auditing and strategy, content planning, social media buys management services, account management services, content development, digital campaigns, regular content analysis and reviews, and community management and user engagement.  A briefing will be held on 28 June at 2.30 pm via Zoom and the tender closes on 12 July. 

Meanwhile, in March this year, MSF appointed One9ninety to handle the account. One9ninety is responsible for providing end-to-end and integrated social media marketing solutions for the Facebook and Instagram channels of National Council on Problem Gambling. This followed a pitch called in January this year which saw 16 agencies vying for the account. According to the tender document then, the appointed social media agency is required to formulate a social media strategy, content, advertising strategy and campaigns.

Meanwhile, towards the end of January 2021, Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) called for a digital content pitch aiming to hire an agency to develop a range of family-centric content for Families for Life. In the tender document, MSF said it was looking to hire an agency to help propose and develop a detailed monthly content calendar.

Interestingly, in the pitch document, it is stated that the appointed agency will be paid 95% of the monthly cost at the end of each month. The remaining 5% is a performance-based payment, and will be paid at the end of the 6th and 12th month from the contract date.

This means that if the supplier successfully achieves the KPI set for the first six-month period, it will be paid the cumulative 30% of the monthly cost for the six months, in addition to the monthly 95% payment.  The KPI is measured every half yearly, based on the average amount of time users spent across all the content pieces developed during each six-month period. The agency must meet the criteria of average of at least one minute of time users spent on each content piece, across all content pieces developed during each six-month period.

While this payment structure isn’t new to MSF, having been implemented by Families for Life since 2016, agencies MARKETING-INTERACTIVE spoke to said it isn’t a common clause they have seen in government tender documents. In a statement to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a spokesperson from MSF said the approach was used to help ensure the quality of content produced by the appointed vendor and the remuneration model was set up as a key performance indicator for the appointed vendor to achieve. At the point of writing, the move was lauded by some  in the industry for being a forward looking one.