GSA Schedule Contracts for Advertising, PR, Marketing, and Websites

Federal agencies and departments spend a substantial amount of money on contracts with firms that have expertise in website development, public relations, advertising, marketing communications, and related services.  Agencies obtain these services to promote public awareness of an agency’s mission and initiatives, enhance public understanding of technical and social issues, for recruitment campaigns, and for other purposes.

If your advertising, PR, or marketing firm is interested in the federal government market, it might make sense to consider obtaining a GSA Schedule contract.

As a first order of business, you should review the scope of work of the relevant GSA “Schedule.”  In brief, GSA issues its task order contracts under approximately 30 different “Schedules,” each of which focuses on different sets of services and products.

Until very recently, GSA had a longstanding Schedule called “Advertising and Integrated Marketing Services” (AIMS).  Lincoln Strategies has helped firms obtain contracts under this Schedule for almost two decades.

GSA recently merged AIMS and several of its services-related Schedules into one: the “Professional Services Schedule.”  Essentially all of the contracts that had been awarded under the AIMS Schedule were converted into Professional Services Schedule contracts, in early October 2015.  If your firm is interested in submitting a proposal for services that used to be included in AIMS (which no longer exists as a stand-alone Schedule), you are welcome to do so–but your proposal would be under the RFP for the Professional Services Schedule (00CORP).

If you decide to proceed, you will need to decide which parts of the statement of work to include in your proposal.  GSA breaks its SOWs into many parts, called “Special Item Numbers” (SINs), each of which focuses on a different area. Your proposal can include any number or combination of SINs. For advertising, public relations, website design, and marketing firms, the relevant SINs in Schedule 00CORP (the “Professional Services Schedule”) include:

SIN 541-1, “Advertising Services,” which includes services range from planning through design and placement of broadcast or printed advertisements.

SIN 541-2, “Public Relations Services,” which covers a wide range of PR services, such as:

• Developing media messages and strategies
• Recommending media sources for placement of campaigns.
• Preparing media materials (e.g., press kits, background materials, press releases, speeches and presentations)
• Executing media programs.
• Conducting press conferences.
• Scheduling broadcast and/or print interviews.
• Public relations and crisis communications media training.

Under SIN 541-3, “Web Based Marketing Services,” agencies can obtain a broad range of services centered on website design, development, marketing, and search engine optimization. In addition, this SIN covers a range of specific, Web-based support services. For example, under this SIN firms can provide support for webcasts and video conferencing. Until fairly recently, this SIN was a small business set-aside; it is now available to all firms, irrespective of size.

There are seven specialty SINs, including:

• SIN 541-4A, “Market Research and Analysis.”
• SIN 541-4B, “Video/Film Production.”
• SIN 541-4C, “Exhibit Design and Implementation Services.”
• SIN 541-4D, “Conference, Events and Tradeshow Planning Service
• SIN 541-4E, “Commercial Photography Services
• SIN 541-4F, “Commercial Art and Graphic Design Services.
• SIN 541 4G, “Challenges and Competitions Services.”

In addition, SIN 541-5, “Integrated Marketing Services” encompasses all of the individual SINs listed above, and is designed to enable a GSA AIMs contractor to provide an agency with comprehensive advertising and public relations services.

In deciding whether to pursue a GSA Schedule contract, keep the following in mind:

• If a GSA Schedule contract makes sense for your firm, carefully consider whether you might be able to pursue the “integrated” part of the scope—namely, SIN 541-5. In our experience, even relatively small firms can be awarded that SIN. To qualify for SIN 541-5, a firm has to describe two reasonably recent projects where each project encompassed skills in SINs 541-1, 541-2, 541-3, and each individual SIN in the 541-4 series (541-4a, -4b, etc.). For better or worse, the reality is that many federal agencies tend to issue task orders under SIN 541-5; this single, integrated SIN tends to capture about 35% of the total sales (i.e., the aggregate sales of all of the SINs listed above), year in and year out, even though in many cases the customer agencies are requesting only a relatively narrow set of services.
• When writing a proposal for a GSA Schedule contract for public relations services, it is important to display an understanding of the boundaries between the types of work that are and are not within the scope of the contract. For example, in 2004 and 2005, an issue arose over the use of contractors to produce “video news releases” (VNRs) that, in the eyes of GAO and others, were “covert as to source” and, therefore, represented unlawful use of public monies. If your firm’s proposal will include SIN 541-2 (Public Relations), be sure to demonstrate your understanding of how to stay well away from the relevant boundaries.
• GSA Schedule contracts are designed to procure services that are “commercial” in nature. There are, however, key distinctions. For example, when performing advertising services for commercial clients, it is common for the advertising firm to receive commissions. Under a GSA Schedule contract, the contractor is not allowed to retain such payments. They must be remitted to the customer agency. This has to be taken into account as you prepare the pricing section of your proposal, as your remuneration will be based solely on fees for professional services, which might be at sharp variance with your standard commercial practices. In addition, you will want to reflect this understanding in the “management” section of your proposal.
• And of course, GSA Schedule contracts are not suitable for all firms. Among other considerations, companies that pursue GSA Schedule contracts have to be prepared for unique contract clauses and responsibilities—e.g., those associated with the Price Reductions Clause.
• There are many alternatives. For example, firms should consider whether to pursue contracts that are periodically put out for competition by other agencies. In addition, there are an abundance of opportunities for firms to participate as subcontractors under existing contracts, under another firm’s federal government contract. The choices certainly are not mutually exclusive. Many firms have large portfolios of contract (and subcontract) vehicles, including contracts issued by other agencies plus GSA Schedule contracts.

Obtaining a GSA Professional Services Schedule contract might make sense for your firm if: (a) you provide services in at least one of the SINs in the Schedule; and (b) your firm is interested in breaking into the federal market for the first time, diversifying within the market, or providing existing federal clients with a new contract vehicle.

Other types of services
As noted above, the SINs that were in GSA’s former stand-alone Schedule for advertising, public relations, website development, and other marketing services are now exclusively in the Professional Services Schedule.
The Professional Services Schedule is now also the exclusive home to more dozens of SINs that used to be in stand-alone Schedule Schedules for: management consulting; environmental services; engineering services; logistics; language services; and financial and business services.

About the author:
Dave Alexander is the Principal of Lincoln Strategies, LLC. He helps service providers and manufacturers enter and thrive in the federal government market. He has helped many advertising and public relations firms, engineering firms, management consulting firms, environmental firms, and others obtain GSA Schedule contracts, under the Professional Services Schedule and many others. He can be reached at (978) 369-1140 or da@LincolnStrategies.com.