Restricted commercial
SECTION TWO
Scope of work
Media Monitoring Service
(The Electoral Commission ref: C0080-MP-COMMS)
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 1 of 13
Restricted commercial
Introduction
The Electoral Commission would like to appoint an agency to provide a monitoring
service of UK broadcast, print and online media from 1 March 2016. The contract
would be for a period of two years in the first instance with annual reviews and an
option for a further 12 month extension.
Background
The Electoral Commission is an independent body set up by the UK Parliament in
2000 by the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act. We are independent of
Government and political parties and are directly accountable to the UK Parliament
through a committee chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Our aim is to instil integrity and public confidence in the democratic process. Our key
objectives are to ensure:


well-run elections, referendums and electoral registration
transparency in party and election finance, with high levels of compliance
Our responsibilities include:

Registering political parties

Monitoring and publishing donations and loans to political parties and
individuals;

Regulating election campaign expenditure by parties

Setting and monitoring performance standards for electoral registration and
elections and referendums

Reporting on the conduct of elections and referendums

Reviewing electoral law and procedures and advising the Government on
changes

Giving guidance to those involved in the conduct of electoral registration
elections and referendums

Promoting public awareness of our electoral systems and the need to register
in order to vote
The Commission has a corporate website www.electoralcommission.org.uk and a
voter information site www.aboutmyvote.co.uk
For more information, see our Corporate Plan
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 2 of 13
Restricted commercial
OBJECTIVES
The Electoral Commission requires a media monitoring service that provides its staff
with reliable, accurate and timely intelligence of news, media debate and opinion
about the Commission and the issues on which we work.
Reliable – we depend on the monitoring service to identify and supply all relevant UK
media coverage, including broadcast coverage. We do not have the staff resource to
provide, or supplement, this internally.
Timely – in the fast-moving media environment, it is vital that the Commission
receives coverage in time for us to consider what action or response may be needed.
This is particularly important for online and broadcast coverage.
SERVICE REQUIREMENTS
1. Daily provision of media coverage
We currently use two keywords: Electoral Commission (only references to the UK
Electoral Commission, not to other Electoral Commissions) and
www.aboutmyvote.co.uk, our voter information website. We will, on occasion, wish to
add other key words for a limited period of time.
The required service should be provided via a daily email, to be sent no later than
8am to approximately 50 Electoral Commission staff addresses, with all relevant
media coverage available. We require this seven days a week.
The email should include access to PDFs of print coverage, links to online coverage
and links, where available, to ‘play again’ sites for broadcast coverage. The relevant
Electoral Commission keyword should be highlighted in the coverage, for easy
reference. We do not wish to receive paper copies of coverage.
Each piece of coverage should be contextualised with:

Headline, as it appears in the coverage

Name of media outlet

Name of journalist (where given)

Date of publication (and time for broadcast and online coverage)

Page number on which coverage appears (for print media)

Short and accurate summary of the individual story in which the Electoral
Commission was mentioned (for both broadcast and print items)
Items of coverage should be grouped in a user-friendly way so that recipients can
scan the email quickly to identify items of particular relevance to their roles. Content
could be grouped by subject matter, for example, or by of media outlet.
For information, our current supplier provides coverage grouped as follows::

UK-wide national print or online newspapers (print or online copy), eg Daily
Telegraph, BBC News Online

Other national newspapers (print or online copy), eg The Scotsman, Irish
News, Western Mail (Note, these should NOT be included under ‘regional’
media heading)
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 3 of 13
Restricted commercial

Regional newspaper coverage (print or online), grouped by country (England,
Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland).

Consumer and trade press

Key political blogs
2. Ad hoc emails for additional broadcast and significant online coverage
Where further coverage appears in national and regional broadcast media during the
day, further emails should be sent as soon as the coverage is available. The same
applies for significant online coverage, for example in the online versions of national
newspapers, or key blogs (we will provide a list).
Any coverage sent during the working day (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm) should
only be sent to a smaller Commission email group of approx. 7 people. This content
should also be included in the following day’s email summary going to the regular
email group. We do not require recurring updates on rolling broadcast coverage for
example any news clips that mention the keywords but that are repeated after the
initial mention throughout the day.
3. Recordings/transcripts of broadcast coverage
Very occasionally, we may require a transcript of broadcast coverage, or recordings.
This would be on an ad hoc basis, and any estimated costs associated with this
service should not be included in the basic monitoring costs.
4. Access to the monitoring company’s online dataset
Electoral Commission staff would also require access to an online database of media
coverage for the Commission. Please confirm in your submission if you provide this,
and for how long media coverage is made available. Please provide a screen shot to
illustrate the layout, demonstrating its user-friendliness.
We invite submissions to provide the required services in one of the three
following different ways:
OPTION 1 – Provide UK wide media monitoring, as well as the ad hoc
provision of broadcast transcripts or copies of broadcasts. This option will be
to provide the full service, as set out in 1 – 4 above.
OPTION 2 – Provide UK wide media monitoring, but without a broadcast
transcript or recording service. This option will be to provide the full service, as
set out in 1, 2 and 4 only above.
OPTION 3 – Provide UK wide media monitoring, but outsourcing an element
of the requirements to another supplier*. This option is to provide the full
service as set out in 1 – 4 above, but using a sub-contracted supplier to
deliver one or more aspects of the service.
*For example, sourcing some coverage from a specialist agency. This might
be coverage for a particular geographic area, such as Northern Ireland, or for
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 4 of 13
Restricted commercial
a particular type of media, for example all UK local commercial radio
coverage.
Please note that for option 3 the Commission would still expect a single daily
email containing all the media coverage as set out in 1 above. A supplier
choosing to source some of this content from a third party should describe
how they would ensure a consistency of service.
TIMETABLE
Deadline to submit Invitations to Tender
to the Electoral Commission
Midday Monday 18 January 2016
Free trial of media monitoring service as
part of tender process.
25 January – 5 February 2016
(inc)
Evaluation of tender submissions and
service trial by Electoral Commission
w/c 8 February 2016
Notify shortlisted service providers of
outcome
w/c 15 February 2016 (tbc)
Pre-meeting with successful service
provider to discuss contract, payment,
service level agreement and give service
briefing
w/c 22 February 2016 (tbc)
Start of two year contract (with option to
extend for 12 months).
1 March 2016
EVALUATION CRITERIA
Tenders will be evaluated by the criteria set out in the evaluation matrix (see Annex
D of the Instructions to Tenderers) which include:

Service delivery proposal

Ability to meet timescales

Management, supervision and labour resources

Costs - this should include a clear breakdown of the total costs associated
with the contract (see more information on costs further below).

Mobilisation and transition (outlining what will be required to get the service up
and running)

Free two week trial of media monitoring service – as part of the evaluation
tender process we would like to assess your service on the basis of a two
week trial period, using the current two key words, so that we can
meaningfully evaluate the tender’s ability to deliver the service we require.The
Commission will not be liable for any cost incurred in providing the trial.
Please let us know at the outset if this is not acceptable. The
Commission will only evaluate suppliers that comply with this
requirement.
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 5 of 13
Restricted commercial
1.
Costs
We recognise that some agencies prefer to provide a service for a monthly fixed
cost service and others charge by level of activity during the period. We will
consider both options (see (b), below).
a) The cost options for the service described in 1,2 and 4 of “Service
requirements” above, based on providing coverage with key words (UK
references only):
 Electoral Commission
 www.aboutmyvote.co.uk
Please provide two total costs for a media monitoring service as described above,
one of which is based on providing an average of 1,000 items of media coverage a
month, and the other on 2,000 pieces of coverage a month*.
Please also provide two annual costs for the service, based on these monthly
averages. Explain how you arrive at your cost estimate and what information or
assumptions you have used to arrive at your estimated cost including estimated
costs for each individual item.
Please list what is included in the cost and what is excluded.
(*This is for purposes of cost comparison, not an indication of the actual volume of
media coverage the Electoral Commission receives.)
b) Please state what impact, if any, there would be on the cost if the Commission
wished to increase the number of key words (not including the cost of the
media coverage itself). How much notice would be required to add or remove
a key word?
c) Please state what impact, if any, there would be on the cost if the Commission
wishes to add or remove recipients from the list of those receiving the daily
emails with coverage and who can access the online database. How much
notice would be required to add or remove a name from the list?
d) What, if any, set up costs you would charge? Please provide details.
e) What system do you operate for refunds where we identify coverage provided
that is irrelevant to the Commission, e.g. mentions of other Electoral
Commissions outside the UK, or duplicates of same items?
f) For those with the ability to provide transcripts/recording of broadcast
coverage on an ad hoc basis, please give the costs for providing a transcript
and a recording of (i) a 15 minute interview on Newsnight Scotland and (ii) a 5
minute interview on the Today Programme. Please say how long after the
request each item would be delivered.
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 6 of 13
Restricted commercial
2.
Timeliness
a) The daily email summary must be received by Commission staff no later than
8am, seven days a week. The timeliness of the summary will be evaluated
during the trial period.
b) We recognise that some coverage can take a day or two to become available,
especially regional print media. During the trial period, we will evaluate
whether there are any differences in the provision of such coverage between
the shortlisted service providers.
c) Additional emails with breaking media coverage arising during the working day
on broadcast media or key national online media should be provided as soon
as possible between the hours of 8am and 6pm. We will compare timeliness
of such items during the trial period.
d) Please state how often your online media coverage database for the Electoral
Commission would be updated.
e) How long is media coverage available on the site after publication date?
3.
Relevance
a) This will be evaluated primarily during the service trial period. Evaluation
criteria include the relevance of coverage provided, the inclusion of
appropriate details to give context of the item (see 1. in SERVICE
REQUIREMENTS above); and the relevance of information provided in the
summary for broadcast items.
b) Describe briefly how you would ensure that media coverage provided was
relevant to the UK Electoral Commission. Please include details of any
challenges you anticipate in providing relevant coverage only. How could the
Electoral Commission help you mitigate these during our briefing with the
successful supplier?
c) Are there any limits on the numbers of additional words we may wish to add?
Or minimum time periods for which an additional keyword can be added?
4.
Comprehensiveness
a) Please provide details of the titles you propose to monitor for the Electoral
Commission in the following categories:

UK national print media (should also include online versions);

National print media for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (should
also include online versions);

Regional print media for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Broadcast media (BBC and commercial outlets) news, politics and
current affairs programmes, both national and regional (please list by
country);

Trade press for those working in local and central government, the police
and Parliamentarians.
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 7 of 13
Restricted commercial

Consumer press, for people with an interest in news, politics, community
engagement and current affairs in the UK.
b) Please confirm if you are able to monitor selected blogs as part of your
monitoring service (we would provide a list of key blogs). What, if any, is the
maximum number of blogs you could monitor?
c) The Commission undertakes large scale advertising campaigns to raise public
awareness of how to register to vote and to take part in elections. This is
supported by media relations work across regional press and radio and also
reaching very specific target audiences.
Two of our target audiences for media relations work are people who have
recently moved house, and young people (aged 18-24). Please provide a
list of all media you would monitor to identify coverage reaching these
audiences throughout the UK. Please include any explanation you feel is
necessary for your choice.
There is also a need ahead of some elections and referendums for the
Commission to monitor mentions in English language overseas media
targeted at British citizens living outside the UK. Please indicate whether this
would be a service that could be provided and if so what any potential
limitations or additional costs there may be.
The lists above will be evaluated for comprehensiveness by staff specialising in the
different geographic areas of the UK, and for the two target audiences.
d) We will evaluate comprehensiveness of coverage during the trial period,
comparing the coverage provided by shortlisted suppliers.
5.
User-friendliness
a) User-friendliness will be evaluated during the service trial period. Criteria
include how easy the email is to scan quickly and identify key coverage; the
layout and grouping of stories; and the accessibility of the email content at
desktop computers and on mobile devices (e.g. Blackberry).
b) Occasionally, staff may need to access Commission media coverage through
the online database. Please provide brief and lay-friendly written instructions
that would guide them through the process of doing this. (Note: do not include
instructions for any additional features your online database might provide)
6.
Other
Our press office may occasionally print and retain a paper copy of certain items of
coverage (we have the appropriate CLA and NLA licences for this). We do not share
or store items electronically.
a) Please provide evidence of your compliance with the requirements of the
Newspaper Licensing Agency and the Copyright Licensing Agency and the
implications for Electoral Commission in relation to our use of the clippings.
The deadline for tender submissions is midday on Monday 18 January 2016.
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 8 of 13
Restricted commercial
This scope of work forms part of the tender documentation and the information
contained in it will form part of the contract documents for the service provider
awarded the contract.
In line with the Commission’s commitment to demonstrating that maximum results
and good value for money are achieved, we will review the contract every six months
for quality and value for money.
All enquiries regarding this brief should be directed to Megan Phillips at The
Electoral Commission at mphillips@electoralcommission.org.uk, Tel 020 7721
0714.
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 9 of 13
Restricted commercial
Annex D – Tender Evaluation Matrix
Evaluation of Tender submissions
Tenders will be evaluated using a scoring system from 0 to 4 as described below.
Score
0
1
2
3
4
Description
Unacceptable – There is insufficient detail in the
response to enable a satisfactory degree of
consideration. The response presents significant risks
to the overall service delivery.
Unsatisfactory – There is a lack of detail in the
response and it provides for only some aspect of the
scope of service delivery. The response presents
some risks to the overall service delivery.
Satisfactory – The response provides sufficient detail
to enable an adequate degree of consideration and
provides for most aspects of the scope of service
delivery. The response presents minor risks to the
overall service delivery.
Good – The response provides sufficient detail to
enable a good degree of consideration and provides
for the full scope of service delivery. The response
presents no risks or concerns to the overall service
delivery.
Excellent – The response provides sufficient detail to
enable an excellent degree of consideration and
provides for the full scope of service delivery. The
response presents no risks or concerns to the overall
service delivery.
Table one – scoring grid
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 10 of 13
Restricted commercial
Responses will be individually assessed according to the scoring system above.
They will then be applied as shown in the table below to provide the weighted score,
which once added up will provide the final score.
Criteria
Weighting
Maximum Score =
(weighting x rate from
scoring grid)
Service delivery – written information
Criteria excluding cost and factors that cannot be evaluated during the trial period
will be evaluated. Details of these can be found in the Scope of work above and
include:
Requirements to get the service up
1
and running (p5), including
challenges anticipated (3b)?
Notice to add or remove a keyword
1
(1c)
Notice to add or remove an email
1
recipient (1c)
Comprehensiveness of
3
national/regional media lists (4a)
Comprehensiveness of specialist
2
audience media list (4c)
Ability to monitor selected blogs and
1
social media on request (4b)
User-friendliness of instructions for
2
accessing coverage on database
(5b)
Written evidence of compliance with
1
the requirements of the NLA and
CLA
Length of availability of media
1
coverage online
Business continuity procedures and
2
disaster recovery plan which will
ensure continuous service delivery
Maximum weighting
15
Service delivery - trial period
The trial period is key in evaluating the supplier’s ability to meet the Electoral
Commission’s service requirements, as set out in the Scope of Work.
Criteria being measured in the trial period include timeliness, relevance,
comprehensiveness and user-friendliness of service.
Timeliness (see Scope of work 2)
5
 Daily service arrives by 8am
 Speed of updates throughout
4
the day (8am-6pm)
 Ad hoc service, speed of
3
delivery after publication
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 11 of 13
Restricted commercial

Speed of regional print
coverage delivery after
publication
5
Relevance (see Scope of work 3)
 Coverage is relevant to the
Commission and key word
clearly identified;
 Inclusion of clear,
appropriate and accurate
details to give context;
 Quality and accuracy of
editorial summary of
broadcast coverage
5
4
5
Comprehensiveness (see Scope of
work 4)
 Coverage provided is
complete and provided on
the appropriate date (usually
publication date);
 Demonstrates
comprehensive monitoring,
with provision of items from
across the UK
User-friendliness (see Scope of
work 5).
 Daily email easy to read on
both desktop computers and
mobile devices, and
coverage accessed easily;
 Presentation of coverage
facilitates quick identification
of key items, including choice
of how to grouping coverage.
 Helpfulness and availability
of support staff
Maximum weighting
4
5
3
2
45
Value for money
Value for money plays a major part in the Commission’s selection of suppliers.
Details of the criteria we will use to evaluate costs are in Scope of Work 1, above
and direct comparisons will be made with other shortlisted service providers.
Cost quoted for media monitoring
service, as per Scope of Work 1a.
20
Cost, if any, to add or remove key
2
words (1b)
Cost, if any, to add or remove
2
names from email distribution list
(1c)
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 12 of 13
Restricted commercial
Set up costs, if any and reasonable
justification provided (1d)
System in place for refunds, and
value of each refund (1e)
Costs for transcripts and for
recordings of broadcast coverage
(1f)
Suitability of Service Level
Agreement
(Assessment of the proposed SLA
submitted by tenderers)
Quality of account management
(Assessment of relevant responses
to the requirements and analysis of
the tenderer quality
assurances/controls systems in
place, communication, proposed
relationship and reporting)
Maximum weighting
Total weighting for trial period and
written service delivery criteria
Total weighting for value for money
Maximum possible score
5
3
2
4
3
40
45 + 15
40
400
Notes
The Electoral Commission reserves the right to challenge any cost that is perceived
to be unreasonably low or high, the findings may have an impact in the final score
awarded in the cost criteria.
Media Monitoring Tender
Ref: C0080-MP-COMMS
Section two - scope of work
Page 13 of 13