Background:

The Halifax Chamber of Commerce is a business advocacy organization representing 2,000 members in Halifax. Together, our team, our members and their over 90,000 employees, act as a single powerful voice to promote local business interests. The volunteer board of directors and chamber staff undertake initiatives by request of, and on behalf of our diverse membership. Our membership is made up of mostly small businesses, meaning 25 employees or less. Our top industries include Business and Professional Services, Not-for-Profits and Real Estate and Construction companies.

Project Goals:

The Halifax Chamber of Commerce is seeking the services of a Member company to develop the spring 2025 marketing campaign. The campaign has two main goals: attracting new members and retaining current members. To accomplish this, the campaign should highlight what the Chamber does and represents, current Chamber members and member benefits, the value of membership, and the importance of supporting the local business community.

The successful agency will collaborate with the Halifax Chamber of Commerce to develop our key messages and effectively communicate the value of the chamber membership. Further detailed goals are as following:

• Increase membership to 2,100 businesses by 2026
• Sustain or increase our retention rate of 90%
• Increase engagement on each active social media platform by 2% by 2026
• Consistent high attendance rate for our 100+ annual events
• Maximize sponsor and partnership opportunities

Scope of Services:

#1: The digital and print campaign

The selected firm will be responsible for the development of a marketing campaign that can be used in both digital and print media platforms. We are looking for a variety of options (5+) in a variety of sizes to use in each media platform (both internal and external), including our Business Voice magazine, local news outlets, billboards, and social media platforms.

You can view our past campaigns here*.

*Please note we are not looking for an evolution of prior campaigns, we are looking for new ideas.

The campaign will run for the most part through the spring and summer, but we will continue to use the content in other campaigns or media for at least one year.

Additional:

The Chamber would like to be involved in a brainstorming session with the successful company to collaboratively contribute to developing the key messages and overall feeling of the campaign. This will include a few of our staff. From there, the successful company can develop the ideas and present 2-3 different campaign options for review, and we will select one with which to move ahead.

Budget:

The Halifax Chamber of Commerce’s complete budget for this marketing campaign is $15,000 +HST*.

The budget includes:

• Initial meeting with the Halifax Chamber team
• Development of print and digital campaign materials in a variety of sizes (including but not limited to social media sizes, magazine ad sizes, newsletter ad sizes)

*Budget can be adjusted if the provider is interested in sponsorship opportunities. Our Sponsorship packages include exposure to our membership along with the broader business community through; logo recognition on our media channels reaching 50,000+, a profile in Business Voice magazine reaching 25,000 readers, event tickets and much more. All sponsor benefits can be discussed to ensure value is provided.

Selection Criteria:

To comparatively evaluate the offers available from different companies, the Chamber is interested in receiving a one-page document outlining the following information:

• Competitive pricing and ability to work within our budget
• Ability to work with our timeline
• Experience and/or testimonials working on similar projects with similar clients with examples of your work
• Your organization will need to be a member (or become a member) in good standing of the Halifax Chamber to provide these services. 

 Timeline:

Deadline: All proposals must be received no later than 4PM on Friday, March 28.

The successful company will be selected by Friday, April 4.

The kick-off meeting will be April 7 or 8.

The campaign launch date will be during the week of May 5.

Contact: Completed proposals and questions should be directed to:

Emma Menchefski
Communications Manager
(902) 481-1239
emma@halifaxchamber.com