ANA/4As Standardized RFI Template

The Request for Information (RFI) originated in the realm of government contracting as a standardized way to gather preliminary information from potential vendors. Its initial purpose was to gain a broad understanding of the market landscape, available solutions, and vendor capabilities before embarking on a more formal procurement process. This allowed government agencies to make informed decisions and ensure competitive bidding.

For marketers looking for a marketing services agency, the RFI serves a similar purpose. It acts as an initial screening tool, allowing a marketer to gather essential, fundamental information from various agencies about their location(s), size, expertise, creative and/or media approaches, data capabilities, and potential fit for the assignment. By issuing an RFI, a company can efficiently compare agencies, narrow down their options, and identify suitable candidates for the next stage of the selection process, which might involve a request for proposal (RFP) or a more direct engagement.

Over the years, it appears that the scope of RFIs sent to agencies has expanded to a degree that the information requested in an RFI is conflated with the information requested in an RFP.

This benefits neither the marketer, who must sift through increasing volumes of data to find the right partner, nor the responding agencies, who must devote a tremendous amount of time crafting an appropriate response. It is essential that the RFI be as efficient as possible and only contain necessary information asks to alleviate bandwidth constraints for both marketers and agencies.

When surveyed, members of both the ANA and the 4As agreed there was a need to simplify the RFI and get back to its initial purpose, to serve as a screening tool. Further, both the ANA and the 4As agreed it would be in the best interests of the industry to develop a consistent, templated  approach, focusing on the key information a marketer would need for an initial evaluation of a potential partner.

The following template was created by an ANA/4As Member Task Force and is provided to help streamline and standardize the RFI, leading to a more efficient process for all parties. Thank you to all the task force members:

4As:
Judith Carr Rodriguez – FIG
Brandon Cooke – FCB
Amanda Hamilton – Horizon Media
Jason Parks – BarkleyOKRP

ANA:
Denis Budniewski – PwC
Chris DeMarco – PepsiCo
Kerry Kielb – AT&T
Ahmed Shereba – Campbell’s
Kwan Yim – Citi

Download the template (PDF)

Download the template (Word Doc)