RFI Tobacco

General Information: Document Type: Request for Information Release Date: July 11 , 2011 Response Date: July 20 , 2011 at 1:00pm EST via e-mail to Contracting Officer Contracting Office Address: Food and Drug Administration George Gonzalez, Contracting Officer George.gonzalez@fda.hhs.gov Description: Access to Tobacco Product Sales, Pricing, and Promotional Data and Analysis of Marketing and Social Media This is a Request for Information (RFI) to identify the capabilities of the marketplace of all interested parties. This request is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or as an obligation on the part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for any future solicitation. No official solicitation exists; therefore, please do not request a copy of a solicitation. If in the future an official solicitation is released, there is no guarantee that sources responding to this will be included on the source list. Telephone inquiries will not be accepted. The FDA makes no implied or in fact contract by issuing this RFI. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the FDA's view of the information received. Do not send any material that requires a non-disclosure agreement or that may be business sensitive. Responses received that include a non-disclosure agreement or identify information that is business sensitive will not be accepted. Responses to this notice will not be returned. According to FAR Part 10, Market Research, the results of the market research will be used to: i) Determine if sources capable of satisfying the agency's requirements exist; (ii) Determine if commercial items or, to the extent commercial items suitable to meet the agency's needs are not available, nondevelopmental items are available that- (A) Meet the agency's requirements; (B) Could be modified to meet the agency's requirements; or (C) Could meet the agency's requirements if those requirements were modified to a reasonable extent; (iii) Determine the extent to which commercial items or nondevelopmental items could be incorporated at the component level; (iv) Determine the practices of firms engaged in producing, distributing, and supporting commercial items, such as type of contract, terms for warranties, buyer financing, maintenance and packaging, and marking; (v) Ensure maximum practicable use of recovered materials and promote energy conservation and efficiency; and (vi) Determine whether bundling is necessary and justified. (vii) Assess the availability of electronic and information technology that meets all or part of the applicable accessibility standards issued by the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board at 36 CFR Part 1194. The extent of market research will vary, depending on such factors as urgency, estimated dollar value, complexity, and past experience. The contracting officer may use market research conducted within 18 months before the award of any task or delivery order if the information is still current, accurate, and relevant. Market research involves obtaining information specific to the item being acquired and should include- (i) Whether the Government's needs can be met by- (A) Items of a type customarily available in the commercial marketplace; (B) Items of a type customarily available in the commercial marketplace with modifications; or (C) Items used exclusively for governmental purposes; (ii) Customary practices regarding customizing, modifying or tailoring of items to meet customer needs and associated costs; (iii) Customary practices, including warranty, buyer financing, discounts, contract type considering the nature and risk associated with the requirement, etc., under which commercial sales of the products or services are made; (iv) The requirements of any laws and regulations unique to the item being acquired; (v) The availability of items that contain recovered materials and items that are energy efficient; (vi) The distribution and support capabilities of potential suppliers, including alternative arrangements and cost estimates; and (vii) Size and status of potential sources. Mission and Objectives: FDA anticipates the need for United States tobacco product sales and marketing data including information about sales, pricing, promotional activities, and advertising expenditures. FDA also seeks information/analyses/reports on tobacco product marketing and consumer interest through Internet and social media tracking. FDA is not interested in developing a database and expects any qualified organization to own the data as well as the means to access the data. The contractor must satisfy the following objectives to meet the program objectives. A. Provide FDA with currently existing, commercially available tobacco products sales data, pricing, and promotional information. Tobacco products include, but are not limited to: cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, pipe tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, cigars, e-cigarettes, hookah tobacco, dissolvable tobacco products, and tobacco accessories Data should also be in a form that can be downloaded by FDA for further analysis such as Excel or SAS. Data should be available by brand, sub-brand, UPC code, carton, pack or other unit measure. B. Provide FDA with at least five years of historical tobacco products sales data that is nationally representative but also provide data that could be analyzed on a regional and state level. The data should be collected using scientifically sound methodologies that are transparent to FDA personnel. Sales data should also be available by type of retail outlet. FDA also requests demographic information about purchasers. Data should also be in a form that can be downloaded by FDA for further analysis such as Excel or SAS. C. Provide FDA with currently existing, commercially available tobacco products sales data that can be analyzed on a national, regional, and/or state level. D. FDA also requests any available demographic information about purchasers including but not limited to age, race/ethnicity, gender, income, and education. Sales data should also be available by type of retail outlet and should be in a form that can be downloaded by FDA for further analysis such as Excel or SAS E. Provide FDA with immediate, direct, multi-user, desktop access to currently existing, commercially available data with a maximum of a 6-month lag time, i.e., time between the date of purchase and date of data availability for FDA use. F. Provide information on the emergence of new types of tobacco products by brand, or sub-brand, and type of tobacco product including information on when and where these products are introduced into the market (including test marketed products). G. At the request of FDA, provide future sales projection information. The report should contain elements such as adjustments for seasonality, population changes, regulatory changes, and the impact of new products. H. At the request of FDA, provide reports on advertising, marketing, and promotional strategies for tobacco products including trends, significant changes, and new approaches. Reports may include, but are not limited to marketing strategies by brand and sub-brand, type of retail location, expenditures on marketing (e.g. by brand, location, media type) by target population, communication modality, thematic content, type and extent of health claims. I. At the request of FDA, provide reports on tobacco products sold or promoted via the internet, including social media, and other remote sales. Reports may include, but are not limited to marketing strategies by brand and sub-brand, type of retail location, target population, communication modality, thematic content, type and extent of health claims. J. Provide FDA with direct, unlimited, Internet or network-based access to all data in a multi-user environment and in real-time. K. Allow FDA to share aggregate findings from reports or data analysis with other government agencies, non-governmental organizations and/or publish findings. L. Provide FDA ongoing technical support throughout the length of any possible contract. RFI Instructions: Please complete Part A, Specification Questionnaire, describing your company's capabilities; Part B, Size of Business and Part C, Estimated Dollar Value Range. Responses shall be: ? Identified with the RFI number ; ? No more than fifteen (15) pages in length; ? Not submit marketing materials; ? Submitted to the email as indicated above. FDA makes no implied or in fact contract by issuing this RFI. Acknowledgement of receipt of responses will not be made, nor will respondents be notified of the FDA's view of the information received. Part A. Technical Capability Specification Questionnaire: Does your company have the ability to provide tobacco product and tobacco product assessory sales data from your currently existing database with immediate automated access to the data that can also be downloaded for our use? Does your company have the ability to provide both current and historical national-level tobacco product sales information? Does your company have the ability to make national representative estimates of tobacco product sales using methodologies that are valid, reliable, and robust? Can the tobacco product sales data also be analyzed by other geographic categories such as region, state, or census tract level? Does your company have the ability to report sales data by retail outlet such as convenience stores or supermarkets? Do you have information on sales on tribal lands? What is the lag time between tobacco product purchasing and data availability? Does your company have the ability to generate estimates on a weekly or monthly basis? Does your company have the ability to make future sales projections of tobacco products by national, regional, or state level using methodologies that are valid, reliable, and robust? Does your company have the ability to provide purchasers' demographic data including of purchasers age, gender, race, and socio-economic status if available? Does your company have the ability to provide tobacco product-specific basic data elements such as brand, sub-brand, unit price code (UPC), package size, and manufacturer? Does your company have the ability to identify new tobacco products in the market including new brands and sub-brands and when and where they were introduced into the market (including test marketed products)? Does your company have the ability to provide reports on advertising, marketing, and promotional strategies for tobacco products and also reports on tobacco products mentioned or promoted on the Internet, especially through social media? Does your company have the ability to provide FDA staff with post-award training and written documentation related to using the data including at least two annual training sessions offered on site at FDA (Rockville, MD) and options for additional "on-demand" sessions either in person or via web-based methods? Does your company have the ability to provide ongoing technical, by phone or by e-mail for all certified trained users of the data during business hours (09:00 AM-5:00 PM EST) throughout the length of a possible contract? Does your company own the data as well as the means to access it regularly? What, if any, restrictions does your company place on sharing these data/reports/analyses with other government agencies or non-governmental organizations? Part B. Size of Business State whether your company is a large business, small business (and also state your socioeconomic status), College/University, or is a non-profit organization. Part C. Estimated Dollar Value Range Based on the government's mission and objectives and what dollar value range would you determine to be the most accurate rough estimate. Under $150,000.00 Over $150,000.00 and Under $500,000.00 Over $500,000.00 and Under $1,000,000.00 Over $1,000,000.00 and Under $5,000,000.00