Advertising Review Board annual report 2019-2020

A message about the Board

The ARB’s incumbent Chair, Will Stewart, resigned from his position as Chair effective March 3, 2020 after accepting a new role.

The ARB is grateful to Will for the fresh perspectives, deep industry knowledge and insightful advice that he shared with members of the ARB and clients alike. His counsel will be missed.

Background and mandate

Established in September 1985, the Advertising Review Board (ARB) is a regulatory agency of the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (MGCS). The ARB was created in order to demonstrate the government’s commitment to protecting the public’s trust in the awarding of advertising and communications contracts, as well as ensuring equitable and responsible practices are followed in the procurement of these services, and that value for money is delivered to government clients.

Under the authority of the Management Board of Cabinet (MBC) Procurement Directive on Advertising, Public and Media Relations, and Creative Communications Services, the ARB is designated as a mandatory central common service to support all Ontario government ministries and provincial agencies with fair and transparent processes that are geographically neutral, accessible to qualified vendors and drive value for money for the government.

The mandated activities of the ARB are to:

• function as the Ontario government’s primary contact with the advertising and communications sectors
• provide ministries and government agencies with assistance and advice on the acquisition of advertising and communications services
• establish all mandatory, enterprise-wide Vendor of Record (VOR) arrangements for advertising, public and media relations, and creative communications services through open competitive processes, including the corporate agency of record (AOR) contract for media planning and buying services
• conduct all second-stage competitions from existing corporate VOR arrangements, with an estimated contract value^{footnote 1[1]} of $100,000 or more
• audit, as necessary, the performance of all parties to any contract awarded by the ARB ensuring value for money and effectiveness of contract management
• conduct, when requested by government clients, competitive and non-competitive procurements (including second stage selection) from VOR arrangements with estimated values:
  • between $5,000 and $999,999 for Graphic Design procurements
  • between $25,000 and $99,999 for all other procurement assignments
• monitor and report on compliance with the Procurement Directive on Advertising, Public and Media Relations, and Creative Communications Services

Corporate VOR arrangements consist of advertising and communications suppliers that are pre-authorized to bid competitively for government projects. The open competitions to establish these contracts are both extensive and rigorous, and are conducted by the ARB in strict adherence to the principles of fairness, accessibility and transparency that conform to government procurement guidelines and policies.

Contracts valued at $5,000 and more on graphic design assignments and $25,000 and more on all other ARB assignments (advertising, public relations, etc.) are competitively awarded based on supplier capability and experience. Second stage selections from existing corporate VOR arrangements typically involve three or more candidates.

Ministries and government agencies may use their own procedures for the acquisition of services valued at less than $5,000 for graphic design assignments and less than $25,000 for advertising and public relations assignments provided the principles of access, equity and value for money are considered.

Overview of programs and activities

Procurement of advertising and communications services

A primary activity of the Advertising Review Board (ARB) is the fair and transparent procurement of advertising, public and media relations, and creative communications services for government clients. The organization has well established processes in place to fulfill this mandate.

Corporate contract arrangements that have been created by the ARB for mandatory use by ministries and government agencies include:

• advertising and marketing communications services pool (34 companies)
• public relations and communications services pool (17 firms)
• graphic design and creative services Vendor of Record (VOR) (107 companies)
• media planning and buying agency of record (AOR)
• AOR for regulatory, statutory and tender notices, and recruitment advertising

Additionally, in 2019 three media pilots were established for the purposes of exploring media contracting strategies:

• Agency of Record (AOR) for Media Planning and Buying Contingent Workforce
• Vendor of Record (VOR) for Creative and Media Planning and Buying Services
• Vendor of Record (VOR) for Digital and Social Media Services

Developed by the ARB to provide qualified suppliers with fair and equitable access to Ontario government business, the large-scale open competitions used to create the corporate supplier pools and VORs are extensive and rigorous and usually require several months to complete.

There are typically two stages:

1. evaluation of written submissions received online from proponents
2. capability presentations by the short listed candidates

Contract opportunities are:

• posted electronically on the Ontario Tenders Portal which maintains geographic neutrality in making the opportunities available to any interested party
• advertised nationally in accordance with Ontario’s trade agreements, appearing in electronic online trade publications, such as:
  • the daily online edition of Strategy Magazine
  • the daily online edition of Media In Canada

Interested parties must respond in writing online by a specific closing date.

Respondents are invited to attend a mandatory briefing where the competitive process and client service requirements are outlined, and a detailed information package is provided that includes the competition timelines, account profile with full contract details, capability questionnaire, conflict of interest/registered lobbyist and tax compliance declarations, description of the government’s contractor security clearance process, mandatory requirements and pro forma agreement.

Proponents are required to attend the mandatory briefing session in order to participate in the competitive process, and a teleconferencing option is always offered. There is an opportunity for written questions following the briefing, which are responded to in writing and shared with all attending candidate companies.

The first competitive requirement involves proponents’ submission of written proposals in response to the capability questionnaire by a specified due date and time. All rated criteria relate directly to the evaluation of capability and relevant experience and have assigned points. Candidate submissions are provided to review panel members, who score independently against the questionnaire values. Review panels typically consist of the ARB Chair and/or Managing Director, one or more Private Sector Members and up to two Ontario Public Service senior client representatives.

Following the independent evaluation of written submissions, panel member scores are tabulated and the short list is established. Candidates with submission scores that meet the minimum published threshold advance to the final stage of the competitive process.

Short listed proponents are required to attend a secondary mandatory briefing where the next stage of the competition is explained. A description of the final capability and selection criteria is distributed and lots are drawn for presentation times. An opportunity for written questions is also provided. No further contact between candidates and the review panel is permitted after this meeting.

The outcome of the ARB competitive process is determined by the final capability stage. For the corporate vendor pools and VORs, all short-listed proponents whose scores meet the minimum published requirement are recommended. When a single contract is being awarded, the candidate with the highest total score is declared the winning firm. Prior to the awarding of contracts, the final supplier recommendations are approved by the Deputy Minister of Government and Consumer Services.

Contracted vendors in the corporate pools and VORs are required to be available to bid for future government projects on a non-exclusive basis. There is no guarantee of any dollar volume of work or that projects will be allocated equally, a condition that all interested and successful proponents are made aware of in writing.

Specific projects from government ministry and agency clients are awarded to these vendors on the basis of a competitive second-stage selection process. When client requirements cannot be serviced by existing corporate arrangements, due to unique or highly specialized vendor requirements or timing, consideration is given to undertaking an invitational or open competitive process.

In order to initiate a second-stage vendor selection for the procurement of services, government clients are required to provide a detailed project brief to the ARB. This document outlines the advertising or communications need, scope of services and deliverables, estimated budget and proposed term of the vendor engagement.

The ARB recommends three or more candidate firms from the appropriate pool or VOR arrangement that will be invited to make in-person capability presentations or submit written proposals in response to the procurement project brief. These are evaluated by a selection panel comprised of ARB and/or client representatives, depending on the total estimated contract value.

Second stage vendor selections are determined by client needs, relevant vendor capabilities and experience, demonstrated results on previous projects and proposed professional fees. These criteria are judged by the scoring panel based on the proven ability of candidates to successfully service client requirements.

Any proponent may request a debriefing on their written submission and/or capability presentation following the completion of an open competitive first stage process or invitational competitive second stage selection. For open competitions, short-listed candidates who are not awarded a contract are automatically offered a debriefing.

Debriefing sessions consist of a quantitative and qualitative review of the proponent’s submission and/or presentation. Industry response to ARB debriefings has always been highly positive. Many vendors have reported that they have been able to successfully leverage this feedback to improve their subsequent submissions and/or presentations.

Media AOR management

Management of the two, government media planning and buying AOR relationships is another major responsibility of the ARB, to ensure government clients are well served by these vendors, and receive good value for their advertising spending in terms of cost efficiency and effectiveness.

In addition to liaising with the media AOR vendors on an ongoing basis, this involves the monitoring of enterprise wide advertising expenditures and placements, providing informed counsel to clients on all aspects of their media requirements, identifying new opportunities for improved tracking and annual development of comprehensive guides.

The media landscape is dynamic and ever-changing, which requires the ARB to remain informed of new communications channels, as well as transformative developments in media planning, buying and measurement techniques.

Reporting

Monitoring compliance with the MBC Procurement Directive on Advertising, Public and Media Relations, and Creative Communications Services is undertaken by reporting annually on the use of advertising and communications services by ministries and government agencies. Responses from government client organizations for 2019-20 indicate that there is compliance with procurement requirements and guidelines.

The Government Advertising Act, 2004 includes a requirement for the Office of the Auditor General to report on annual ministry expenditures for reviewable advertising items. The two media AORs are a primary source for this information.

Review of operations

Open competitive processes

One open competitive process was conducted in FY 2019-20 to establish a new Graphic Design and Creative Services VOR. This new VOR established a newer mandatory use threshold at $5,000 and higher while encouraging participation of small and medium sized enterprises (“SME”s) by breaking the opportunity into two streams:

• Stream One for projects valued between $5,000 and $24,999
• Stream Two for projects valued $25,000 and higher

Stream One was further broken down into 8 individual design service categories with bidders allowed to join one or more of those categories as they deemed fit. Stream Two was designed for larger-sized vendors that demonstrated capabilities across all 8 design service categories.

To ensure full accessibility to all interested parties (regardless of size or location), the competition was launched online on the Ontario Tenders Portal on June 21, 2019.

New contracts took effect November 1, 2019 for a 2-year term with 107 vendors:

• 77 vendors in Stream One across 8 subcategories
• 30 vendors in Stream Two

See Appendix I – ARB Vendor of Record Lists for the listing of all vendors in this new VOR arrangement.

Invitational competitions

During the year, the ARB conducted 4 invitational competitions where a limited number of vendors were invited to compete for specific assignments:

• Media Pilots setup to explore media contracting strategies:
  1. Agency of Record (AOR) for Media Planning and Buying Contingent Workforce
  2. Vendor of Record (VOR) for Creative and Media Planning and Buying Services
  3. Vendor of Record (VOR) for Digital and Social Media Services
• Multicultural Publication Circulation Audit

Second stage supplier selections

Considerable ARB activity was dedicated to supporting the second stage selection of contracted suppliers to fulfill the particular needs of government clients.

Invitational competitive second stage procurements for contracts valued at $100,000 or more were directly managed by the ARB, and processes for assignments valued at less than $100,000 were handled by individual ministries and government agencies under the ARB’s guidance and oversight.

The quality assurance questionnaires introduced by the ARB in 2017 continue to be a mandatory post-assignment requirement for both clients and vendors, allowing the ARB to:

• obtain constructive feedback from each party to an assignment
• monitor performance effectiveness and the quality of service delivered by contracted communications vendors to clients

Advertising & marketing communications services pools

During the year, 6 second stage procurements for contracts valued at $25,000 and more^{footnote 1[1]} were undertaken from existing VOR arrangements on behalf of 6 government client organizations.

Public relations & communications services pool

A total of 5 second stage assignments from the mandatory-use corporate VOR were completed for 4 ministries and government agencies for projects valued at $25,000 or more.

Graphic design & creative services VOR

The needs of 1 government ministry were fulfilled through 4 second stage selections that were undertaken from the corporate graphic design and creative services VOR.

• 2 competitions ran in Stream One (valued between $5,000 and $24,999)
• 2 competitions ran in Stream Two (valued at $25,000 and higher)

Vendor of Record for creative and media planning and buying services

One second stage assignment from this media pilot VOR was completed for one ministry client.

Vendor of Record for digital and social media services

One second stage assignment from this media pilot VOR was completed for one government agency client.

Direct assignments

From time to time, the ARB receives written requests for ministry and agency clients for single-source assignment (“Direct Assignment”) of a project to a specified vendor. Such requests are predicated on the client already having obtained any needed internal approvals for single-source award prior to approaching the ARB.

During the year, the ARB finalized 4 direct assignments to address the needs of 3 ministry clients and one agency client.

Media AOR management

ARB’s centralized and dedicated oversight for the two media planning and buying AOR relationships remained strong, driven by the organization’s critical and evolving media management role to:

• enforce greater supplier accountability relative to the quality and timely delivery of contracted services against increasingly complex client requirements
• monitor the efficient and effective allocation of government advertising expenditures

In this capacity, the ARB consulted regularly with Cabinet Office Communications as well as client ministries and government agencies on a wide range of media matters, including major planned campaigns, conducted ongoing reviews of AOR activities, and continued to implement improvements to campaign tracking protocols.

Industry relations

Ensuring a productive and positive relationship with the advertising and communications sectors is an ongoing priority of the ARB, with the accessibility of senior management and members of the Board a key aspect to maintaining favorable industry relations. More than 40 companies were debriefed by the ARB during 2019-20.

The ARB supports the interests of three key communications industry organizations: Advertising Standards Canada (ASC), the Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA) and the Institute of Communication Agencies (ICA).

Communication and education activities

The ARB has a diverse and complex network of stakeholders:

• general public
• advertising and communications communities
• government client organization communications staff at all levels
• ministry staff
• central agencies

Key messages communicated to these constituents continued to focus on corporate directives, as well as ARB procurement processes and services.

Government client communications have been enhanced with ongoing refinements to the ARB Intranet site, and electronic distribution of comprehensive User Guides for the corporate pools and VORs. These contain detailed guidelines on the acquisition and use of advertising and communications services, as well as tools and templates.

Additionally, the ARB will continue a communications outreach program for government clients, including educational seminars/meetings with communications branches, and presentations to government stakeholders.

Staffing

During the past year, the ARB employed five full-time staff:

• Managing Director
• Media AOR Manager
• Senior Communications Advisor
• Senior Communications Advisor
• Procurement Officer

Fiscal performance

ARB financial expenditures for 2019-2020 were $0.978 million. Expenditures were lower than the authorized budget due to staff changes and reduced spending.

* Represents 2019-20 Printed Estimates Allocation and in-year TBO approvals

Operational performance

The ARB assesses its annual performance against the following:

• ensuring the timely and efficient acquisition of advertising and communications services through fair and transparent competitive selection processes that comply with the MBC Procurement Directive on Advertising, Public and Media Relations, and Creative Communications Services (the Advertising Directive)
  • ARB commits to briefing, competing via second stage process and awarding Advertising, PR and Graphic Design contracts within a maximum of 10 business days provided no requested pauses or changes by Ministry, Cabinet Office or Government Agencies
  • as of September 2019, ARB began tracking timelines and will provide an annual report back on compliance to the timing. The ARB is not committed to shortening the timeline, but maintaining this timeline consistently as a service standard, as the process requires considerable steps and resources to ensure value for money for government ad spend.
• reinforcing its reputation as a respected, responsive and expert business partner among internal clients and stakeholders, as well as external communications communities
  • semi-annually, ARB conducts client customer satisfaction surveys. Beginning Q4 2019-2020, surveying will be expanded to include a vendor satisfaction survey that will be executed through the Ontario Tenders Portal (OTP).
• continuous improvement to the organization’s portfolio of service offerings
  • the ARB continuously considers adjustments to the portfolio of service offerings and was recently granted approval to conduct media pilots for the purpose of advancing contracting skills/learning and making potential changes to the Advertising Directive
  • as a result of the recent Agency Task Force Review process, ARB is considering a number of recommended changes including:
    • with report back on resourcing implications, consideration will be given for ARB to provide procurement services to the Broader Public Sector
    • extending the ARB Board’s contracting powers to reduce resource and burden to government on routine procurements
• compliance with timely reporting of government spend to the Auditor General’s Office
  • annual reporting of Advertising Communication and Creative Services government spend by medium, channel and Ministry or Government Agency per compliance to the Advertising Directive
  • annual reporting of government spend by medium, channel and Ministry or Government Agency via the media Agency Of Record to ARB and reported to the Auditor General’s Office annually

ARB board

The current ARB Board is comprised of a part-time Chair and seven part-time private sector members. All are Ministerial appointments pursuant to the MBC Agencies and Appointments Directive.

Per diem remuneration while acting on ARB matters is $744 for the Chair and $472 for other members.

Total per diem payments for the year were $73,648.

Active board members

Part-time private sector Chair

• William Stewart
  December 1, 2018 – March 3, 2020

Part-time private sector members

• Kiriakos (Charlie) Angelakos
  July 5, 2012 – September 9, 2022

• George McNeillie
  March 26, 2018 – December 31, 2021

• Casey Roswell
  March 26, 2018 – December 31, 2021

• Farhaan Ladhani
  November 13, 2018 – November 12, 2020

• Leah Ouellet
  November 30, 2018 – November 29, 2020

• Edward Torres
  February 8, 2019 – February 7, 2021

• Amanda Walton
  February 8, 2019 – February 7, 2021

Appendix I - ARB vendor of record lists

Advertising & marketing communications services vendor of record

(July 9, 2017 – July 8, 2021: Initial three-year term + first one-year term extension)

• Agency 59 Ltd.
• Arrivals + Departures Communications Limited
• BBDO Canada Corp.
• Bensimon Byrne, a division of Tadiem Inc.
• BT/A Advertising Inc.
• Central Station Marketing Inc.
• Cleansheet Communications Inc.
• Cossette Communication Inc.
• DDB Canada, a division of Omnicom Canada Corp.
• Doug & Partners Inc.
• FCB Canada, a division of The Interpublic Group of Companies Canada, Inc.
• Forsman & Bodenfors (kbs+p Canada LP)
• Grey Advertising ULC
• Jan Kelley Inc.
• John Street Inc.
• Juniper Park\TBWA Communications ULC
• Leo Burnett Company Ltd.
• Lg2 Toronto Inc.
• Manifest Communications Inc.
• Marshall Fenn Communications Ltd.
• McCann Worldgroup Canada Inc.
• Naked Creative Consultancy Inc.
• Ogilvy & Mather Canada, a division of WPP Group Canada Communications Limited
• Outpost 379 Inc.
• Public Inc.
• Publicis Canada Inc.
• Purpose (9354808 Canada Inc.)
• Rain43 (VCA Inc.)
• Rethink Communications Inc.
• Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Inc.
• Sid Lee Inc.
• STC (Scott Thornley and Company Inc.)
• The Hive Strategic Marketing Inc.
• Union Advertising Canada LP

Public relations & communications services vendor of record

(December 22, 2017 – December 21, 2020: Initial three-year term)

• APEX Public Relations Inc.
• ACI Argyle Communications Inc.
• Citizen Optimum LP
• Cohn & Wolfe (3618960 Canada Inc.)
• Crestview Strategy Inc.
• Edelman Public Relations Worldwide Canada Inc.
• Enterprise Canada Inc.
• FleishmanHillard HighRoad Corp.
• GCI Communications Inc.
• Hill+Knowlton Strategies, a division of WPP Group Canada Communications Limited
• Media Profile Inc.
• Narrative, a division of Tadiem Inc.
• national Public Relations Inc.
• Proof Inc.
• The Colony Project LP
• Veritas Communications Inc.
• Weber Shandwick (CMGRP Canada Inc.)

Media planning & buying agency of record

(July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2020: Initial three-year term + two one-year term extensions)

• Omnicom Canada Corp. as represented by its division PHD Canada

Regulatory, statutory, tender notices & recruitment advertising agency of record

(August 1, 2015 – August 31, 2020: Initial three-year term + two one-year extensions)

• Day Communications Group Inc.

Graphic design & creative services vendor of record

(November 1, 2019 – October 31, 2021: Two-year term + two one-year term extensions)

• 1dea Design + Media Inc.
• 3 Apples High Inc.
• 76Design, a division of Thornley Fallis Communications Inc.
• Accurate Creative (Accurate Design & Communication Inc.)
• Agency59 Ltd.
• AN Design Communications (Aubut & Nadeau Services Inc.)
• Anne Hoover Design and Communication
• Anoo Concept Inc.
• ACI Argyle Communications Inc.
• ASAP Design Inc.
• Atlantica Content Studios Inc.
• Awake Studio Inc.
• Bailey Design Associates
• Banfield-Seguin Ltd.
• Barrettandwelsh Inc.
• Beacon Creative Inc.
• Blok Design Inc.
• Blue Planet Design Inc.
• Blueprint Agencies (Blueprint IT Works Inc.)
• Bold Graphic Communication Ltd.
• BT/A Advertising Inc.
• BTI Brand Innovations Inc.
• C Group Ltd.
• Camden Advertising Inc.
• Canvet Publications Ltd.
• Cellule Design, Souche créative Inc.
• Clark Marketing Communications (2045162 Ontario Limited)
• Cleansheet Communications Inc.
• Cober Solutions (Cober Printing Ltd.)
• Co-Effect Creative Inc.
• Colour Coding Media Inc.
• Context Creative (1633023 Ontario Corporation)
• Costa Leclerc Design Inc.
• CS-Graphic Design Inc.
• Cundari Group Ltd.
• Daniel Blais Design
• Diamond Integrated Marketing (UTours Inc.)
• Digital 55 Inc.
• Doug & Partners Inc.
• Faren Design Partnership (The Faren Group Inc.)
• Field Day Inc.
• FIZZZ Design Corp.
• Fuelcontent, a division of the Interpublic Group of Companies Canada Inc.
• Grafiks Marketing & Communications (K.M. Sorensen and Associates Ltd.)
• Gravity Inc.
• Greg Dubeau
• Haft2 Inc.
• Halmyre (The Marketing Strategy Group Ltd.)
• Hope and Hoppen Design + Communications (Hope Creative Incorporated)
• Innovate By Day Inc.
• Intent (Hagon Design Inc.)
• J.L.C. Group
• Jacknife Inc.
• Jan Kelley Inc.
• Jason Brown
• Jordan C. Bowden
• Juniper Park\TBWA Communications ULC
• Kahntact (Jayzee Management Inc.)
• KickStart Marketing & Design Inc.
• Ledden Design
• Lindsay Smail
• Loopmedia Ltd.
• Louise Moritsugu
• MadMacDesign Inc.
• Marketing Breakthroughs Inc.
• Marshall Fenn Communications Ltd.
• McMillan (Gordon B. McMillan and Associates, Inc.
• MediaFace Inc.
• Michael Custode
• My Left Foot Inc.
• Neglia Design Inc.
• NIVA Inc.
• No Fixed Address Inc.
• Nuflux Media (Charles Walter Jenkin Rees)
• Ogilvy & Mather Canada, a division of WPP Group Canada Communications Limited
• Oliver Agency (Oliver Marketing Canada Inc.)
• Onetrackmind
• Out of the Blue Advertising & Design
• Overdrive Design Ltd.)
• PG Creative (Paul Gomirato Advertising and Design Inc.)
• Porter Hughes Gardner Inc.
• Public Good Social Marketing Communications, A Division of R&J Design Media Ltd.)
• PubliVate Inc.
• q30 design Inc.
• RallyRally (Jason Wall)
• Reactor Art & Design Limited
• Red Rhino Inc. (formerly Lashbrook Marketing)
• Rees + Stager Inc.
• Reflektor Digital Inc.
• Ryan/Smith Creative (Ryan/Smith Design Associates Inc.)
• Spark (2452030 Ontario Inc.)
• Spruce Creative Inc.
• STC (Scott Thornley & Company, Inc.)
• Studio 141 Inc.
• Studio Fourteen
• Studio Wyse Inc.
• tag idea revolution (The Autumn Group Advertising & Design Inc.)
• testerdigital (eddt inc.)
• The Letter M Marketing (MacMillan Marketing Group Inc.)
• Thistle Marketing Group
• Thorne Branding & Design
• Toc Toc Communications
• TWG Communications (Theodore William Inc.)
• Vividfix Inc.
• Voltaire Communications Corp.
• Whitman Emorson Inc.
• YJ Design (Yaroslawa Jakymiw)

Media planning & buying contingent workforce agency of record

(November 27, 2019 – November 26, 2020: One-year term with no extension options)

• Cossette Media Inc.

Creative and media planning & buying services vendor of record

(October 23, 2019 – October 22, 2020: One-year term with no extension options)

• Agency59 Ltd.
• Cossette Communication Inc.
• Initiative Media - FCB (Initiative Media Canada Inc.)
• John Street Inc.
• McCann Worldgroup Canada Inc.
• Ogilvy & Mather Canada, a division of WPP Group Canada Communications Limited

Digital and social media services agency of record

(November 29, 2019 – November 28, 2020: One-year term + one-year extension option)

• Blue Ant Media Solutions Inc.
• Dandelion Inc.
• Eyereturn Marketing Inc.
• MightyHolding Holdings Ltd.
• Noise Digital Inc.
• Triangles (Adpioneers Inc.)