University at Buffalo (UB)
Over the past several years, the university has made operational excellence a priority. Operational excellence is about identifying areas to increase efficiency and effectiveness without compromising quality. It means the university must think differently about how it has historically conducted business and used data to drive decision-making. During the operational excellence review of communications and marketing practices universitywide, which was conducted by University Communications (UC), creative services was identified as an area with high potential for the optimization and modernization of business practices in order to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
A universitywide contract serves multiple purposes:
Many units across campus use outside vendors for creative services. Thus, it was deemed important to have a reasonably large selection to ensure timely service and appropriate attention to each unit. We also wanted to provide a range of vendors, from individual freelancers to full-service creative agencies—with expertise in a variety of areas—allowing each unit to find the best fit for their particular projects.
Each of these contracts has a five-year term that runs through July 2028.
If you are using state funds, you must fill out a request for quote form that is automatically sent to each vendor. The project will be awarded to the lowest bidder. If you are using UBF or RF funding sources, you will begin by filling out a short creative brief. This will help the vendor understand your creative needs as well as the timing. The vendor will then schedule a kickoff meeting to review the brief with you and/or your team. (Please refer to the step-by-step procedures for more detailed information.)
Please review the vendor information page, which outlines their specialties, as well as presentations and websites to view more of their work.
No, the creative services contracts do not allow for print buying or other production costs. To select a print or production vendor, each unit is responsible for following all applicable procurement guidelines and policies. This includes competitive bidding requirements to ensure price reasonableness. Your creative services vendor may recommend print or production vendors to include in the bidding process. Contact Procurement if you have questions regarding contracting with print or production vendors.
The following services are not part of the creative service contract:
You will need to work with one of the eight vendors awarded the contract for all creative/design service projects. The exception would be for editorial services such as copywriting. You are not required to use these vendors for editorial services, including proofreading. Additionally, if you receive creative services from a freelancer who is a sole proprietor and they are paid via an honoraria, you may continue to use their services.
We have every confidence that the selected group of vendors will be able to get up to speed quickly and provide exceptional service to your unit. University Communications is available to help ensure a smooth transition from your current vendor to one of the selected vendors for this contract.
If you are in a contract or formal agreement with another agency, vendor or freelancer, please contact University Communications and Procurement Services. Together, we will discuss how you can best transition while adhering to any current contractual obligations.
Several factors were considered by the committee in the selection of these eight vendors, including not only price but the quality of their work and their experience in the higher education/non-profit sectors. Additionally, the eight vendors receive annual training from UC to ensure brand compliance.
The pricing from our pool of eight vendors is very competitive; the range of hourly rates available is most likely in line with your discounted rate and may even be lower. Therefore, a transition to one of the eight vendors should not impact your project budget.
Finally, it is important that all of UB’s business operations are in alignment with SUNY and state ethical and procurement requirements. Leveraging these universitywide contracts ensures quality and business continuity.
The request for quote form is a requirement made by the New York State comptroller when using state funds. There are signficant advantages to the university as a whole for this process, including time and cost effeciencies for multiple units, brand consistency, low contractual risk and more.
See Q2 for more information on the benefits of leveraging this shared contract.
If you have multiple jobs or jobs that span multiple years that would benefit from using the same vendor, you may fill out the request for quote form for multiple projects. An example of a multiyear quote might be a semiannual newsletter, or viewbook development in year one and simple updates in year two. An example of multiple jobs is a campaign that contains pieces that work together, like a postcard, brochure and poster that are part of one cohesive campaign. Requesting a quote for multiple jobs at once is an acceptable practice as long as the unit includes a strong business case for requiring continuity with one creative agency. In order to do so, the unit must outline each project, including deadlines and other details, within the initial request for quote form.
There is no penalty to a vendor for declining to bid on a project, regardless of the reason. They are not required to provide further information.
In the unlikely scenario that none of the eight vendors are able to complete your project, please contact University Communications and Procurement Services to discuss your options.
Vendors may ask questions to the unit representative who filled out the original RFQ via phone or email. If the question and answer are significant enough to change the hours quoted, the question and answer should be remitted to all vendors via email.
The unit should notify all vendors about the correction via email and it may provide more time to submit a response, depending on the scope of the error. The RFQ should not be resubmitted.
Vendor responses are due by 11:59 p.m. on the fifth business day from when it was received. For example, if an RFQ is sent by a UB unit at 11:05 a.m. on a Friday, vendors must submit a response by 11:59 p.m. on the following Thursday.
The unit representative must notify all vendors of the job cancellation via email.
The unit representative may select the vendor between the lowest cost options.
The unit representative must notify the lowest-cost vendor and all others who submitted.
Regardless of the project's funding source, a creative brief provides a clear outline of the project’s scope and helps the vendor understand all aspects of the project: the objective, target audience, voice and tone of the creative, along with deliverables and timeline. It puts everyone on the same page and makes the ensuing discussions more efficient and effective.
For state-funded (including IFR-funded) projects, if work has already begun, the project must be re-quoted using the RFQ process. If the project was awarded to a vendor but no work has begun on the project, the unit may select the next lowest bidder.
If UBF or RF funds are used, the unit may simply select another vendor. Please notify UC in this event.
If, during the course of your project, you find the scope has changed, please discuss this with the vendor. If these changes result in a cost increase, the vendor must provide an updated estimate, and in turn, you will provide written approval of the new costs before work can begin again. For example, a 12-page magazine has grown into 24-pages. This does not apply to entirely new, ad hoc projects, e.g., a request for a poster when only a brochure was indicated in the RFQ. In these cases, a new RFQ must be submitted.
For a UBF/RF-funded project with a purchase order, a change order is required to reflect the project's change in scope. Please send the updated estimate to Procurement Services (Bethany Scibetta) and request a change order on the PO.
For state/IFR-funded projects, no formal change order is needed. For record-keeping purposes, you may attach the updated estimate to the original ShopBlue order as a comment. However, since an individual PO was not issued for the project, no further action is needed.
You can use state (including IFR), Research Foundation (RF) or UBF funding sources.
For projects using state (including IFR) funds, no change orders are required. Simply submit an invoice with the higher amount once the project is complete. For record-keeping purposes you may wish to add any updated estimates for your project to the ShopBlue order as a comment.
For projects using RF/UBF funds, units can follow the typical change order process.
For projects with state/IFR funds, please send it to creativeinvoice@buffalo.edu with an OK to pay and the account number to be charged. For projects with RF/UBF funds, follow the standard receiver process.
To assist with SIRI reconciliations, the charge will appear on the unit's account number that was given during the ShopBlue order and the description of the charge will show as Invoice Date, Vendor Name, Invoice Number (i.e., 2/1 Big Yellow Taxi – 1234).
If copy is supplied directly by the UB unit, the vendor is not liable for any text errors. Proofreading is incumbent on the unit to facilitate. Should you require additional editorial services such as copywriting and proofreading, the selected vendor may provide them at an additional fee. However, there is no requirement to do so.
No, University Communications has provided one license per vendor for the typeface families of Sofia Pro, More Pro and Freeland for the term of this contract.
Every effort was made to assemble a committee representing a cross section of the university. The nine committee members were:
Please reach out to University Communications with any further questions.