Determining children’s exposure and engagement with food and beverage advertising on social media platforms in Canada.

Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN)

Title: Determining children’s exposure and engagement with food and beverage advertising on social media platforms in Canada.

Solicitation Number: 1000226249

1. The Purpose and Explanation of an ACAN

An Advance Contract Award Notice (ACAN) allows Health Canada to post a notice for no less than fifteen (15) calendar days, indicating to the supplier community that a goods, services or construction contract will be awarded to a pre-identified contractor. If no other supplier submits, on or before the closing date, a Statement of Capabilities that meets the minimum requirements identified in the ACAN, the Contracting Authority may then proceed to award a contract to the pre-identified contractor.

2. Rights of Suppliers

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the services or goods described in this ACAN may submit a Statement of Capabilities demonstrating how they meet the advertised requirement. This Statement of Capabilities must be provided via e-mail only to the contact person identified in Section 12 of the Notice on or before the closing date and time of the Notice. If the Bidder can clearly demonstrate they possess the required capabilities, the requirement will be opened to electronic or traditional bidding processes.

3. Name and address of the pre-identified supplier
The Outlive Lab

40 Broadway Avenue

Ottawa, Ontario

K1S 2V6

4. Definition of Requirements or Expected Results

Health Canada (HC) leads the development of federal public health nutrition policies, including the development and promotion of evidence-­based dietary guidance and population-based strategies to create supportive environments for healthy eating. Food and beverage marketing affects children's food preferences and eating habits and reduces the effectiveness of healthy eating promotion, including uptake of Canada's Food Guide. Children are a priority audience for food guide implementation as eating habits established in childhood carry through to adulthood and influence risk of obesity and chronic diseases. ONPP leads the implementation of a monitoring strategy to survey the extent and power of food and beverage advertising directed at children in various settings, including digital media.

HC has identified digital media as a priority setting for monitoring food advertising because it is a significant source of children’s exposure to food marketing (children being defined as under the age of 18 years), in particular on social media platforms such as Youtube and Instagram. Food marketing on social media has been shown to negatively impact children and their eating behaviors. Research conducted in other countries has shown that children recall and recognize more unhealthy food brands from social media, view unhealthy food brand posts for longer periods of time, rate their peers more favourably when they have unhealthy food posts in their social media feed and wish to share such posts with their peers more often compared to social media posts for healthier foods or non-foods.

In Canada, the use of social media platforms (i.e. Instagram, Facebook) has increased markedly over the years and has become a part of day-to-day life. A 2020 survey released by Media Technology Monitor Junior found that 72% of Canadian teenagers use social media and spend increasing amounts of time online. For their part, food advertisers have cultivated an extensive digital media presence, especially on social media platforms, which they can use to promote their products and brands. Furthermore, food and beverage companies have a substantial online followings, including among teenagers, and their social media posts can reach large audiences. 

Monitoring the exposure of children to digital marketing of foods and beverages is substantially more challenging than monitoring advertising on television. In digital media, advertisements are not broadcast to large groups of people at the same time. Instead, marketers draw on behaviour analytics and search histories to target internet users, including children, with online behavioural advertising (OBA). Because OBA adjusts advertising specifically to the viewer/user, it is not currently possible to measure the extent of this advertising in contrast to broadcast TV advertising, where content can be viewed by all.

In part due to the difficulty of monitoring digital marketing of food and beverages, there is a dearth of research concerning Canadian children’s level of exposure to food marketing on social media platforms. As well, critical gaps in the Canadian literature exists in whether, and in what ways, children are engaging with food brands on social media. In fact, despite digital marketing being a major source of exposure to food advertisements, there is no data in Canada on whether or how children engage and respond to food advertisements and food brands on social media.

The primary objective of the data analysis is to establish baseline measurements for children’s exposure to food and beverage advertising on social media platforms in Canada. A secondary objective is to evaluate the methods of engagement used by food advertisers to market their products and brands to children, as well as how people respond to food advertisers on social media (i.e. through likes, mentions, shares).

5. Minimum Requirements

Any interested supplier must demonstrate by way of a Statement of Capabilities that it meets the following minimum requirements:

1. The proposed team must include a principal investigator and a minimum of two (2) research assistants who have a proven track record in supporting and conducting research studies on the subject of food and beverage marketing to children in substantive, theoretical and methodological terms.  
2. The principal investigator must possess a minimum of ten (10) years of experience, including within the past three (3) years prior to the ACAN closing date, in researching and analyzing children’s exposure with food and beverage advertising, and assessing marketing techniques used in child-appealing food and beverage advertisements, including in a digital setting.
3. The principal investigator must have published a minimum of ten (10) peer-reviewed publications on children’s exposure to food and beverage marketing in the Canadian context, including on digital marketing, and marketing techniques used in child-appealing food and beverage advertising, including a minimum of five (5) publications within the past three (3) years prior to the ACAN closing date.
4. The proposed team must have access to licensed data from the Brandwatch platform in order to interpret social media analytics and to perform a content analysis of online marketing techniques aimed at adolescents.
5. The proposed team must demonstrate the capacity to meet the proposed work requirements by March 31, 2022.

6. Reason for Non-Competitive Award

Section 6 of the Government Contracts Regulations contains four exceptions that permit the contracting authority to set aside the requirement to solicit bids. For the proposed procurement, the following exception applies:

(d): Only One Person or Firm is capable of performing the contract.

7. Ownership of Intellectual Property

Ownership of any Foreground Intellectual Property arising out of the proposed contract will vest in the Contractor.

8. Cost estimate of the proposed contract
The estimated value of the contract, including option(s), is $200,000.00 (GST/HST included).

9. Period of the Proposed Contract

The contract period shall be from date of contract award until March 31, 2022, including options.

1. Suppliers' right to submit a statement of capabilities

Suppliers who consider themselves fully qualified and available to provide the goods, services or construction services described in the ACAN may submit a statement of capabilities in writing to the contact person identified in this notice on or before the closing date of this notice. The statement of capabilities must clearly demonstrate how the supplier meets the advertised requirements.

1. Closing date for a submission of a statement of capabilities
   The closing date and time for accepting statements of capabilities is December 29, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.
2. Inquiries and submission of statements of capabilities

   Inquiries and statements of capabilities are to be directed to:
   Yvonne Murphy, Senior Procurement & Contracting Officer
   E-mail: yvonne.murphy@canada.ca