Cowlitz Economic Authority Seeks Brand Identity & Multi-Channel Marketing Partner With Tribal Focus
At a Glance Buyer: Cowlitz Economic Authority (CEA) Industry: Tribal economic development Location/markets: Ridgefield, WA; regional economic development Primary scope: Brand identity + multi-channel marketing strategy for CEA; extend system to Cowlitz Tobacco Outlet Key deliverables/channels: Logo suite, tagline, visual standards, brand style guide + booklet; marketing plan (digital/print/social); content; templates (incl. Canva) Budget: Not specified Contract type/te… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
Des Moines Public Schools Marketing & Communications Evaluation Services: From Audit to Actionable 3–5 Year Plan
At a Glance Buyer: Des Moines Independent Community School District (Des Moines Public Schools) Industry: Education / Public Sector (PreK–12) Location/markets: Des Moines, Iowa Primary scope: Communications + marketing audit, strategic recommendations and roadmap, website and social modernization, and implementation support Key deliverables/channels: Comms/marketing audit (incl. staffing + benchmarking); multilingual communications strategy; 3–5 year plan (budget + timeline)… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
Seminole County PR And Marketing Services: Task-Order Pool for High-Visibility Gov Comms
At a Glance Buyer: Seminole County (Office of Communications) Industry: Government/Public Sector Location/markets: Seminole County, Florida (Sanford, FL) Primary scope: Public relations, advertising, marketing, and multimedia services on a task-authorization basis Key deliverables/channels: Comms strategy; key messaging/talking points/FAQs; social media management + content; photo/video/reels/graphics; community outreach + events; media relations; design (digital/print); rep… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
University of Illinois Chicago College of Business: SEO, PPC, Creative + Enrollment Services
At a Glance Buyer: University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) College of Business Industry: Higher Education Location/markets: Chicago, Illinois; Domestic market (online and on-campus programs) Primary scope: Graduate student marketing, recruitment, and retention solution Key deliverables/channels: Market research + competitive analysis; positioning; creative; paid media buying; SEO/PPC; prospect nurturing; enrollment + retention services; reporting/ROI dashboard Budget: Not speci… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
University of Michigan-Dearborn Advertising Agency Search: $650K–$750K Annual Multi-Channel AOR
At a Glance Buyer: University of Michigan-Dearborn (University of Michigan) Industry: Higher education Location/markets: Dearborn, Michigan; regional and national recruitment/awareness Primary scope: Manage, expand, and optimize multi-channel advertising for brand + student recruitment Key deliverables/channels: Strategy/media plan; creative (existing + new as needed); media buying; campaign management; reporting Budget: $650,000–$750,000 annual all-in (plus potential one-time/college-specific investments) Contract type/term: 3-year agreement with option to extend for two additional 1-year periods Key dates: Questions due Jan 30, 2026 (11:30 PM EST); responses Feb 4, 2026; proposals due Feb 27, 2026 (11:30 PM EST); presentations (if required) Mar 9–13, 2026; selection Apr 10, 2026; negotiations Apr 13–May 1, 2026; project start May 11, 2026 Eligibility/must-haves: Qualified supplier; provide agency overview + relevant experience (esp. higher ed/nonprofit), case studies/references, team bios, strategic approach, sample reports, collaboration model, and detailed pricing (incl. media spend management fees); willingness to sign standard agreement with minimal exceptions Why This Could Be Interesting The University of Michigan-Dearborn (UM-Dearborn) is one of the University of Michigan’s three campuses, serving 9,000+ students and recruiting across southeastern Michigan and beyond. They’re hiring an advertising agency partner to manage, expand, and optimize a multi-channel advertising strategy that supports brand awareness and student recruitment. UM-Dearborn has run a digital-first approach internally since 2015, and signals a step-change in ambition with a substantial budget increase starting July 2026 (annual all-in budget stated at $650,000–$750,000). This is built for continuity, not a quick sprint: the University expects a three-year agreement with two optional one-year extensions. They anticipate kickoff in May 2026, with the goal of being in-market by September 2026 for the next recruitment cycle—so agencies that can ramp quickly and then optimize over time should find this appealing. Best suited for agencies with higher-ed or nonprofit experience, strong paid media operations (search, social, programmatic), and comfort collaborating closely with an in-house Integrated Marketing Strategist and senior leadership. Proposal deadline: February 27, 2026, at 11:30 PM EST. View the full RFP here. Download the RFP here.
How Chili’s Relevance Playbook is Anchored in Value and Culture
At a Glance Interviewee: George Felix, SVP & Chief Marketing Officer Company: Chili’s Grill & Bar (Brinker International) Location: Dallas, TX Website: https://www.chilis.com Industry: Casual dining restaurant brand Company Notes: 1,576 restaurants globally, with strong recent same-store sales momentum Best-Fit Agencies: CRM and lifecycle, social and creator, media and measurement, brand and integrated, PR and partnerships, customer experience Source: Brand New World… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
Where Agencies Fit as ModMed Rebuilds for Enterprise Scale
An analysis of the executive conversation and our research, surfacing the priorities and opportunity lanes agencies can leverage to win new business. At A Glance Interviewee: Justin Steinman, Chief Marketing Officer Company: ModMed Estimated Revenue: Location: Florida headquarters Website: https://www.modmed.com/ Industry: Healthcare SaaS; specialty EHR, practice management Company Notes: PE-backed, fast-growing platform serving 40,000+ specialty providers across 15+ … Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
The Mindset Shift That Shaped Justin Steinman’s CMO Style
Executive: Justin Steinman, Chief Marketing Officer Company: ModMed Industry: Healthcare SaaS; specialty EHR, practice management Company Snapshot: PE-backed, fast-growing platform serving 40,000+ specialty providers across 15+ specialties. Format: CMO Journeys Interview In This Article Why It Matters Their Path, in Short Big Themes From the Conversation How They Choose the Right Agency Partners What Stood Out The Inside Scoop Why It Matters Justin Steinman is the Chief Marketing Officer of ModMed, a specialty-focused healthcare SaaS company that supports tens of thousands of providers with EHR, practice management, revenue cycle, patient engagement, and AI-driven tools. He has spent much of his career moving between healthcare, data platforms, and software, often wearing both the CMO and GM hat at the same time. That mix gives him a rare view of how story, numbers, and operations all fit together. For agencies, his journey is a masterclass in what a modern, operator-minded CMO looks for in partners—and how he actually makes those decisions. Their Path, in Short Justin didn’t start in marketing or healthcare. He started as an English and history major who fell in love with storytelling at a college newspaper. Running The Daily Dartmouth, he learned to write on deadline, accept edits from tough editors, and motivate dozens of unpaid student volunteers to ship a paper five days a week. That’s where he first learned how to lead, empower, and hold a high bar for quality without crushing people in the process. After business school, he joined Novell and stepped into the world of enterprise technology. Over time, he gravitated toward healthcare and healthcare IT and stayed there. He talks about himself as a storyteller who wants to understand people’s challenges and then figure out how the company he works for can help improve their quality of life—not just their efficiency or revenue. People buy from people, he says, and stories that speak to emotional needs beat “corporate gobbledygook” every time. At Definitive Healthcare, he sat on top of a massive healthcare data set and launched a podcast, “definitively speaking.” Each episode used real data as a jumping-off point for conversations with industry leaders. The show wasn’t a product pitch. For him, success was simple: if someone walked away thinking the podcast was interesting and connected Definitive Healthcare with data in their mind, the job was done. He has also led as both a GM and a CMO, owning P&L while running brand and demand. That experience shaped how he thinks about marketing as a lever for growth and how he talks to other operators about pipeline, bookings, and awareness in ways they actually understand. Along the way, he’s led high-stakes moments such as a full company rebrand at Insora Health, where the business changed its name from Therapy Brands. For those “once in a company’s life” moves, he’s turned to agencies with deep repetition and expertise. Today, as CMO of ModMed, he’s energized by two things: a culture he describes as full of decent people with low ego, and a product he genuinely believes in. He points to an AI product demo he ran live, unscripted, for fifteen minutes on stage in front of 1,200 customers. It worked so well that ModMed put that unedited demo video on the front page of its website. For someone who admits he has “sold some vaporware” earlier in his software career, that kind of reality is a big deal. Big Themes From the Conversation One theme that comes up again and again with Justin is storytelling. He calls himself a storyteller and says he’s always been drawn to learning about people and sharing what he learns. In his view, each person is “the collection of their stories,” and the same is true for brands. He believes that if you can connect with a buyer on a human level, you can cut through the buzzwords that usually clog B2B marketing. Another theme is craft—especially the craft of writing. He talks about getting rewritten early in his newspaper days by people who now write for places like The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. That experience taught him how to write and how to take feedback. It also taught him how to enforce quality while still appreciating people’s effort. Those lessons show up in how he leads teams under pressure now. Justin also sees marketing as a customer-service business. His “customers” are not just buyers and physicians; they’re internal teams too: product management, sales, sales engineering, HR, finance, even investors. Having lived in a GM seat, he understands the pressure of “trying to hit my number and using marketing as a lever.” That’s why he pushes his team to translate complex marketing activity into simple, operator-friendly metrics like pipeline coverage, SQLs, bookings, and clear brand health numbers such as awareness and consideration. Scale is another recurring idea. Justin thinks in systems. He talks about building a marketing organization where everyone in the company has a single point of contact into “the marketing machine.” He organizes around core functions like product marketing, marketing operations, demand generation, corporate marketing, and partner marketing. Then he connects those to ModMed’s own structure—product teams on one side, specialties and sales segments on the other—so that planning becomes one integrated story, not a set of disconnected campaigns. That story, for ModMed, is the “AI powered practice.” It’s a single idea that can flex. A dermatology marketer can talk about building an AI-powered dermatology practice. A product marketer can talk about building an AI-powered practice with specific tools like the EMR or an AI ambient solution. Justin’s line is simple: if you stand for everything, you stand for nothing. One master story, with smart customization, is how he keeps the company focused. Finally, his leadership philosophy is grounded in bringing people along. He shares advice from an early mentor: it can be better to get 80% of the way to your destination with 100% of the people on board than to arrive alone. He’s honest that he used to be
CMO Moves – Week of January 26, 2026
Asad Ayaz named Chief Marketing and Brand Officer at Disney This is a newly created role and the first time Disney has put a single top marketing leader across the entire company. The remit is built around a more connected approach to how Disney reaches audiences, elevates campaigns, and supports business goals across segments. Agency lens: A unified, cross-segment marketing organization signals more integrated brand + campaign work across creative, media, and experiential…. Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
