A freeze has since been placed on government advertising and marketing spend by the new Government. During this financial year only essential new and existing campaigns will be allowed to continue.
Mark Lund, COIs Chief Executive said:
COI must play its part in helping reduce the deficit. This year we are more focussed than ever on achieving outcomes at a much lower cost. We anticipate more partnerships with brand owners, media owners and civic groups, as well as increasingly innovative approaches to joining up paid-for and other media channels.
COI is currently undertaking an internal review of its shape and size to ensure it remains efficient and effective, during the freeze and beyond. This includes assessing the services it delivers and establishing new opportunities offered by the evolving media landscape.
The COI annual report shows that during 2009/10, government spent a total of 531m on marketing and communications through COI, down 9m on the previous year. Expenditure on advertising accounted for 193m of this total, compared to 211m in 2008/9. While digital marketing expenditure (online advertising) rose 10% to 44m.
The report highlights COIs continued role in driving significant efficiencies and savings for Government. Its centralised buying position meant it was able to negotiate a 47.7% reduction in media costs against recognised industry benchmarks, a saving of 204m. This is in addition to the 52m savings made across a range of other services including publications, direct marketing and events. In the year ahead COIs new media buying contract with M4C will generate further savings for any essential advertising required.
The report shows that COI prioritised three areas to help achieve better outcomes for Government during 2009/10;evaluation, digital engagement and behaviour change.
In partnership with colleagues across Government, COI worked to develop innovative tools and approaches to drive both efficiency and effectiveness, and to streamline the procurement of communication and marketing services.
This included developing new guidance on behaviour change; the first-ever paper on calculating Payback - the absolute financial benefit delivered by marketing - and Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI) in the public sector; and a new flexible way for Government to access its supplier frameworks.
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