Government spend on traditional DM up by a third and still eclipses digital - but online is catching up

by Noelle McElhatton, marketingdirectmag.co.uk 21-Jul-09, 14:45

LONDON - The Government's spend on direct marketing grew by a third in the past 12 months, rising from £33.5m in 2007/08 to £45.6m in 2008/09.

Spend on what the COI calls ‘direct and relationship marketing’ still exceeds that on digital channels, though digital was the single biggest growth area of spend for the COI, rising 84% to £40m.

Spend on advertising grew by a similar amount to DM, rising 35% to £211m for the financial year 2008/2009.

"The DM budget is growing because direct media speak to the target audiences that the COI has," said Marc Michaels, director of direct and relationship marketing at the COI.

Michaels said the increased DM spend in the past year was partly attributable to the multi-channel Change4Life campaign and an extension of the 'tobacco control' campaign.

"Change4Life was a very big programme that needed people to sign up as quickly as possible, and at the same time we're looking after a larger part of the customer journey on the tobacco campaign," he said. "So we've grown our use of field marketing and experiential, as well as door drops and inserts, which are very effective at reaching everybody for the campaigns that need that."

Michaels emphasised that the COI "only uses media that work," a factor that led to the creation of the COI's Artemis campaign planning, response and conversion analysis system back in 2006.

Overall the Central Office of Information (COI) spent £540m on marketing and communications, up 43% on the previous year.

The figures, contained in the COI's 2008/2009 annual report, mean that the Government has become the UK's biggest advertiser.

COI roster agencies and suppliers include agencies Tequila\London, Targetbase Claydon Heeley and Proximity London, channel optimisers Lateral Group and contact centre supplier Teleperformance.