COI to name winning agency this week

The Central Office of Information (COI) will appoint an agency to run its media planning account by the end of the week.

A much-anticipated announcement is expected over the next few days, with three agency collaborations still in the running for the four-year £250 million account.

Before Christmas, Starcom MediaVest Group and i-Level (under the name of Smile), Group M’s M4C and Aegis Media’s Carat and Posterscope all pitched for the business, which represents the largest media account in the UK.

It is the first time that the COI has consolidated its entire media buying business, which was previously split into individual media.

Last year, the COI spent a total of £211 million on advertising – an increase of 35% on the previous financial year.

During the recession, Government agencies remained one of the biggest ad spenders in the UK with hard-hitting campaigns such as the ‘Help protect against the spread of swine flu’.