By Stuart Smith on March 28, 2013
For years, you’ve run your own brand consultancy. After successfully selling it, you step into the limelight as chairman of the Central Office of Information, only to find that mad axeman and part-time cabinet minister Francis Maude is cutting off at the knees the very organisation you’ve just been invited to head. What next? I [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, News, Politics | Tagged Chris Wood, coi, dom reilly, Dominic Reilly, fashion brand, Francis Maude, Government, marketing, Stuart Smith, williams f1 team
By Stephen Foster on February 28, 2013
The follies of the UK’s coalition government know no bounds and now this collection of muppets – who promised a ‘bonfire of the quangos’ when it came into power in 2010 – has produced a procurement system for agencies that would force any sensible and self-respecting agency to tell them to bog off. Before the [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, Finance, Media, News, Politics | Tagged cabinet office, coalition government, coi, creative framework, digital, direct marketing, Francis Maude, government advertising, government procurement service, ipa, Mark Lund, uk agencies
By Stephen Foster on September 24, 2012
Well that’s the logical conclusion from this story which appeared on Brand Republic last week, which I only caught up with today. Apparently one of the contenders lost its homework so the process has been delayed. Here’s the story. In an email sent to creative shops from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, Finance, News, Politics | Tagged Andrew Mitchell, brand republic, coi, government advertising, government procurement service, Grant Shapps, ipa
By Staff on September 11, 2012
Ambulance-chasing ads drive you up the wall if, like me, you end up watching too many digital channels of an afternoon as you escape from the computer before commencing the evening’s entertainments. But Now, the agency we forecast might become Then, has made its debut with a chirpy ad for one such company, Claims Direct. [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, News | Tagged claims direct, coi, Mark Lund, meerkats, now, vccp
By Stephen Foster on July 6, 2012
As most ad people in the UK now know, the COI (Central Office of Information), which handled government ad campaigns among other duties, has been nixed to save money; fair enough as the COI spent the stuff as though it was going out of fashion, although it does seem to have had some unintended (although [...]
Posted in News | Tagged cabinet office, coi, government advertising, ipa council, Jenny Grey, Paul Bainsfair, Wendy Proctor
By Stuart Smith on April 20, 2012
It may of course be a coincidence. But I suspect not, given the close timing. No sooner has Professor Terence Stephenson, speaking on behalf of 200,000 doctors, called for a ban on ‘junk food’ brands sponsoring sports events than up pops another prominent medic, advocating blanket ‘fat taxes’ on soft drinks and chocolates. Next step, [...]
Posted in Clients, News, Politics, Research | Tagged bannist tendency, bird flu, british journal of nutrition, coca-cola, coi, Dr Mike Rayner, fat taxes, national health service, obesity, obesity epidemic, pasty tax, Professor Susan Jebb, Professor Terence Stephenson, Stuart Smith
By Stephen Foster on April 4, 2012
New London agency Now calls itself an “agency for the accelerated world” but in its early days the agency seemed to go into rapid reverse. The agency was formed by former COI boss Mark Lund last year, seemingly with the £25m Waitrose account. But then creative Jeremy Carr decided to take the reins as a [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Creative, News | Tagged bartle bogle hegarty, bt business, coi, Creston, DLKW, Don Elgie, hmdg, Jeremy Carr, Ken Hoggins, Lowe, Mark Lund, Nick Hurrell, now, ogilvy & mather, oystercatchers, Sir Martin Sorrell, tbwa, Waitrose, WPP
By Stuart Smith on April 2, 2012
Cabinet Office minister Francis ‘jerry can’ Maude’s legendary communications skills were on full display last week, with a gaffe that caused the Government its worst wobble since the election. Let’s hope this is not an omen. Maude (pictured) is, among other responsibilities, the minister in charge of direct government communications. Meaning: he has been the [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Media, News, Politics, PR | Tagged audir commission, change4life, coi, daily mail, drink drive, Francis Maude, gcc, government communications centre, Jenny Grey, nhs, son of coi, uk government, Wendy Proctor
By Stuart Smith on March 7, 2012
Few in the ad industry will lament the departure of Steve ‘Yoda’ Hilton, David Cameron’s director of strategy. Indeed, such is the relief that he is going, some would willingly pack the diminutive ‘blue sky’ thinker’s bags, as he contemplates a year’s ‘sabbatical’ with his family in California. Politically speaking, California is the sunny side [...]
Posted in Agencies, Media, News, Politics | Tagged bailey report, blue sky thinking, california, children, coalition government, coi, David Cameron, demon eyes poster, Francis Maude, m&c saatchi, Maurice Saatchi, saatchi & saatchi, Steve Hilton, Tony Blair, Tory Party, us-style ad council
By Stephen Foster on June 23, 2011
The cost-cutting fanatics in the UK coalition government, headed by cabinet office minister Francis Maude, have finally axed the COI, the government information body that was Britain’s largest advertiser just two years ago. Here’s what they say: The reform of the organisation of Government communications has been announced today by Francis Maude, the Minister for [...]
Posted in Agencies, Clients, Finance, Media, News, Politics | Tagged central office of information, coi, communications delivery board, executive director, Francis Maude, ireland, libya, Matt Tee, scrapped, WPP
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