Royal Mail has launched a statutory review of its advertising, digital and direct marketing accounts amid plans to ditch the two tier structure – Proximity handles DM; AMV runs advertising – and pool the business into a single agency.
it is thought that the majority of the spend is likely to remain in the DM and digital sector as shrinking budgets have put paid to any thoughts of a massive TV campaign, especially as the organisation is undergoing a major cost-cutting drive to slim down for privatisation. The company’s last TV ad campaign was launched more than two years ago.
An official tender has just been released and agencies have until the end of the month to submit their plans. The initial contract will be for one year, with an option to extend this by two, two year terms.
AMV and Proximity began working on the Royal Mail account in 2003, and were reappointed in April 2008, after a pitch.
The review comes at a challenging time for the postal operator, with the Postal Services Bill returning to Parliament for its final reading tomorrow. It has been reported that Royal Mail plans to shed up to a quarter of its workforce in the next five years; a move which could trigger major industrial unrest, just when the company needs to make itself attractive to potential suitors as well as try to stem the flow from postal to digital communications.
Related stories:
Axe hangs over 40,000 postal jobs
Royal Mail cuts ‘too close to bone’
London faces fresh postal strikes
