£100m Brexit blitz nightmare for direct mail industry

The Government’s £100m Get Ready for Brexit campaign, designed to unite the country ahead of the October 31 Halloween “Exit Day”, has turned into a horror show for the direct mail industry after it was revealed most of the budget will go on TV, social media, outdoor, roadshows – and even branded mugs.
The campaign, devised by Engine, began on Sunday with the launch of a website, gov.uk/brexit, with posters and social media ads set to be unveiled this week; the TV activity will not be aired until later this month. The adspend has been set at £100m, although there is an additional £38m being spent supporting the initiative.
An image showing one of the campaign posters was issued by the Cabinet Office at the weekend, however, there has been no confirmation it will include either direct mail or door-drop activity.
The campaign is designed to tackle widespread confusion among both businesses and consumers about what will happen after October 31. It follows Government research which shows that only 50% of the population think it is likely the UK will leave the EU on that date, while 42% of small-to-medium sized businesses are unsure of how they can get ready and just 31% of the British public have looked for information on how to prepare for Brexit.
The push will target a wide range of audiences, including UK citizens intending to travel to Europe and all exporters to the EU, alongside groups requiring particular information such as the equine industry and legal professions.
The official website includes a section under the headline “Using personal data in your business or organisation if there’s no Brexit deal” which has not been updated since it was published on February 6 this year.
The main advice is to sign up for email alerts to get the “latest information”. In the meantime, businesses are urged to review their contracts “and, where absent, include Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) or other Alternative Transfer Mechanisms (ATM) to ensure that you can continue to legally receive personal data from the EU/EEA”.
Finally it urges businesses to visit the Information Commissioner’s Office site to read its advice.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove said: “Ensuring an orderly Brexit is not only a matter of national importance, but a shared responsibility. This campaign will encourage the country to come together to Get Ready for Brexit.”