Scottish Government encourages media buyers from outside Scotland to tender
Media buyers from outside of Scotland are being encouraged to tender for the Scottish Government media buying tender, currently held by MediaCom Scotland.
Roger Williams, head of marketing and digital for The Scottish Government told The Drum that there was nothing preventing other media buyers from outside of Scotland tendering for the contract, but that they would need to open an office in the country in order that they could service the contract.
The tender has most recently seen MediaCom Scotland battle it out with Feather Brooksbank, with both companies having worked with the Government. It is now felt that the Scottish Government is looking for a more competitive tender process next year than in previous years.
“There are absolutely no rules or blockages against an organisation from out of Scotland doing it,” explained Williams who cited the appointment of the print and publishing contract to APS, which had to create a presence in Scotland as a result.
“They had to set up in Scotland, simply for common sense, as they couldn’t service the contract sitting in down south. So it shows that you can win Scottish business from outside, but you will need to have a major service here to service it from then on. So yes there are other media players who we hope will have a crack at this,” he added.
MediaCom Scotland was retained as the Scottish Government’s media buyer in November 2007, when it was thought to be valued at around £68 million although the marketing budget has been cut by half for this year and next as part of widespread public sector cut backs.
Yesterday, The Drum revealed that the Scottish Government was looking to highlight the value of its marketing and the return on investment it achieves, and that it would also look to set up private sector partnerships to co-fund future campaigns.