The cost of government tweeting almost doubled as its
spin doctors tried to follow citizens and reporters through
cyberspace, a report revealed today.
Following audiences online boosted its digital marketing
expenditure 84% to £40m, the
Central Office of Information (COI), the government's in-house
marketing communications agency, said in its
annual report this morning.
The report showed that government departments and public sector
bodies spent £540m on marketing and communications through COI
during 2008/09, up 43% on the previous year.
The COI said this was despite a 49.9% reduction worth £241m in
media costs "against recognised industry benchmarks" from
centralised buying. It also claimed £50m in savings in
publications, direct marketing and events.
Spending on advertising was up 35% to £211m, but adspend dropped
as a proportion of COI's overall turnover, it said. During 2008/09,
there were campaigns tackling issues such as obesity, smoking, road
safety and climate change.
Mark Lund, COI's CEO, said government campaigns help save lives
and save money. Smoking rates and road deaths were now the lowest
on record. The online tax returns campaign generated savings of
£547m, he said.