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Hardcore TV licence evaders will be the targets of a new

advertising onslaught following the appointment of the Abbott Mead

Vickers group to spearhead the crackdown.

The group was appointed to handle above- and below-the-line work on the

£9 million account after one of the most prolonged and complex

pitches of recent times.

It takes on the assignment through its partnership with Capita, which

successfully bid to provide contact centres and field operations.

The decision means that AMV will produce above-the-line work while its

associate companies, Proximity and Fishburn Hedges, handle direct

marketing and PR respectively. PHD has been re-appointed to handle media

buying.

The win is the biggest ever for AMV group companies working together in

a simultaneous pitch. The WPP group and TBWA/London, the incumbent, also

pitched.

BBC chiefs believe that even a small percentage increase in the number

of TV licence payers can make a big difference in the amount of revenue

collected.

But a source warned: "When you're having to communicate with hardcore

evaders the creative work has got to be spot-on."

Zarin Patel, the head of revenue management for BBC TV Licensing, cited

"the ability to be innovative and to work in partnership with the BBC"

as the reason for appointing AMV and Capita.

The decision was the culmination of a huge procurement exercise

stretching back to May last year. So many agency staffers were involved

in the initial briefing that a BBC theatre at Broadcasting House was

unable to hold them all.