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The COI looks set to increase its autumn spend on police

recruitment advertising following the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s

comprehensive spending review last week.

MediaVest, the COI’s incumbent agency, is the favourite to retain the

pounds 86 million account, which is under review.

The agency, working alongside a creative team from M&C Saatchi, has been

hatching plans for a pounds 7 million advertising push scheduled for

August and designed to attract 5,000 new police officers to the

force.

However, Chancellor Gordon Brown announced last week that he wanted to

boost the number of new officers by another 4,000. According to

insiders, this news is likely to push the ad budget from pounds 7

million to above pounds 10 million.

Home Office spokesperson Clare Stokes said: ’We are looking at national

recruitment and are planning a campaign at the moment.’ She would not

comment on the size of the increased budget.

The brief is to raise the status of policing as a career, placing

particular emphasis on recruiting more women and ethnic minority

officers.

The campaign is likely to be weighted towards areas where constabularies

have found recruitment difficult.

The push is expected to last for three years - Home Secretary Jack Straw

has promised the extra bobbies will be on the beat by 2003 - and will

use television press, radio and cinema.

The COI account is headed by MediaVest TV buying director Kevin

West.

This influx of revenue will come at the right time for media owners.

According to sources in television sales, the autumn period is looking

less than bountiful, with September revenues predicted to be at best

static, year on year. This revenue shortfall is due partly to the

decline in dotcom advertising, said one source at Granada.