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The Central Office of Information has appointed eight agencies to

its first strategic planning roster.

Manning Gottlieb Media, The Media Edge, MediaVest, Naked, New PHD,

Optimedia, Unity and Zenith Media beat Starcom Motive and OMD to the

final list.

The COI's spend on media next year is expected to top £150m.

More than 26 agencies applied; ten were shortlisted. As part of the

pitch, the shortlisted agencies were asked to respond to two briefs, one

for public safety information, the other for recruitment.

The successful agencies will compete against each other for

projects.

They will work independently of the media buying agencies selected last

year and, crucially, of the creative agencies. Until now, strategic

planning for the COI has fallen to its roster of creative agencies,

including Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, St Luke's and Delaney Lund Knox

Warren, which appointed their own media strategy partners.

According to COI chief executive Carol Fisher, the aim of the roster

review is to create a more equal partnership between creative and media

planning agencies.

"Media planning has to move up the agenda," she said. "Creative agencies

and media planners need to recognise the increasing importance of

specialist audiences and make this central to their strategic

planning."

The broad sweep of agencies selected - from more mainstream agencies

such as MediaVest to communications specialists such as Naked and Unity

- reflects the complex task faced by the COI in targeting increasingly

fragmented audiences.

The COI's roster of creative agencies is currently under review, with a

decision expected by this autumn.