“How much did that program cost?” is one of the first questions that people ask when presentations are made at conferences of large, federally-funded communications programs. I’m not always sure if the question is an earnest one or asked more to buttress a position that “we can never do that!” Well, your questions may have been answered in a new report released in January by the Government Accounting Office (GAO).
At the request of members of Congress, the GAO conducted a review of federal government contracts with media vendors - including public relations firms and advertising agencies - in fiscal years 2003, 2004 and the first two quarters of 2005. The report that it released in January identified seven departments that accounted for nearly 100% of such contracts (N=343) including the departments of Commerce (DOC), Defense (DOD), Health and Human Services (HHS), Homeland Security (DHS), Interior (DOI), Treasury and Veterans Affairs (VA). Altogether, these agencies spent $1.62 billion on media contracts during this time period: $1.4 billion (87 %) with advertising agencies, $197 million (12 %) with public relations firms, $15 million (1 %) with media organizations, and $90,000 (less than 1 %) with individual members of the media.
The report contains summary data about each of these contracts including the type of agency awarded the contract, a brief scope of work, and dollar amounts obligated each fiscal year. Applying the OIT (ocular impact test – total value for single contracts over the 2 ½ years unless otherwise noted), here are the top 20. Note that the links are to pages selected by me as descriptive of these programs. I do not know if they are the actual products of any of the contracts listed below.
- Advertising for Navy recruitment activities – $194,261,891
- Advertising for the Air Force Recruiting Program - $179 million
- Advertising and PR support for the ‘Verb’ campaign – $170,584,599 (3 contracts)
- Advertising for the Marine Corps recruitment efforts -
$133,885,354
- Public relations for the Medicare Multimedia and Education Campaign – $72,942,740
- Public relations for the Public Education and Awareness Program for Next Generation U.S. Currency – $54,395,180
- Advertising of the JAMRS program – $47,565,908
- Advertising for the IRS communications, marketing and
taxpayer information program - $41,460,206
- Advertising to promote the US Mint’s “core products” - $26,783,398 (2 contracts over 3 years)
- Advertising for US Mint 'numismatic products' sold to the
public – $16,689,492 (2 years)
- Advertising for the National Flood Insurance Program Marketing and Communications Outreach - $14,510,151 (2 years)
- Advertising for the Medicare Multimedia and Education Campaign (“Spanish Market”) - $13,359,942 (2 contracts; 2 years)
- Public relations for various CDC public health-related media services and campaigns – $7,191,502 (2 contracts)
- Advertising for the DHS Ready Campaign – $6,348,017 (2 years)
- Advertising to support VA health care staff recruitment - $5,603,000 (2 years)
- Advertising to educate the public about the features and benefits of Treasury securities and the availability of the products - $5,203,622
- Public relations for the Go Direct [Deposit] Pilot Campaign - $5,334,450 (2 years)
- Public Relations for the Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign - $4,999,817
- Public relations for the National Diabetes Education Program - $4,728,442
- Public Relations for Hispanic outreach by the Agency for Health Research and Quality - $4,201,050
Determining whether these or other programs deserve more or less (or any) communications and marketing support dollars was not the point of the report. Its purpose was to document the array and diversity of communications efforts being funded by the federal government. I’m sure that many of you are already forming opinions about what is and isn’t on the list (and there are some I don’t really understand either, but that’s what the links are for. The ONDCP Media Campaign is located in the Executive Office of the President and therefore not included. Don’t know why the Army recruitment contract is not included in the GAO report – but you are free to guess).
The large dollar amounts spent by some of these programs are attributable to advertising (paid media) costs. This reflects a communications mix (media buying) decision aimed at maximizing control over the content, reach and frequency of messages to priority audiences (what I also refer to as the ‘command-and-control’ strategy). Some readers will turn away from this list mumbling about how expensive a ‘social marketing’ campaign is – though there aren’t too many programs on this list that were explicitly designed as a social marketing effort. However, there are literally dozens of other federally-supported social marketing programs (and even more at the state and local level funded by other sources) that in no way involved these types of media buying costs.
High research and implementation costs are a common misperception (especially among people who should know better) of what constitutes a social marketing program. Yet on closer inspection what is usually the object of their derision (envy?) is a well-funded advertising campaign. For the rest of us, we learn about new techniques and strategies that focus on other elements of the marketing mix and less expensive research and communication tactics that can be applied by virtually any organization in its everyday life – it isn’t just about ‘THE BIG STUFF.’
Technorati Tags: Advertising, GAO, Federal Media Contracts, Public Relations
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