The Office for National Statistics has picked M&C Saatchi and Manning Gottlieb OMD to work on a creative and media brief as it plans to deliver the first predominantly online census in England and Wales.
The agencies will work on a campaign, which they say will be the biggest of its kind after the coronavirus outbreak, that will aim to reach more than 26 million households. The work will run across traditional advertising channels, as well as PR and digital.
The initial activity will consist of a community and schools partnerships launching this autumn. This will be followed by a major campaign launching in the first quarter of 2021, ahead of the census in March.
The campaign will aim to illustrate the importance of collecting data and statistics for the census to improve lives, particularly in light of the recent Covid-19 outbreak.
The government wants 75% of the population to complete the census online next year, compared with just 11% in 2011.
OmniGOV MG OMD’s dedicated department has been working on the government’s buying account since 2018. The agency picked up this planning brief after a competitive pitch process, as did M&C Saatchi.
This article was originally published by Campaign.