FCA! nets 10m Millennium Bug
FCA! has beaten the Abbott Mead Vickers group to the 10m integrated marketing campaign by Action 2000 to encourage businesses to tackle the Millennium Bug.
An initial shortlist included AMV.BBDO with Barraclough Hall Woolston Gray, BMP DDB with WWAV Rapp Collins, and EURO RSCG Wnek Gosper with Evans Hunt Scott.
Only FCA! and AMV.BBDO were then asked to put their creative work into research before a final decision was made.
Action 2000 has been set up by the Department of Trade & Industry to tackle the “millennium time-bomb”, when it is feared computer chips will cease to function effectively because they will confuse the year 2000 with 1900.
FCA!, which is part of a second European-wide network within the Publicis worldwide group, will launch an above-the-line TV, press and outdoor campaign beginning in July. Direct mail is also being considered.
Niki Akhurst, marketing director of Action 2000, says: “We were particularly impressed with FCA!’s creative approach and its grasp of the issues involved.”
The campaign will be targeted at small- to medium-sized businesses and aims to persuade them to identify business systems and electronic devices which are unable to recognise the change of date.
A separate aspect of the campaign will be to encourage public confidence in the utilities and banking services.
