COI appoints 25 agencies in first sponsorship move

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The Central Office of Information has appointed a roster of 25 sponsorship and promotion agencies as part of its move into programme production and sponsorship.

MediaVest, Sponsorvision, Broadcast Innovation, Inside Broadcast, BBJ Media Services, Drum PHD, Carat, CIA-owned Mediavision Integrated (MVI) and MindShare have all been appointed to the roster on sponsorship and production.

The COI has also shortlisted agencies to work in four other areas: sponsorship consultancy and evaluation, packaging and selling of sponsorship to the private sector, sponsorship exploitation and sales promotion.

News that the Government would become involved in programme sponsorship was exclusively revealed in Marketing Week (January 28).

The COI posted a notice in the Official Journal of the European Community at the beginning of the year seeking agencies with expertise in sponsorship. At the time, ideas such as government-funded programming featuring the life of an army recruit or a TV game show were among the more colourful proposals considered by the COI.

Samantha Mercer, head of sponsorship and promotions at the COI, says: “The new roster will enable us to fulfil a demand from our clients for providing a more integrated solution to marketing problems.”

The COI will give no further details, saying only that it is still “very early days”.

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