Three to pitch for £2m crime prevention push

The Home Office has shortlisted three agencies for an estimated £2m crime prevention campaign.

Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/ Y&R, D’Arcy and J Walter Thompson are understood to be on the list, with pitches to be held in the next two months. The pitch will be administered by the Central Office of Information (COI).

The Department of Health is also seeking an agency for a £2.5m National Drugs Helpline (NDH) campaign.

St Luke’s, BMP DDB, Ogilvy & Mather and award-winning incumbent Duckworth Finn Grubb Waters are thought to have been shortlisted. The pitches are due to be held in the next two weeks.

The Government’s previous anti-drugs campaigns have been administered by the Health Education Authority (HEA), which is in the process of becoming the Health Development Agency. Its advertising remit is largely being transferred to the DoH, in partnership with the COI.

A DoH spokesman says the changes will not affect Duckworth Finn’s status as the agency of record for drug prevention work, and that the NDH campaign is a one-off project.

Eighteen months ago, Duckworth Finn won the Grand Prix award at the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s (IPA’s) Advertising Effectiveness awards for its £2.5m anti-drugs campaign.

Industry observers believe the Government will fund a large-scale drugs education programme to fulfil a manifesto promise.