Scotland lobbies for a bigger slice of spend

The Scottish advertising and marketing services industry is forming a lobby group aimed at encouraging Scottish companies to spend more of their marketing budget north of the border.

A steering committee to put together ideas for a campaign targeting Scottish companies, the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament is already in place. The steering group includes representatives from the Marketing Society, the Direct Marketing Association and the Periodical Publishers Association.

Guy Robertson, managing director of Glasgow agency Guy Robertson Partnership and a Scottish representative of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), says that final plans for the body will be agreed this Thursday including “the name, the mission statement and an action plan”. He adds/ “One of the first things we will do is try to bring in other marketing disciplines – such as sales promotion.”

Phil Adams, managing director of The Leith Agency and chairman of the IPA in Scotland, says that a cross-industry working group was set up some months ago, after a major survey of the marketing services sector in Scotland, in conjunction with government body Scottish Enterprise.

Adams adds: “We do get less than our fair share of indigenous marketing spend, considering that the work that Scottish-based produce stacks up against anything clients would be able to buy elsewhere.” He emphasised, though, that the purpose of the campaign was not to push a “Buy Scottish” message, but to educate clients: “Some people aren’t necessarily aware of the depth of talent and expertise that is on their doorstep.”