Mediaedge scoops Jobcentre task

Mediaedge:cia has won a strategy brief from the Department for Work and Pensions to improve perceptions of its Jobcentre Plus employment service.

The media agency won the business, thought to be worth &£1.5m, following a three-way pitch that was handled by the COI. ZenithOptimedia and Booth Lockett Makin were also both involved at an earlier stage.

Mediaedge:cia has been tasked with developing a communications strategy to promote the services Jobcentre Plus offers to employers and job seekers.

The Government department wants to portray Jobcentre Plus as a professional and modern service and the through-the-line campaign is expected to highlight how the service allows users to search for jobs online and by phone as well as offering advice on training and benefits. It will also focus on a number of employer benefits.

COI last held a pitch for the business in 2004, when Manning Gottlieb OMD was appointed to work on media strategy. At the same time Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw picked up the advertising and direct marketing business.

Jobcentre Plus was launched in October 2001, with the aim of offering an integrated service. It will complete its national roll out later this year. The service came in for criticism from the commons Work and Pensions Select Committee earlier this year after attempts to cut jobs and reorganise collapsed in chaos last summer. The committee, which reported in March, said the service was now improving.