Home Office seeks agency for ID card marketing work

The Home Office is seeking an agency to create an advertising and marketing campaign to promote its controversial ID cards under its new National Identity scheme.

While still in its early stages, the pitch is expected to be for a multi-million pound campaign including press and radio. It will consist of four phases targeting foreign workers, airport workers, students and any British citizens voluntarily opting for the scheme.

The scheme, led by the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, will begin in November this year, with non-EEA foreign nationals being asked to apply for an ID card. Within three years all foreign nationals applying to enter or remain in the UK will be required to have a card. The first phase of the advertising campaign will focus on educating the population about this aspect of the ID scheme.

The second phase of the campaign will then focus on why people working in sensitive roles or locations, such as airports, will need an ID card. Following this, students will then be targeted, with young people allowed to apply for an ID card by 2010 on a voluntary basis.

The final part of the campaign will be to inform British citizens that anyone who is enrolled on the National Identity Register will be able to apply for an ID card, with the aim of accelerating the roll-out of the scheme.

The aim of the campaign will also be to dispel any misconceptions about the national identity scheme and educate people about the “facts”.