Tory Party reviews 4.4m direct marketing account

The Conservative Party has begun a review of its direct marketing, which is worth an estimated £4.4m. It is understood the party is seeking to raise money and build public support.

It is thought the party has worked with a number of DM agencies on a project basis in the past. The Tory Party’s 2005 DM election campaign was created by M&C Group’s integrated agency Immediate Sales. The review is being handled by the AAR.

In the run up to the 2005 General Election, the Tories spent £4.4m of their £17.8m budget on direct marketing – an increase of 269% on the amount spent on the medium for the 2001 election.

In October last year, Euro RSCG London won the Conservative Party’s advertising account after a competitive pitch. The agency set up a subsidiary called Euro Referendum to handle the business.

In September 2007 – at the time of last year’s party conferences when speculation of a General Election mounted – it emerged that the Tory Party, led by David Cameron (pictured), had approached a number of London agencies but had received a poor response (MW 27 September, 2007). It was thought that several agencies declined to pitch for the account. Karmarama, which handles project work for the party, confirmed it had turned down the opportunity to create an election campaign.