AMV cops 2.5m Met business

The Metropolitan Police has appointed Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO to handle its 2.5m advertising account. The account moves from Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy, which had handled the business for over four years.

The Metropolitan Police has appointed Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO to handle its £2.5m advertising account. The account moves from Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy, which had handled the business for over four years.

MCBD repitched for the business with a number of undisclosed agencies following a statutory review called in May (MW May 28). The police force’s procurement department initially handled the review itself but COI later took over responsibility for the pitch.

The account covers all advertising services required by its Directorate of Public Affairs (DPA), including crime prevention marketing, and campaigns across issues such as drugs, terrorism, gun crime, hate crime, domestic violence and street crime. The appointment does not affect recruitment advertising or media planning and buying, which is handled by Mediacom and was reviewed last year.

AMV will begin working on the account from the beginning of next month, when MCBD’s contract expires. Met assistant director of public affairs Stephanie Day says: “strategically it was time for a change.”

MCBD has worked across a number of high-profile campaigns, such as Operation Trident, which aims to combat black-on-black crime in the capital, and Knife City, aimed at discouraging teens from carrying knives.