Directgov to hold pitch for 15m ad account

Directgov, the Government public services website, has shortlisted four advertising agencies for a £15m brief to help build traffic to the site. CHI & Partner, Farm, Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy and incumbent Chick Trott Smith will pitch for the business.

The site, which brings together information on public services, wants to develop a campaign that showcases the scope and nature of services available on Directgov and is expected to last two to three years. The review is being overseen by COI.

The successful agency will work alongside communication planning agency Naked to provide an integrated creative approach.

Jayne Nickalls, Directgov chief executive, says: “Directgov will be the prime digital channel to government services for the public. The depth and breadth of what this could eventually encompass is as vast as government itself. We want to work with an agency that can see the huge potential for, and the benefits of, making Directgov instrumental to the future of public service delivery.”

Directgov was launched in 2004 and plans to deliver the most citizen-facing government services by 2011. The site receives approximately 10 million visits per month.