In the 12 months to July 2007 the Home Office has implemented advertising campaigns covering its policy responsibilities relating to crime reduction, drugs, internet child protection, alcohol harm reduction, recruitment of police community support officers, local trials of the single non-emergency number, employing illegal immigrants, domestic violence and the passport application procedure for first time applicants.
These policies and programmes affect the lives of millions of people and in order for them to work they must be communicated effectively. A campaign will only be implemented where there is a clear role for communications in achieving the overall policy target. All campaigns are managed with cost efficiency in mind and there are strict rules to ensure value for money on Government advertising. All advertising media are bought using COI framework media agencies which have clear targets for achieving value for money.
Effective evaluation of campaign advertising is standard departmental practice. Particular evaluation techniques will depend on the objective of the campaign and the nature of the advertising implemented, however the Department would typically use a combination of:
Spontaneous and prompted advertising awareness and recall of messages;
Changes in key audience attitudes before and after the campaign;
Changes in claimed behaviour in key audiences before and after the campaign;
Specific policy/product detail recall;
Agreement with relevant statements (pre/post);
Response to advertising where appropriate (telephone, coupon, website);
Econometric analysis;
Advertising media cost audits.
Of the major advertising campaigns undertaken during this period, the Acquisitive Crime Reduction campaign has achieved 90 per cent. recognition with 60 per cent. of respondents claiming the adverts would make them take more precautions to protect them from becoming a victim of crime.
The alcohol ‘Know Your Limits’ campaign achieved 84 per cent. prompted recall of the TV advertising. Additionally 82 per cent. of respondents said the advertising made them rethink the consequences of drinking too much
The Police Community Support Officer recruitment campaign generated over 52,000 requests for application packs, helping achieve the recruitment target of 16,400 recruits—with those aware of the advertising campaign twice as likely to consider being a PCSO as those who were not (13 per cent. v. 5 per cent.).
The FRANK drugs helpline awareness campaign has achieved recognition among 94 per cent. of its key 15 to 18-year-old audience, with 70 per cent “very” or “quite likely” to call FRANK if they needed information in the future. Additionally, 81 per cent. of young people would recommend FRANK to friends.
Additionally, the Home Office is working with Cabinet Office on a number of initiatives to improve the efficiency of civil service recruitment process, such as combining advertising with other Departments where possible to reduce advertising costs. The Home Office is also contributing to an OGC-led initiative for a central framework contract for head-hunters and recruitment consultants.