WHEN it comes to advertising, Tesco has proved that "every little helps". Unfortunately for the Scottish Executive it seems to be a case of "a lot makes little difference".
Ministers are planning to spend up to £68m of taxpayers' cash a year on advertising campaigns, a sum that would for the first time outstrip Tesco, which spends about £67m.
But while the retail giant goes from strength to strength, concern is grow
ing that the Executive achieves little with its massive budget. And the amount it spends continues to grow despite ministerial promises to cut back on adverts.
The details are revealed in an Executive tender for a contract to buy advertising for the government and all its agencies north of the Border, including the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service and NHS 24. The invitation to tender states: "It is estimated based on historical spend that the annual value will probably be between £48m and £68m."
The entire Scottish advertising industry is worth about £480m a year, meaning the Executive will pump in anything from 10% to 14% of the total.
But evidence is mounting that the Executive's numerous campaigns on television and radio have precious little effect.
A £510,000 anti-racism campaign, which started in 2003, failed to stem an increase in racist attitudes. A review even found an increase from 21% to 25% over the course of the campaign in the number of people who believed that verbally attacking asylum seekers who get housing and benefits in Scotland was justified.
Analysis of another campaign, this time directed at drug driving, found that many of the audience surveyed could not remember what it had shown or said. A recent £13m healthy eating campaign encouraged Scots to call a special hotline for advice. The line had so few takers that the cost to the Scottish taxpayer was £115 per call.
As recently as August 2002, the Executive announced a drive to cut the amount of money spent on advertising. "The First Minister is looking for savings of 25% and he wants to see full, independent assessments to ensure that every campaign represents good value for money for taxpayers," said a spokesman at the time.
The government's ongoing grip on advertising budgets is so tight that few advertising or marketing executives are prepared to talk openly for fear of losing lucrative contracts.
An advertising insider said: "Many in the industry would question their reliance on TV campaigns which cost money and it's questionable whether people actually see them.
"Changes in TV mean that fewer people watch commercial terrestrial TV and the new satellite and digital channels are usually impossible to get regional-specific ads on.
"There is little doubt in the industry that if the SNP or Lib Dems got in, advertising spend would be substantially cut."
But he added: "In a way, Tesco has it easier in that it's easier to measure whether things are working, you're either attracting more customers or you're not.
"The Executive tackles issues in which success is hard to measure or might take years."
The Scottish Conservatives' finance spokesman, Derek Brownlee, said the Lib-Lab pact had little to show after spending a "fortune" on advertising over the past eight years.
He said: "These figures show government answers about the amount spent have been economical with the truth. We now need the facts about the total for earlier years.It is time for Labour and the Lib Dems to come clean.
"I would not be surprised to find the spend had increased over the last few months as the election drew close."
A Scottish Executive spokesman said: "The contract notice is for the provision of media buying and planning over a period of 42 months for all agencies included and is not a commitment to spend. It is a legal requirement to specify approximate value in the notice."
Tesco declined to comment. The firm recently reported record profits but has been accused of over-dominance of the market. Its advertising strategy is widely admired in the industry. An analysis of its approach, carried out for the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, stated: "The idea was that whilst not everything in life goes perfectly, Tesco were doing their best to make at least one aspect - doing the shopping - a little easier.
"Although each of the 20 commercials that were made focused on one particular initiative, a new line, 'Every Little Helps' was used to capture Tesco's new consumer-oriented philosophy of always 'doing right by the customer'."
How they stack up
THE Scottish Executive and its associated agencies have an estimated advertising budget of up to £68m a year. Tesco spends around £67m.
The Executive and associated agencies and departments employ about 25,000 people. Tesco has 260,000 workers at its 1,300 UK stores.
Tesco's chief executive Sir Terry Leahy is paid £3.76m a year. First Minister Jack McConnell receives a salary of £126,610.
The Executive has tried to persuade Scots to use their cars less. However, ministers have been criticised for using large cars. Tesco has introduced organic and fair trade products but has received criticism for ferrying produce long distances.
The full article contains 866 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
