The U.S. Census Bureau has started the hunt for advertising and PR agencies to help with its next once-a-decade survey of the American public. While the census doesn't take place for another four years -- the research will begin April 2010 -- the Census Bureau is already gearing up for the 2010 Census -- it spent $100 million on advertising and publicity for the 2000 survey.
The cost of no response
Census return rates are important because when mailed forms aren't sent back, enumerators are sent door to door to collect information from missing households. Those enumerators are expensive. In 2000, the Bureau estimated it cost an additional $30 million every time return rates dropped by just 1%.
It's all about the money honey
Unlike most government ad contracts, which call for advertising over a long period, the bureau spends a lot of money in a short time. A team of agencies led by WPP Group's Young & Rubicam executed the campaign for the previous survey.
Why you want your AD/PR agency to win the bid
The bureau hasn't said how much they will spend on the 2010 marketing push, but there are hints that there will be plenty of cash being spread around. They hope to reduce the costs of doing the census from the $12.3 billion that would be required to repeat what happened in 2000. One way to hold down costs: Get more households to submit their questionnaires. Who knew that you were that expensive to count. . .
Concluding Irony
One of the purposes of the census is to provide the government with information that helps determine the budget of social welfare programs. Who are the individuals not returning their census information? . . .the same people who live off of social welfare. Hum. . .we spend excess money to count the people who need to receive government assistance money to live. . .the irony. . .
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