Author: Simon Perry
How Much Do You Think IW Council Spend on Advertising? VB Knows
12:19 pm Friday, 4th June, 2010, Isle of Wight
ShortURL: http://wig.ht/26t7
Read More- Business, Island-wide, Isle of Wight Council, Media, News
VentnorBlog has been carrying out some investigation into where the Isle of Wight council is spending money on adverts in the media.
We originally asked the council’s press office (as we have to with any questions to the council) for the figures. They said they couldn’t provide the information to us and that we’d have to request the data under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.
Late delivery broke law
The FoI law states that any request must be answered within the maximum of 20 days. Despite this, the council broke the law, delivering it 13 working days after the statutory FoI maximum. No reason was given.
We received a massive spreadsheet detailing payments made to media outlets.
Total spend
Labeled as the total amount spent in the year 2009-10 to date, the figure provided was over £900,000.
That broke down to
- £394,205.44 in Media Payments
- £170,301.62 in Recruitment Advertising
- £344,515.44 in Isle of Wight Council Image Campaign
Clearly there’s loads of information – too much for a single article – so we’ll be publishing the detail of it in a number of articles over the coming weeks.
As with all of these things, the devil is in the detail.
The Media Payments is the part we’ll look at first.
Which media source got the most money?
Which media source do you think the largest payment went to? How much do you think they received?
For the case of openness, we should state that VentnorBlog received £44 via the council. Not directly, but because they controlled the purse strings of a lottery-funded community project.
HOW MUCH !!!!
Why is there no money for the people who live here, but loads for the newspapers?
Offensive comment?
The £344K for the Image Campaign is tourism advertising. Aren’t we always complaining that the IW Council doesn’t spend enough on tourism??We can’t have it both ways!!
Offensive comment?
Ron,
Do you seriously think that tourist read the County Press?
Offensive comment?
Don, The Image Campaign is nothing to do with the CP. Its the tourism adventising campaign that is run on the mainland. Just shows how people can be misled by dramatic headlines.
Offensive comment?
Ron, we haven’t claimed the CP has anything to do with the image campaign.
Your comment tries to twist perception.
Not really sure how anyone could – even with an undeclared personal interest in this – call a headline “How Much Do You Think IW Council Spend on Advertising? VB Knows” dramatic.
We whole heartedly agree that the IWC needs to spend money on tourism advertising. The image campaign is a whole other article in itself.
Offensive comment?
especially as the councilwas supposed to be handing over tourism to the COC to run..but then decided tocompete with the COC instead.
Tourism administration is worse now on the Island than it was 2 years ago
Offensive comment?
Wow, this is a staggering figure, very interested to see the breakdown.
Jees, no wonder the radio station and county press love the council, they do look a bit bought and paid for. Maybe Don Smith was right all these years after all?
Offensive comment?
Don Smith is seldom wrong when it involves ‘Waste’ and ‘Job for the boys’ – You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. (Usually said on the golf course).
When adversing for a job vacancy, why do they need to list and print the job description, when it will all be discussed at interview and selection?
‘Buy more space and I’ll buy your balls’ (Golf)
All advertisements could easily be condensed – But then they would have to employ consultants:-)
Offensive comment?
Don, the council seem to have read your words of wisdom and for the past few months they have merely listed the job title and then pointed the reader to the website.
Offensive comment?
Can you dump all this on wikileaks please?
Offensive comment?
We will be publishing the figures on VB.
You want answers? Give us some guesses :)
Offensive comment?
This information is in the public domain so publish it, The council will, I imagine, have supplied copyright bu****it implying you cant publish it, they know this to be false but as you have already acknowledged they have little respect for their responsibilities under the law
Offensive comment?
“They said they couldn’t provide the information to us and that we’d have to request the data under the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act.”
Which means: ‘we can provide the information but we don’t want to, although we know we will have to eventually’.
One for the Information Commissioner, I think (waste of resources, for a start, as the FoI request was unnecessary)..
http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx
Offensive comment?
Under the last Government, central government sending exceeded a billion pounds, but I do not think this includes local authorities.
Every commercial radio, TV station, poster site has the government telling us to get a TV licence, get a car licence,give up smoking, eat less salt, run around more, don’t vomit in the street, stop hitting your wife,tell Tax Credits if you have a new partner or done anything at all, join the Navy, don’t feed your children too much food etc. etc.
Offensive comment?
I’m thinking of the sources as CP / VB / IW radio / Gazette, but wonder if the Council’s own publications could also come under the ‘media payments’ umbrella?
… If supply fuels demand then IW Radio is my guess – there’s a lot of air time available there. If it was CP they could only be making payments on a week-by-week basis – IW radio they could buy something every day if they wanted to.
I’ve not been in on this one at all so I’m really intrigued!
Offensive comment?
WHO PAYS FOR ALL THOSE POSTERS, THREATENING US WITH ‘THE OLD BILL’ THEY MUST COST A BIT?
AND THEN THERE’S THOSE LOVELY CHLAMYDIA ADS ON THE BUSES.
Offensive comment?
you mean those posters telling you that if you break the law you will be arrested? easy solution to that, dont break the law. those posters are well worth the money.
and of course the sexual health posters… sometimes they are slightly too graphic, but once again, they inform you on a subject sometimes without you even realising.
I would rather pay for posters than for a mail shot through everyones door. The public needs to be informed and reminded of things, and posters are the most economic and effective solution.
Offensive comment?
Any news on when your start releasing some info?
Offensive comment?
I was wondering the same at the weekend. You’re keeping us in suspense VB.
Offensive comment?