New responsibilities for planning and paying media

Genesis Media, of Toronto, has been renamed Government of Canada agency-of-record.

The assignment had a budget of $40 million in 1994, but is expected to increase this year because of campaigns promoting the federal government’s stance on the Quebec referendum.

The contract term will likely be three years, with the option of two one-year extensions.

Chuck Guitte, director general of the government’s Advertising and Public Opinion Research Sector, says beginning with this new contract, the terms of the deal and mandate of the a-o-r have changed in a way that will save the government time and money.

In the past, the agency was expected to only place media, but now is responsible for planning, placing and paying media.

And, for the first time, Genesis will be working on a commission rather than fee basis.

Guitte says these changes were made because of an eight-month assessment of the a-o-r system by three private consultants before the a-o-r review.

The government a-o-r process was studied and compared with every provincial government a-o-r and a number of private sector arrangements.

The findings showed the federal government was working counter to the way every other a-o-r functioned.

Other companies pitching the a-o-r business were an alliance of Harrison Young Pesonen & Newell, of Toronto, and Strategem, of Montreal; Cossette Communication-Marketing; Media Buying Services, and Padulo Integrated.

Short-listed agencies Palmer Jarvis, of Vancouver, and bcp, of Montreal, declined to take part in the pitch.

Genesis is affiliated with Vickers & Benson Advertising, Toronto.