Army Reissues RFP For $200 Million Ad Contract

[crikkett]

http://adage.com/news.cms?newsId=45775#
ARMY REISSUES REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR $200 MILLION AD CONTRACT
For the First Time, Government Account Is Guaranteed for Two Years
August 10, 2005
By Ira Teinowitz

WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) -- After a series of starts and stops, the U.S. Army, which is having recruitment problems in light of the war in Iraq, has reissued its request for proposals for its up to $1 billion ad contract -- the government’s largest ever.

After abruptly canceling a long-running review, leaving six ad agencies that were chasing the account in the lurch after each spent millions pitching the business, the Army is now giving agencies a new incentive to pitch: It intends to make the contract, for the first time, a two-year award.

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Recruitment shortfalls
The delays comes as the Army continues to have trouble recruiting. While it made its June recruiting goal, the Army has regularly missed monthly goals and is running at 86% of its fiscal-year goal. How much Burnett’s "Army of One" ad campaign has to do with the misses is hard to measure amid daily news reports of military and civilian deaths in Iraq. One part of the current Army campaign tells parents that sending their children to the Army is the right and patriotic thing to do.