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Campaign Imminent Update: US Army's advertising review continues

Update (9/22): The drama continues in the pitch for the won their appeal (more info below), meaning the Army's contracting office must consider the agency group's proposal now. The key word here is "consider." A winner hasn't been chosen yet, and McCann already had their contract extended for another 12 months through September 2018. So, with the award date pushed to Oct. 1, 2018, shops that have been going after account since the marketing and advertising RFP was issued in January should stay at it.

Sellers - Those with high engagement rates among men A18-34 should stay top-of-mind with media decision makers fpr 2018 campaign budgets. Battling falling recruitment levels, The Army already spends more than $150 million annually on advertising, according to Kantar Media. And, the Senate just voted to give the military even more moola, some of which, I assume, will flow into their ad budgets. 

Update (7/28): as we've seen when other shops do this, it's likely only delaying the inevitable. Sellers - We'll keep you posted on who wins the this big ad spender, since a new campaign will follow in the coming months. 

Sellers with high engagement rates among men A18-34 should stay top-of-mind with media decision makers. Look for the new campaign next year to receive even more ad support, since the Army is receive additional funding. 

McCann Worldgroup sibling UM, NYC has handled the Army's media planning and buying account since 2005, but we're wondering how much longer that will last with McCann losing creative. Same goes for PR, which has been at Weber Shandwick. 

Below was originally published on 1/11:

Opportunity: Issued 

Generally, the Army is looking for an agency to create and execute national and local marketing communications efforts. You can read more about the scope of work here. 

Additional Information

Incumbent: McCann, which had its contract extended for a year-and-a-half in November 2015. In total, McCann had been on the US Army account since 2005.

Budget: Per an Army spokesperson, the contract is estimated not to exceed $4 billion over an up to ten-year period.

Due Date: February 3

National TV Spend: According to iSpot, the US Army spent $81.7 million on national TV ads in 2016. This is down from $127.8 million. See chart for 2016 show targeting.

Digital Breakdown: Per Pathmatics, the Army spent $14.1 million on digital display ads in 2016 (914.2 million impressions).