Department of Social Protection advertising policy

The department administers more than 100 separate schemes and services, which affect the lives of almost every person in the state. We are fully committed to ensuring that members of the public are aware of the welfare supports and services that are available to them and that they are notified of any scheme changes which may affect them.

Public information and advertising campaigns are an important part of our work. We are committed to ensuring that our advertising buying decisions are based on transparent, objective, proportionate and non-discriminatory criteria. This is in line with our obligations under Article 25 of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). EMFA is an EU regulation which seeks to protect media freedom and plurality.

The procedures we have in place to support decision making in relation to state advertising are as follows:

• our advertising campaigns are planned based on a strategic brief. This document identifies the communication goals for the campaign and the audiences we want to reach.
• all advertising campaigns are developed in collaboration with a specialist agency. This agency was appointed following a procurement process for Media Strategy, Planning and Buying Services, using a central framework established by the Office of Government Procurement and in accordance with public procurement and EU procurement guidelines.
• we work with this agency to ensure that the campaign uses a suitable mix of advertising channels and spend to ensure that messages reach members of the public effectively, while ensuring value for money.
• key performance indicators (KPIs) are set for each campaign based on the campaign’s goal and objectives. We report against these KPIs and use insights gained in post-campaign analysis to support future advertising decisions.

In working with our agency to decide on the placement and awarding of state advertising we consider a number of criteria:

• Media consumption data and ability to reach target audience(s)
• Value for money
• Appropriate geographical spread
• Statutory requirements in relation to public notices
• Statutory requirements in relation to Irish language advertising
• Availability of media, and lead in time for a specific campaign
• The overall budget and resources available

We try to ensure that, where possible, our overall expenditure on advertising is distributed to a wide variety of media, depending on the specific needs of each campaign. The frequency and duration of campaigns will vary from one year to the another depending on the range and number of new initiatives or required messaging.