Request for advertising and marketing expenditure

The request was partially successful.

Dear Bishop Grosseteste University,

I am writing to make an open government request for all the information to which I am entitled under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Please could you provide a breakdown of advertising and marketing expenditure by line item. If this could be submitted as an excel that would be much appreciate. Ideally this would cover the following questions:
1. What has been the total annual budget for marketing over the last 5 years (2017-2021)?
2. How much of the marketing budget is spent on in-house marketing and how much is spent on 3rd party providers (e.g. Agencies)?
3. What are they types of third party services used e.g. (managed marketing services, content creators, self-service platforms) and how is the expenditure distributed among them?
4. How much of the marketing budget is spent on digital advertising and how much is spent on traditional advertising methods?
5. What is the segmentation of digital expenditure by channel (e.g. how much is spent on Facebook ads, Google ads etc.) ?
If this request is too wide or unclear, I would be grateful if you could contact me. If any of this information is already in the public domain, please can you direct me to it, with page references and URLs if necessary.
I understand that you are required to respond to my request within the 20 working days after you receive this letter. I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing that you have received this request.
I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Kunal Khetarpal

FOI Team, Bishop Grosseteste University

2 Attachments

Dear Kunal Khetarpal,

 

FOI REQUEST – regarding advertising and marketing expenditure (Bishop
Grosseteste University)

Emailed: 30^th March 2021 at 11:02

 

I acknowledge receipt of your Freedom of Information request asking about
expenditure on advertising and marketing at the University. A copy of your
request is attached below. The request will be handled under the terms of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000, which means that you can expect to
receive a response from us within 20 working days or by 29^th April 2021.

 

Please contact me if you have any queries about this email or about the
progress of your request ([Bishop Grosseteste University request email]). If you are dissatisfied
with any aspect of the service you receive in relation to your request,
then please write to Stephanie Gilluly, Registrar and University
Secretary, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln LN1 3DY
([email address]). If you are not content with the
outcome of a complaint or internal review, you have the right to appeal
and the process for this will be provided within our FOI response.

 

Kind regards,

 

Nadine Cook

 

Nadine Cook

Information Compliance Officer

Part time Monday-Friday

_________________________________

 

 

Bishop Grosseteste University

Longdales Road

Lincoln

LN1 3DY

_________________________________

 

Phone:     (01522) 583797

Email:       [email address]  

Website:  [1]www.bishopg.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FOI Team, Bishop Grosseteste University

2 Attachments

FOI REQUEST (267) – regarding advertising and marketing expenditure
(Bishop Grosseteste University)

Emailed: 30^th March 2021 at 11:02

Acknowledged: 30^th March 2021

 

Dear Kunal Khetarpal,

 

I write in response to your recent Freedom of Information request relating
to advertising and marketing expenditure, at the University.  A copy of
your full request is attached below. Where information cannot be provided,
the reasons are explained.

 

Please could you provide a breakdown of advertising and marketing
expenditure by line item. If this could be submitted as an excel that
would be much appreciate. Ideally this would cover the following
questions:

1.          What has been the total annual budget for marketing over the
last 5 years (2017-2021)?

 

Partial response: the University’s overall spend on marketing (including
activities such as printing, marketing/advertising and merchandise) per
financial year, since 2017 has been as follows:

 

 

Spend 2020/21 (financial year to date): £449,330

 

 

Spend 2019/20:                             £555,015

 

 

Spend 2018/19:                             £570,88

                                          

 

Spend 2017/18:                             £481,329

                                          

 

                                          

Information withheld under Section 43(2) – Commercial Interests

Section 43(2) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be
likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (an
individual, a company, public authority or any other legal entity).
Details of individual item expenditure are held by BGU. This is
information which relates to the purchase of services by the University.
The information therefore relates to a commercial activity. Disclosure of
this information into the wider public domain under FOI, would be likely
to negatively affect the University’s commercial interests and those of
our suppliers and partners, in a competitive commercial environment.

 

After considering the public interest factors and all the circumstances of
this case, the University deems disclosure would be likely to compromise
our commercial interests those of our suppliers It would also be likely to
prejudice BGU’s ability to negotiate future agreements and ensure value
for money. The public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the
public interest in disclosing the information.

 

 

2.          How much of the marketing budget is spent on in-house
marketing and how much is spent on 3rd party providers (e.g. Agencies)?

 

 

Response: Information withheld under Section 43(2) – Commercial Interests

Section 43(2) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be
likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (an
individual, a company, public authority or any other legal entity).
Details of the breakdown of marketing expenditure on in-house and third
party provided services, are held by BGU. This is information which
relates to the purchase of services by the University. The information
therefore relates to a commercial activity. Disclosure of this
information into the wider public domain under FOI, would be likely to
negatively affect the University’s commercial interests.

 

After considering the public interest factors and all the circumstances of
this case, the University deems disclosure would be likely to compromise
our commercial interests and could impact on those of our partners. The
public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest
in disclosing the information.

 

 

3.          What are they types of third party services used e.g. (managed
marketing services, content creators, self-service platforms) and how is
the expenditure distributed among them?

 

Response:

The University’s Marketing department has third party service agreements
in place for advertising, digital, press and PR monitoring. We also work
with a range of companies who provide Marketing services such as video
production, prospectus related work, print and merchandise services. 
Those providers are used on an ad-hoc basis.

 

 

4.          How much of the marketing budget is spent on digital
advertising and how much is spent on traditional advertising methods?

 

Response: information that is not held

In relation to categories of expenditure on marketing, the University does
not hold these details broken down into categories such as traditional or
digital advertising methods. The process of buying media and advertising
involves budgets being adapted to whichever medium produces the best
success during a campaign. Therefore, this information is not held. 

 

 

5.      What is the segmentation of digital expenditure by channel (e.g.
how much is spent on Facebook ads, Google ads etc.) ?

 

Response: information that is not held

In relation to categories of digital expenditure by channel, the
University does not hold these details broken down into categories such as
social media or different kinds of adverts. The process purchasing digital
advertising methods, involves budgets being adapted to whichever medium
produces the best success during a campaign. Therefore, this information
is not held.

 

Please contact me if you have any queries about this email or about the
information provided ([1][Bishop Grosseteste University request email]). If you are dissatisfied
with the service you have received in relation to your request and wish to
make a complaint or ask for an internal review, then please write to
Stephanie Gilluly, Registrar and University Secretary, Bishop Grosseteste
University, Lincoln LN1 3DY ([2][email address]).

 

If you are not content with the outcome of a complaint or internal review,
you have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner.  Generally,
however, they cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
complaints and review procedures provided by the University itself.  The
Information Commissioner can be contacted at The Information
Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9
5AF.

 

Kind regards,

 

Nadine

 

Nadine Cook

Information Compliance Officer

Part time Monday-Friday

_________________________________

 

 

Bishop Grosseteste University

Longdales Road

Lincoln

LN1 3DY

_________________________________

 

Phone:     (01522) 583797

Email:       [email address]  

Website:  [3]www.bishopg.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

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