The Census Bureau today announced that it has awarded its 2010 Census communications contract, worth an estimated $200 million, to Draftfcb of New York. Draftfcb is a full-service marketing communications agency that is part of the Interpublic Group of communications companies.

"It's absolutely vital that everyone participate in the census, and as our nation becomes more diverse, the challenge of reaching everyone becomes greater," said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon. "This requires a large, complex, behavior-change campaign, especially one that reaches historically hard-to-count populations."

Working with Draftfcb will be a team of partner agencies that specialize in reaching minority audiences, including Global Hue (black and Hispanic audiences), IW Group (Asian and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander audiences), G&G (American Indian and Alaska Native audiences) and Allied Media (other emerging audiences).

The contractor's efforts will support the 2010 Census goals of increasing mail response, enhancing cooperation with enumerators, improving overall accuracy and reducing the differential undercount.

The contractor's first assignment will be to work with the Census Bureau and its stakeholders to develop a plan for an integrated communications campaign encompassing advertising, partnerships and media relations.

The one-year contract has up to three option years, ending Sept. 30, 2011. Work on the contract begins immediately.

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