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 Globa 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.

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The U.S. Constitution requires a population and housing census every 10 years. The massive undertaking has been referred to as the largest peacetime mobilization in U.S. history. The effort employs some of the most sophisticated technical and operational knowledge and tools available, as well as a work force of more than 500,000 enumerators to count every man, woman and child once, and only once, and in the right place. Census results are the basis for congressional representation as well as the distribution of federal, state and local funds totaling more than $300 billion annually. Census Day is April 1, 2010.