Image for Millennium Commission sought

The Millennium Commission is rushing through the tendering process to create a new brand to take it up to the next century.

The commission put a notice into the European Union Official Journal on 1 August seeking a communications strategy to include a brand, image or icon.

The deadline for expressions of interest was midnight on Tuesday. “We would quite like to do something [with the branding] for New Year’s Eve,” says a commission spokeswoman, and a long list of interested parties will be presented to commissioners, followed by a shortlist of those invited to pitch. Wolff Olins is believed to be interested.

Every project worth 158 000 or more must be advertised in the OJ and is subject to EU procurement rules. The fee for the job “won’t reach seven figures over the three years,” says the commission spokeswoman.

“The communications emphasis has been to find and fund projects, now it is about telling that story,” she adds. The body may need a unified image to tie its disparate projects together along with the Millennium Experience and Millennium Awards scheme.

The project, which will include elements of marketing and of brand identity will either go to one company with both capabilities or a consortium, or the commission may pull together a panel of individual companies. The commission itself will retain its existing corporate identity.