Date: 25 February 2020
Disclosure:
1. How much money has the Bank of England spent creating promotional materials to advertise the launch of the new polymer £20 note?
The Bank of England (the ‘Bank’) has spent £79,850 as at 6 February on public awareness, education and third party awareness about the new polymer £20 note. This includes a film, free printed materials to help retailers and businesses train employees on the new note and partnerships with third-party organisations to engage with hard to reach groups.
2. How much has the Bank of England budgeted to spend promoting this?
The Bank’s total budget, including for the materials mentioned above, was £195,000. We expect to spend considerably less than this.
3. How much money has the Bank of England spent promoting this on each media and social media outlet?
The Bank has spent £7,477 as at 6 February on social media awareness for the new polymer £20 note. This includes Facebook, Instagram and Google. We have not paid for advertising on any other channel.
The focus of our communications campaign is ‘earned media coverage’ via broadcasters and newspapers. This coverage is free and for other new note launches we have found it to be an effective way of raising awareness of new notes amongst the general public.
4. How many people has the Bank of England reached with this campaign, and how many people does it hope to reach?
In the days following the issue of the polymer £10 note in 2017, 78% of the public were aware of the change to banknotes. The Bank is aiming to achieve a similar level of awareness for the new polymer £20 note once it enters circulation. We recognise though that awareness levels may be lower for the £20 note as polymer is no longer novel and this may make it more difficult to attract earned media coverage. However, after a successful unveiling event in October 2019, public awareness reached 54% and we hope to build on this now that the new polymer £20 note has been launched.