COI senior executive warns Tories not to cut digital spend

The Tories have pledged large cuts in public spending if they get into government.

But COI's deputy director of interactive services, Michael Smith, says in today’s Guardian that any future government should not cut digital spend because that is where consumers are increasingly spending their time.

Smith said: "Digital, it is fair to say, is on all parties' lips. From a COI perspective, we are apolitical – digital is absolutely something [any] government will want to utilise because that is where citizens are going."

Smith added that COI, which spends £40 million of its £250 million media budget on digital, is looking to dramatically increase its use of mobile marketing.