Irish Water Spends €650,000 on Advertising
Irish Water is going to spend €650,000 on producing an advertising campaign persuading customers that clean water doesn’t simply fall from the sky.
Rothco created the campaign and it will be advertised on television, the radio, the press, in the cinema and digital media for about eight weeks. This will be about the time when the first water bills will be sent to households. Elizabeth Arnett, the head of Irish Water Communications said that the campaign is “to highlight some of the challenges we have in maintaining the water supply”. The advertisement will be viewed on television tonight.
A poster advertisement called “Cloud to Glass” says that it acquires “up to
three days and seven complex stages to make water drinkable” followed by the line “we’re here to keep up with demand”. The advertisements show the process of the water going from the reservoir to the tap. Irish Water Marketing Manager Wendy Jennings said “This is very much a public information campaign,” “A creative marketing campaign such as this one is very important when we have so many people to communicate with. We think this is the right campaign for now.”
Irish Water hopes the message that will be construed will be that it wants to improve Ireland’s water infrastructure. Over 1.2 million households have registered with Irish water and 200,000 of these households won’t have to pay the water charges because they have wells or septic tanks. The first water bills are expected to be received in April. Protestors are still marching to contest the charges and indeed the ongoing fear that the company will be privatized in the future. When they see what they have spent on advertising it probably won’t ease their mood.
