Advertising, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Latvia, Markets and Companies

Eriks Stendzenieks. BC's photo.

Just as an oak grows from an acorn, and a butterfly develops from a cocoon, the lat has grown up and will now become the euro, said Stendzenieks. The adoption of the euro by Latvia does not mean that the people of Latvia will lose their Latvian oaks or the sweeping reaches of the Daugava.

Stendzenieks said he did not remember who exactly had proposed the idea. Generating ideas for campaigns is usually a very dynamic process: someone tells a joke, someone else recalls a funny story, this is "absolute teamwork", said Stendzenieks, explaining that he alone would not take the credit for the idea of the campaign.

While the goal of the campaign is to achieve that 60% of Latvia's residents support the euro, it is not a goal in and of itself, rather a side effect of explaining the people, in simple terms, about all the matters that they may be concerned about regarding transition to the euro, said Stendzenieks.

He admitted that his comments had not been very positive about the euro in social networks in the past, but this may have been for the same reason that he, just like anybody else, did not have sufficient information.

The adoption of the euro will not solve all problems in Latvia, and people will not be better off all of a sudden come January 1 next year, but the adoption of the euro is a step toward that, said Stendzenieks.

The campaign will feature many activities, from TV and radio commercials to various events not only in Riga but also in regions, addressing all residents regardless of their social status, ethnicity or any other criteria.

To reach audiences that do not use media, talks are under way with a nationwide food producer, so essential information about the euro could be placed on food products it makes.

The organizers of the campaign as well as representatives from the authorities that selected the Mooz! bid and Komunikacijas agentura to organize the campaign repeatedly emphasized that the procurement tender had been fair and transparent, and that the best bid had won.

As reported, the euro awareness campaign titled "Dabas likums 1" (Natural Law 1) will be carried out by companies Mooz! and Komunikaciju agentura. The campaign will cost a total of LVL 284,843.