0.787564

Try to get your head around that figure. What does it represent? Well, the readers of this page should have some idea by now. Indeed, you'll need to understand what this figure means by January 1st, 2002.

Give up? Well, it's the value in Irish money of €1. Put another way, one Irish pound equals €1.27. That's what Cian from Westlife keeps telling us in a current television advertisement.

On January 1st, 2002, the euro will become the currency of Ireland and 11 other EU member states. While the euro and Irish notes and coins can both still be used after that date, Irish cash will cease to be legal tender after February 9th - six weeks later.

Big deal, you say. Sure, we won't have to worry about that until we have the money in our hand. Why are they giving us this relatively simple message now? Why not wait until the end of the year, when we will be thinking and talking about it more?

"We have to start at some point," says Adrian van der Lee of Adept Creative Facilities, the advertising agency which is organising the advertising campaign on behalf of the Euro Changeover Board of Ireland (ECBI). He insists that it may be too late if left until the end of the year, as a lot of people will need to hear this message frequently. "0.787564 is an extremely complicated number. We need to see those numbers as simply and as clearly and as often as possible," he says.

Some £14 million is to be spent this year on the public awareness campaign to inform citizens about the changeover to the euro currency, of which £6 million will be spent on advertising. The public awareness campaign on the euro changeover is being led by the ECBI, set up in 1999 and jointly funded by the Government and the European Commission.

The advertising campaign started late last year and concentrated first on publicising the date. Now the adverts being broadcast are focusing on the exchange rate, i.e. one Irish punt equals €1.27.

Last February 9th marked the beginning of this phase of the campaign, under the slogan "One Year to go". Van der Lee says that the consumer advertising campaign will be aimed at what he calls "low awareness" groups. These include the unemployed, the elderly, people with disabilities and those who live in rural areas, Van der Lee says. "The target audience is not your typical Irish Times reader."

For this reason, he says, the advertising campaign will be weighted towards TV, radio, outdoor spots and the tabloid newspapers. Television is particularly important because it has more reach than any other medium. One significant tactic in the current television campaign is the use of famous faces, including former soccer international Paul McGrath and Cian Egan from Westlife.

However, some recent research has indicated that the use of celebrity faces, a much-used advertising tactic, is not as effective as advertising agencies believe. Van der Lee nonetheless sees the use of celebrities in the context of the euro changeover campaign as different because "we're not selling a product".

People are going to have to deal with the changeover to the euro, he says. There may be some sentimentality expressed about the demise of the Irish punt, so the use of respected and popular figures like Paul McGrath may reassure some people and make the reality of the euro changeover more palatable.

The aims and objectives of the changeover campaign seem simple enough. However, the execution of a public awareness campaign depends on more than just a good advertising slogan and a few famous faces. The direction of the campaign is very much guided by market research, says John O'Shea of the ECBI.

Market surveys are carried out about two or three times a year by Irish Market Surveys in an effort to gauge levels of awareness and highlight areas that the campaign may need to concentrate on. Advertising agency Adept works closely with a media-buying agency, All Ireland Media, in deciding when and where to place advertisements.

And then there's public relations. PR firm Carr Communications provides communications strategy advice and public relations services to the ECBI campaign.

"In PR terms, communicating to `the general public' is not as easy as it sounds. In fact, we avoid this phrase like the plague," says managing director Dermot McCrum. "The general public doesn't get to hear the same thing, at the same time, in the same place."

Carr Communications organises national launches of different phases of the campaign and develops story ideas for use by journalists in different media. There will also be a national euro information roadshow that will tour the whole State this summer.

Advertising uses television, radio, billboards and print media to reach large groups of the population with one or two simple messages, says McCrum. PR, by contrast, aims to reach more specific audiences with quite detailed information. In addition, the channels of communication in PR don't involve the media at all.

Indeed, there is a second strand to the campaign designed to reach those who possibly don't watch much TV, don't listen regularly to radio or read newspapers.

This strand, referred to as the NGO (non-governmental organisations) programme, involves granting funds to voluntary, caring and community organisations to equip staff to pass the message onto to their members. For example, the National Council for the Blind of Ireland would use funds to produce information materials in braille.

There is a third element to the campaign that has been running for far longer than the other strands - raising awareness among businesses. This part of the campaign has been running longer because of the need for businesses to make sure that they are euro-compliant.

So, it's basically like Y2K all over again, right? No, says Yvonne Cullen of Forfas, the organisation responsible for informing businesses about the euro. There may be some superficial similarities, she says, but Y2K was a very specific thing. The euro changeover, on the other hand, will "affect every single aspect of business".

The Forfas campaign involves presentations at various business meetings, conferences, and exhibitions. There is also a helpline and website (www.emuaware.forfas.ie).

The Central Bank also has a central role in the campaign. It will be running a separate campaign to highlight the appearance of the actual euro notes and coins.