Public Sector: Campaign breakdown - Making Waves

Agency: 3 Monkeys
Client: The Water Industry Commission for Scotland (WICS)
Timescale: Ongoing
Budget: £120,000

THE LOWDOWN

WICS, the Scottish equivalent of Ofwat, is the Scottish Government's delivery body set up to launch a new competitive framework for water services in Scotland. 3 Monkeys was briefed to ensure that Scottish businesses are aware of the new range of options that are available to them.

- Why is the Government doing this now?

Scottish business previously had one water supplier - Scottish Water - but the new initiative, which came into force in April, saw four licensees supplying water and sewerage services to all commercial businesses.

- Who is being targeted?

The 130,000 Scottish businesses.

THE TACTICS

The programme includes support for industry events, pre-publicity, a launch day and follow-up activity to maintain the level of interest in the services. Launch PR activity targeted national and local radio stations including BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 4 and television stations BBC1 Scotland and ITV Border.

OTHER INITIATIVES

Another element of the programme is managing and staffing two high-profile seminars in Glasgow and Edinburgh to raise awareness of competition in the water sector, with high-profile attendees from business and the Scottish Government.

ANY POTENTIAL PITFALLS?

The range of options needs to be communicated in a clear and simple way for businesses to really accept the financial benefits.