Getting the word out
After months of being accused of not effectively getting the word out about the four major reforms Poland plans to push through in 1999 - pension, health, education and local government - the Government Information Center has finally responded with a long-promised campaign.
Prepared by public relations agency Profile and advertising agency Corporate Profiles DDB, the campaign centers around television spots and billboards that ask citizens to call in and request a free brochure on any one of the four major reforms. Those inquiries are directed to a call center that is currently manned by eight employees who have more than 100,000 brochures to send out.
"We have responded to the most frequently asked questions in these brochures," said Andrzej Mankowski, project coordinator at Corporate Profiles.
The first brochure deals with local government, taking the most commonly asked questions and answering them in its 16 glossy pages.
Call Center Poland, the company designated to operate the call center, said 898 people telephoned to ask for a brochure on Wednesday, Sept. 16 - the day the center opened.
"People keep calling but we expect a boom on Saturday (Sept. 19) when TV and billboard campaigns start," said Monika leczycka, sales coordinator for Call Center Poland.
An influx of calls may cause the center to expand its eight-person team, she added.
The response falls in line with what Profile anticipated, said Grzegorz Bakuniak, director of the agency. "What we have observed, though, is a greater-than-expected demand from institutions."
The advertisement features Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek explaining to the country why the reforms are important. The spot hones in on a teenage boy about 18 years old, with Buzek's voice in the background.
"That Pole, when he grows up, will not be interested in who ruled the country 18 years earlier. He will simply judge us by the living standards he will enjoy," Buzek says. "And that is why the government is launching the four most important social reforms: health care, education, social security and public administration."
The calls first began filtering in as the official campaign kicked off, after the telephone number had been broadcast on the news. "Wiadomosci," a popular news show on public broadcaster TVP, gave out the number in a story last week.
But the call center can do little more than send out a brochure.
"It's where we compile the address database," Bakuniak said. "If somebody has specific needs and doubts or wants to order a large quantity of brochures, he is asked to fax the Government Information Center."
Some in the media industry had questioned whether the government's timing of the campaign would influence local government elections, which are slated for Oct. 11. They had said that the spots may set a pro-Solidarity Election Action (AWS) tone, which would affect how people vote.
Minister Teresa Kaminska, who coordinates promotion projects on reforms, said last week that she was aware of the ongoing electoral campaign.
"That is why the information campaign on reforms will be intensified in October, after elections," she said.
Kaminska, however, has decided to postpone a set of TV spots on local government reform featuring AWS MP Franciszka Cegielska, who is also running in local elections, until Oct. 12.
Prepared by public relations agency Profile and advertising agency Corporate Profiles DDB, the campaign centers around television spots and billboards that ask citizens to call in and request a free brochure on any one of the four major reforms. Those inquiries are directed to a call center that is currently manned by eight employees who have more than 100,000 brochures to send out.
"We have responded to the most frequently asked questions in these brochures," said Andrzej Mankowski, project coordinator at Corporate Profiles.
The first brochure deals with local government, taking the most commonly asked questions and answering them in its 16 glossy pages.
Call Center Poland, the company designated to operate the call center, said 898 people telephoned to ask for a brochure on Wednesday, Sept. 16 - the day the center opened.
"People keep calling but we expect a boom on Saturday (Sept. 19) when TV and billboard campaigns start," said Monika leczycka, sales coordinator for Call Center Poland.
An influx of calls may cause the center to expand its eight-person team, she added.
The response falls in line with what Profile anticipated, said Grzegorz Bakuniak, director of the agency. "What we have observed, though, is a greater-than-expected demand from institutions."
The advertisement features Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek explaining to the country why the reforms are important. The spot hones in on a teenage boy about 18 years old, with Buzek's voice in the background.
"That Pole, when he grows up, will not be interested in who ruled the country 18 years earlier. He will simply judge us by the living standards he will enjoy," Buzek says. "And that is why the government is launching the four most important social reforms: health care, education, social security and public administration."
The calls first began filtering in as the official campaign kicked off, after the telephone number had been broadcast on the news. "Wiadomosci," a popular news show on public broadcaster TVP, gave out the number in a story last week.
But the call center can do little more than send out a brochure.
"It's where we compile the address database," Bakuniak said. "If somebody has specific needs and doubts or wants to order a large quantity of brochures, he is asked to fax the Government Information Center."
Some in the media industry had questioned whether the government's timing of the campaign would influence local government elections, which are slated for Oct. 11. They had said that the spots may set a pro-Solidarity Election Action (AWS) tone, which would affect how people vote.
Minister Teresa Kaminska, who coordinates promotion projects on reforms, said last week that she was aware of the ongoing electoral campaign.
"That is why the information campaign on reforms will be intensified in October, after elections," she said.
Kaminska, however, has decided to postpone a set of TV spots on local government reform featuring AWS MP Franciszka Cegielska, who is also running in local elections, until Oct. 12.
