Coded message for protecting & respecting the countryside

Client: The Countryside Agency

“Julia, I just want to thank you and your team for doing such a fantastic job for the Code. Your press coverage was the best of the lot it seems” The Countryside Agency Press Office

On 12 July 2004, the Countryside Agency launched the new Countryside Code, with the help of characters created by Aardman Animations.

The Agency did not have the time available to organise and manage the event therefore tasked AURA PR with the work on their behalf and with securing coverage in regional press, television and radio stations.

AURA PR put together a comprehensive plan to promote the messages contained within the Countryside Code, such as Respect, Protect and Enjoy the Countryside.

Wildlife TV personality Terry Nutkins was flown in from Spain, where he was filming, to help with the launch event at Conkers in the National Forest, on the Derbyshire and Leicestershire border.

AURA PR sold in features and competitions to five regional newspapers and secured coverage on local radio stations - commercial and BBC - and sold in exclusive feature opportunities to ITV and BBC television.

The Derby Evening Telegraph and the Lincolnshire Echo both featured the Countryside Code in double page spreads, while the Leicester Mercury, Burton Mail, Nottingham Evening Post and the Evening Telegraph in Northamptonshire also covered the launch.

The BBC filmed Countryside Agency officials at a Nottingham primary school (which boasts its own woodland and farm) two days before the official launch. An ITV camera crew and reporter were despatched to Conkers on the day of the event and interviewed Terry Nutkins. Both of these pieces were aired throughout the day, resulting in 5.5 million ‘opportunities to see’.

Following the event, AURA distributed Countryside Code leaflets, bookmarks, posters and information packs to schools and libraries throughout the East Midlands.

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