Annual Report 2004

ÒStability and
SecurityÓ — the
OeNBÕs information
campaign
The OeNBÕs Information Policy —
Conveying Stability and Security
Communicating Monetary
Policy Objectives —
A Prerequisite for
Credibility and Trust
Communication is an important
value-adding factor. As such, it can
be planned, controlled and measured,
promoting understanding, trust
and transparency. The OeNB has embraced
this principle jointly with the
other euro area NCBs and the ECB;
it is enshrined in the joint Eurosystem
Mission Statement.
Trust has always been a sensitive
key value for central banks, and public
confidence in the OeNB has traditionally
stood at high levels, as was recently
confirmed by an IFES (Institute
for Empirical Social Research)
survey. According to IFES, 78% of
Austrians continued to have high confidence
in the OeNB in the fourth
quarter of 2004. The OeNB has built
up this trust over decades by pursuing
credible and stability-oriented monetary
policy objectives and by displaying
exceptional know-how in key central
banking areas. High public confidence
forms the basis for communicating
the current monetary policy
strategy, which in turn reinforces
trust in the OeNB. In communicating
the single monetary policy the OeNB
makes use of all media our informa-
tion society has to offer. As economicsisfrequentlyaboutcomplexprocesses,
it is a challenge for public relations
experts to convey these processes
to the general public in a clear,
understandable manner.
To improve the general understanding
of basic macroeconomic
processes and to strengthen confidence
in the euro, in 2004, the OeNB
launched an information campaign revolving
around the key values ÒStability
and SecurityÓ The objective of this
campaign has been to inform the public
about the euro (price stability, security
features), the single monetary
policy and the OeNBÕs tasks. Based
on the overarching principles of
stability and security, the campaign
has been designed to familiarize the
public with the OeNBÕs main task,
i.e. the maintenance of price stability.
The OeNB has been placing advertisements
and has been broadcasting
TV commercials conveying a message
along the lines of ÒI work hard
for my money. Good that each euro
is worth it.Ó and has been using media
cooperation and advertorials to address
not only the general public,
but also the people it has not been
able to reach so far. To prepare and
fine-tune the campaign to the needs
of the latter target group, the OeNB
conducted both quantitative and qualitative
surveys with polling institutes.
As a result, the campaign was designed
to channel the patriotism of
this target group into the euro as a
European value.
The print media campaign focused
on the following topics:
— The euro on a path of stability
— The euroÕs stability as a guarantee
of our purchasing power
— First-rate security features
— Understanding price developments
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Annual Report 2004