ANNUAL REPORT 2008 - Polymer Bank Notes of the World

was employed by Národná banka Slovenskain its communication activities relating to theintroduction of the euro in Slovakia.The euro information campaign organised bythe ECB and Národná banka Slovenska aimed tofamiliarise cash handlers and the general publicwith the visual appearance and security featuresof the euro banknotes and coins, as well as withthe cash changeover arrangements.publications, which they were able to adapt anduse in their own communication activities.Following contact with associations for theblind, the ECB developed a “talking card” forthe visually impaired, in which an embeddedMP3 file played a recording containing basicinformation about the euro banknotes and coins.The combination of communication toolsused in the campaign took into account theexperience gained in past changeovers andcomprised 17 different publications, includingtraining materials for professional cashhandlers. Národná banka Slovenska distributedover 7 million copies of the various publications(including a public information leaflet, euroconversion cards and other publications infour language versions) in the course of thefourth quarter of 2008. In December 2008 eachSlovak household received a copy of the publicinformation leaflet and two euro conversioncards. The euro conversion cards showeddifferent images depending on the angle atwhich they were viewed. On the front, a seriesof 28 prices were shown both in euro and inSlovak koruna, while the reverse displayed themain security features of the €20 banknote.Several press and public relations events wereheld, including an ECB media seminar on4 September 2008, an exhibition on the eurobanknotes and coins, which was launchedon 21 September 2008 at Národná bankaSlovenska, a euro conference in Bratislava on22 September 2008 and state celebrations on8 January 2009.The ECB co-financed the largest banner everproduced in Slovakia, which was displayedon the facade of Národná banka Slovenska’sbuilding in Bratislava, while smaller copiesof the banner appeared on the buildings of allthe central bank’s branches throughout thecountry. Over 100 partners, mainly banks andpublic authorities, were given access to thehigh-quality print files of the relevant ECB146 ECBAnnual Report2008