Water firm taps up teen talent for radio ad campaign

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Water bosses are urging the North West's budding radio stars to tap into a life-saving competition.

United Utilities is looking for 100 secondary schools and colleges across the region, including Redwood Secondary School, Rochdale,  to create a radio advert which will stop teenagers needlessly risking their lives by swimming in reservoirs.

The best ones will be used in a radio advertising campaign later this year.

Gaynor Murphy, the firm's sustainability manager, said: "When it comes to teenagers, the people they listen to most are other teenagers. So who better to create a radio advertising campaign which could save their lives?

"Too many people, many of them teens, die after plunging into reservoirs and other bodies of open water like lakes and quarries. They don't realise that freezing temperatures, strong hidden currents, steep sides and submerged rocks and equipment can overcome even the strongest swimmer."

Last month United Utilities hard-hitting Not a Game campaign video earned the praise of emergency services up and down the North West for its use of video game-style graphics and thrilling action sequences to reach a teen audience. It also got the backing of One Show doctor Sarah Jarvis.

Log on to www.notagame.co.uk to see the video and hear Dr Sarah Jarvis give her chilling description of what can happen to the human body when subjected to the danger of a frozen lake.

"We've been working with safety teams to get the video into schools, but the more people who see it the better. The new advert will hopefully give our campaign an extra dimension," said Gaynor.

So far 40 schools and colleges have signed up for the competition, which is being run in conjunction with UTV Media and its local radio stations in the North West.

For the winners, a creative team will help them write, record and mix their own radio commercial before uploading it to a website and trying to get as many Facebook "likes" as possible. They'll be taught how to do their own voiceovers, select music from the online library and import their own sound effects.

One school or college advert from each area of the North West - Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire - will be chosen as a local winner by a panel of judges from United Utilities and UTV Media, and be broadcast on a local UTV radio station in their area.

The overall winner will be used in a two-week radio advertising campaign across the North West using the UTV local radio stations.

To sign up to the competition, schools and colleges should visit the website at www.ucreateproject.co.uk or email UTV Media's community partnership team on adam.stebbing@utvmedia.co.uk or stuart.heaton@utvmedia.co.uk 

Alternatively schools and colleges can call 01925 406547/01925 403558

For ideas or inspiration visit www.notagame.co.uk or see the Ucreateproject page on Facebook.