A national advertising campaign designed in Kent will remind people of their connection with local newspapers.

The role played by the regional press in the community is highlighted in With You All The Way, a video created by Whitstable-based Animate and Create.

The company won the contract to produce the campaign for the Weekly lndependent Newspaper Association on behalf of the UK’s 930 weekly local papers.

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Set to be broadcast on TV across the nation for the first time this afternoon, the animation shows how one man, Ray, interacts with newspapers throughout his life.

Beginning with an appearance in the births section, it tracks Ray’s life as his picture is printed in the nativity, how he joins a campaign to save a tree, starts a business using the ads and eventually sees his own grandson appear in a school play.

The advert was made entirely in-house at Animate and Create’s base in Whitstable, including the five sets, the 45 characters, the animation and the post production.

The sequence is set to music written by composer Ethan Lewis Maltby and sung by Jenna Donnelly at a studio in Canterbury.

Animate and Create director Dan Richards said: “I thought the best tack was to remind people why they have previously bought local news and why it’s important to them.

“The best approach was reminding people they featured when they were babies and children and reminding them local news has a big voice in local politics.

“We went for a nostalgic feel. These warm, friendly happy moments in life when local news is really important.

"Animation was perfect for that and hopefully people will enjoy watching it on the telly.”

The promotion was originally the idea of Sir Ray Tindle, chairman of Tindle Newspapers, and who the ad’s lead character is named after.

Its broadcast will be the culmination of three months’ work for Animate and Create, and will be supported by a multimedia campaign across print, radio, online and social media put together by the KM Group’s design team KMCreate.

Mr Richards, 31, who grew up in Faversham and lives at Hoy Mansions in Margate, said: “This is the largest scale project we have ever produced.

“It’s like having your own baby for three months and then we will be giving it away never to see it again.”

He added: “The point of this campaign was not to make a big message.

“The approach was to remind people why local news is important to them.

“Also, when it comes to buying a new car, looking for a new job or want to buy a house, the local newspaper is is always there.”

Weekly lndependent Newspaper Association chairman Joanna Parlby said: “We are working to dispel some of the myths that local newspapers, and the role they have in their communities, may be under threat.

“There have always been, and always will be, challenges, but we are confident that the closeness and trust we share with the readers and advertisers we have in every community in print and online will enable us to carry on serving them as we have done through the many economic upturns and downturns there have been and the evolution of the media into the 21st century.”

For information, visit www.localweeklynewspapers.co.uk, www.facebook.com/localweeklies or follow @localweeklies on Twitter.

Video: With you all the way