Conservation Advertising Campaign results in 7% drop in water-use throughout San Diego County!

As the summer of ’08 was fast approaching, it was dangerously apparent that San Diego County (and for that matter, all of California) was facing record restrictions on the water supplies entering the county. Lower rainfall, conservation concerns, and a tightening of Colorado River allocations combined to push water resources to the breaking point. Action had to be taken. The San Diego Water County Authority turned to Mentus to create and implement a full mass media campaign to encourage the more than 1.5 million homeowners of San Diego County to conserve water during 2008 and beyond, with the ultimate intent of reducing water use by 56,000 acre feet by year end. With a total budget of roughly $1.8 million to reach such a mass audience, the agency needed to work smart if they were going to effect any significant change.

Utilizing television, radio, outdoor, print and online media, a three-phase campaign was developed. The campaign employed the message: “You never miss it until it’s gone!” accompanied by the tagline: “Water Save it or Lose it.”

Phase One was designed to compel the audiences to take the problem seriously. Phase Two demonstrated them what they could to do to make a difference through water-saving tips. And Phase Three would encourage them to continue their water-saving regimen for the long-term.

Phase One, which ran for one month, saturated the community with strong messaging on the fact that our water supply has already been cut, alerting the public to the severity of the problem. Phase Two overlapped phase one by one week and is running a series of “Tips” to educate people on how to cut back on water use.  These tip ads will rotate throughout the summer focusing on ways to cut back on outdoor water use.  (Example: “Use a broom instead of a hose…”) Phase Three will focus on sustaining the conservation efforts – “Keep up the good work.”

In executing the media strategy for the SDCWA, Mentus sought to go far beyond the purview of a typical media buy and create a truly integrated media vanguard where paid and non-paid media would be presented in a seamless, mutually supportive and powerfully resonating fashion. This unique approach to media strategy leverages the power media “influencers” within the community. To do so, Mentus “rallied the media troops” by compelling on-air personalities to completely subscribe to the SDCWA’s conservation mandate and evidence their support by perpetuating ongoing and ever-evolving “chatter.”

Result: Peak summer months experienced a significant drop in water-use of 7 percent, far outpacing the rest of the state. The campaign reached more than 1.5 million targeted homeowners throughout the county, and we were able to nearly double the SDCWA’s media outreach and resources by negotiating some 80 percent additional media frequency and PSAs at no additional cost to the campaign (worth some $800,000) — unheard of in a mass campaign of this size. The campaign has since become a benchmark by which other conservation and public resource campaigns are being measured.