Waisting Water Is Weird
This coalition campaign was created to cause behavior change. It did just that and more. 24% of those who saw it changed their water usage habits. That's a huge number when asking a creative campaign to actually alter human behavior. It also opened the eyes of the communications industry that had rejected comedy as a delivery device for a sustainability message.
My Role
Strategy, Planning, Writing, Creative Direction
Clients
EPA WaterSense, Bosch,
Lowe's, Kohler, P&G
Concept
Wasting Water is Weird
Team Members
Matt Brass - Art Director
Jesse Brass - Art Director
Consumer research shows again and again that, no matter how great the cause, comfort rules. So, before we could change behaviors, we needed to break our audience of a few natural tendencies.
We knew our audiences didn't respond well to being told what to do, so we focused on a logical water usage fact and made it feel highly emotional. In the end, we pushed them into making a choice.
The campaign focused on the human need to belong and the desire to avoid negative attention. It was light-hearted but the message was clear as it won numerous awards and caused a digital news explosion. It was executed as an online educational experience supported by social and traditional media. The website surpassed all goals for involvement as did the PR earned nationally. We even had high school classes use this campaign as part of their curriculum. That's the kind of unique involvement that creates belonging.