Wising Up

How the Water - Use It Wisely campaign inspired water wasters across the country to turn off the tap.

How do you motivate change? By fear? Sensationalism? A "just say NO" approach? True, it may involve some aspect of these elements, but a truly successful social marketing campaign is more likely to result from a thorough understanding of your target audience, knowing their motivations and barriers, and a sensible, clearly defined call to action that conveys obvious benefits.

Take the issue of water conservation. In Arizona, most folks know that water is a precious commodity, but when the city of Mesa committed itself to creating and publicizing a solid conservation campaign, it was imperative that the message be delivered in a way that would not only compel viewers to conserve water but would give them the tools to do so. It wasn't about preaching. It had to truly motivate change.

Water - Use It Wisely was the catalyst for change. Created in 1999 by Park&Co, a Phoenix based marketing agency, the campaign has become North America's most comprehensive water conservation program, with over 350 private and public partners, including corporate sponsors as Lowe's and Home Depot and outreach efforts through the EPA and USAID.

Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI)

A 2004 survey conducted by the Behavior Research Center asked respondents about their awareness and recall of the campaign message, their behaviors regarding water conservation, and overall attitudes about the issue since the launch of the campaign. The findings were as follows:

8 out of 10 metro-Phoenix residents surveyed recalled the "Water - Use It Wisely" slogan.
51% recalled the slogan "There are a number of ways to save water, and they all start with you."
63% indicated they had seen, heard, or read information about water-saving tips at home.

Why It Worked

The proven success of Water - Use It Wisely is based on two major principles of social marketing: 1) identify the motivators and barriers of your target audience and 2) design a campaign to highlight these motivators and overcome the barriers. In other words, the benefits from doing (or not doing) the intended behavior must outweigh the costs in order to motivate and sustain change. Additionally, the behavior must be tangible and easy to do in every day life. For example, "Use a broom instead of a hose to clean your driveway and sidewalk and save up to 80 gallons of water", or "Turn off the water while you brush your teeth and save 4 gallons a minute." These are just a few of the water-saving devices highlighted throughout the campaign that gave viewers clear calls to action that they could easily do.

Doug McKenzie-Mohr, the venerable 'guru' of social marketing, frequently expounds on these principals and illustrates in his book Fostering Sustainable Behavior, that there are three reasons why people won't change a behavior:

They don't know about the problem and/or how to change their behavior
They perceive the behavior change as too difficult
They believe there is greater benefit from their current behavior than the new behavior

Conversely, McKenzie-Mohr finds that people will more easily move to a behavior that has high benefits and low barriers. In simple terms, the new behavior is easy and/or convenient, and gives tangible benefits by way of a cost savings and/or the improvement of community or society. This was the thrust of the WUIW campaign - to create compelling messages that promote the benefits of the new behavior while demonstrating how easy it is to change the behavior. In essence, saying, "Saving water is easy and we'll show you how."

12 Steps to Successful Social Marketing

In the world of social marketing, the experts adhere to several proven principles regarding behavioral change, and these principles are the foundation of many a successful campaign, including Water - Use It Wisely.

Authors Philip Kotler, Ned Roberto, and Nancy Lee in their book, Social Marketing: Improving the Quality of Life, outline twelve elements to a successful social marketing campaign. How can you use these principles in your own social marketing endeavors? Read on...

Take Advantage of What is Known

The Water - Use It Wisely campaign is the product of three independent studies by Mesa, Phoenix and the Arizona Municipal Water Users' Association. Each study revealed a consistent and compelling finding: Citizens were saying, "Don't tell us to save water. Show us how to save." This was the "Ah ha!" moment that helped us arrive at the creative foundation of the campaign. We knew it would be fun and interesting to feature the many unexpected but highly effective ways to save water in and around the home by showcasing "water-saving devices" that can either be used to save water or as a reminder to people of proper water conservation behavior.

We catalogued more than 100 water-saving devices and/or actions and highlighted the most important device, water-saving device #1, as the consumer him/herself. Thus, our campaign theme was born: "There are a number of ways to save water, and they all start with you." The message is clear, concise, colorful, fun, and empowering. It applauds the people as the solution without forcing the behavior change upon them. This is key to the campaign's success. Remember what consumers told us in the study? "Don't tell me to save water, show me how." This sentiment was further supported by the feedback received from a member of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Advertising Campaign Testing Focus Groups upon adopting the WUIW in their state: "I like this...it's giving you actual ideas that anyone can put to use."
Start with Target Markets Most Ready for Action

To have the greatest immediate success with the campaign, we targeted the consumers who were most ready for action - the "low-hanging fruit," based on our research:
- They already want or need the proposed behavior to help satisfy a problem
- They are already somewhat engaged in the desired behaviors
- They have the belief that they can actually perform the behavior and will in turn receive an important benefit
This direction helped to build early momentum in the campaign by converting early adopters. These people were the most receptive to the message. They became ambassadors for the cause, and helped encourage others by their actions and by word-of-mouth to use water wisely.
Promote a Single, Doable Behavior, and Explain in Simple, Clear Terms

Once we identified our target market, then it was imperative that we communicate a clear, tangible call to action. With Water - Use It Wisely, we highlighted the water-saving device, described the behavior we wanted our customers to adopt, and stressed the benefits. For example, "The next time you replace a flower or shrub, choose a low water use plant for year-round landscape color, and save up to 550 gallons each year.
Use a Tangible Object or Service to Support the Target Behavior

As our research clearly indicated, it's not enough to just tell people to save water, we have to show them how. That's why all of the Water - Use It Wisely 100+ water saving tips have a tangible object associated with them, as a toothbrush or a wrench. The toothbrush serves as a prompt of shift in behavior by turning off the water while you brush your teeth, wherein the wrench serves as a tangible tool that can be used to fix a leaky pipe. These visual prompts help the consumer to better interact and identify with water conservation, and in turn, promote the desired behaviors that ultimately lead to the benefits associated with conserving water - a lower water bill. Water - Use It Wisely educates, informs, and promotes with tangible items and outcomes. We're not talking hardship, but rather stewardship.
Understand and Address Perceived Costs and Benefits

A crucial component of the WUIW campaign was the information received through surveys regarding initial perceptions of costs and benefits with water conservation. It is these perceived costs and benefits around which the campaign is created and directed.

Costs/Barriers:

Studies revealed that the majority of consumers weren't knowledgeable about water conservation techniques. Also, it ranked fifth in percentage of concern among seven local problem issues raised; air pollution and traffic congestion being numbers one and two. Studies also showed that consumers in multi-family dwellings (apartments) had little awareness of their water consumption as it was included in their rent, and as such, they weren't as motivated to practice conservation.

Benefits and Motivators:

However, the vast majority of respondents (75% answering between 8-10 on a 1-10 scale of importance) felt that water conservation was highly important, and 91% agreed that conserving water now will help to assure a healthy Valley economy in years to come. Surveys also reported several scenarios as motivational factors for them in personal water conservation including:
- Severe drought in Valley - 73% of respondents would conserve
- 50% increase in water bill - 63% of respondents would conserve
- Reduced charge for reduced water use - 53% of respondents would conserve
- Free low-flow devices - 49% of respondents would conserve
Because the water-saving tips are simple to understand, easy to do, and have an obvious benefit of saving water (and money), we dramatically reduced the barriers to adopting these new behaviors. To put this principle into action, we built a 138-gallon pyramid outside of a local Home Depot to visually demonstrate the average amount of water used every day by each citizen in metropolitan Phoenix. The most consistent reaction we received to this 16-foot tall display was shock. People had no idea how much water they were using, which makes water conservation a much more important endeavor.
Make Access to your Message Easy

Successful social marketing campaigns provide target audiences with easy ways to sign up or take action. With Water - Use It Wisely, we call this "Omnipresence on a Budget." We strove to have our message everywhere so that it was convenient to interact with, simple to understand, and easy to put into practice. The logo itself is a call-to-action, making the message and the resulting behaviors very accessible. For example, we teamed up with local Lowe's stores for a month-long water conservation promotion that included signage throughout their stores by highlighting low-water use products and promoting the water conservation behaviors associated with their use. This type of promotion allowed us to promote water conservation before the point-of-purchase and point-of-use. It was a valuable opportunity to interact with our target markets in their day-to-day lives, and to offer them convenient access to the message.

Moreover, the Water - Use It Wisely website, www.wateruseitwisely.com plays a critical role in providing easy access to water conservation information. The website is one of the largest and most informative portals to water conservation information. It's easy and fun to navigate and provides interactive information and games with the click of a mouse.
Develop Attention-Getting & Motivational Messages

A water conservation message must be motivational, educational, believable, and empowering. Moreover, it has to cut through the clutter of all of the other messages competing for your target's attention. Therefore, the campaign creative must be strategic, well produced, and attention-grabbing. Additionally, it must be consistent across all media channels used so as to not weaken the message impact. With WUIW, the campaign message, "Water - Use It Wisely", is a clear call to action - the motivation lies in the message itself. Moreover, the tagline, "There are a number of ways to save water, and they all start with you", reinforces the idea that the individual has the power to conserve water and help their community. Further, the campaign creative featured bright, eye-catching colors with simple icons such as a watering can or wall clock to illustrate the specific water-saving devices or tips. The creative stressed the ease at which anyone can conserve water day to day.
Use Appropriate Media & Create Audience Participation

Successful social marketing campaigns use all forms of traditional and non- traditional media to reach their target markets with a consistent, compelling message. The best campaigns promote their messages in media environments where your consumer is actually interacting with at several different points throughout the day. For example, the WUIW campaign used tent cards at restaurants reminding patrons that water would be served only when requested. Additionally, the campaign was promoted in several ways including: on water bills and newsletter inserts, on movie theatre slides, on airport signs, and on municipal trucks, among others.
Provide Response Mechanisms that Encourage Recommended Behavior

One of the best ways to demonstrate to your target market that they are making a difference by adopting the desired behavior is by showing tangible results, either on a cost or statistical basis. Billing envelopes and utility newsletters are great places to reinforce the message and the brand. With WUIW, showing consumers declines in their water consumption along with the related water savings is an undeniable and consistent way to prove the benefits of their behavior change. It is also an ideal way to continue promoting the water conservation message over time. The WUIW campaign has continued to use water bills and newsletters for these purposes.
Allocate Appropriate Resources for Media and Outreach

Many campaigns fail simply because adequate resources are not allocated for media reach and frequency. Make sure that the goals of your campaign are realistic and attainable given the financial and personnel resources you have available to invest in your messaging. Most causes simply rely on free public service announcements to get their message out. In our over-saturated media world, PSAs are relatively ineffective. You often need to grease the media wheels a bit with paid media that then leads to much more "free" exposure. Use a media expert to help you plan, negotiate and purchase your advertising. The WUIW campaign used traditional media venues as TV, radio, Web, and print to publicize the message. However, the campaign also gained exposure by partnering with local conservation efforts through businesses and schools. In addition, a variety of promotional items were created to spread the message even further including: magnets, bookmarks, toothpaste winders, and temporary tattoos for kids.
Allocate Adequate Resources for Research

Research is like a roadmap to effecting behavior change. Unanswered questions are critical to the success of a campaign. We need to know what the concerns and barriers the target audience has about adopting this new behavior. What more do they need to know in order to decide? What messages would motivate them the most? These are just a few of the questions that need to be answered to help insure a successful campaign. As noted earlier, the WUIW campaign utilized several market research surveys to ascertain the beliefs and perceived costs and benefits of water conservation by the target audiences.
Track Results and Make Adjustments

Finally, administering a campaign is a little like playing golf. You have to make adjustments along the way to stay on course and reach your goal. With Water - Use It Wisely, we first did a benchmark study to better understand our consumers' mindsets toward conservation. Then we conducted follow-up surveys every two years to determine how successful the campaign was and what changes needed to be made to reach our goals. After four years, we found that Water - Use It Wisely had achieved an 80 percent market penetration regarding awareness, and that 33 percent of those surveyed said they had made the desired behavior changes to use water more wisely due to the campaign. You can view the findings of Water - Use It Wisely studies from across the country on the Water - Use It Wisely website.