Southern Water — The Challenge:
Southern England is officially water-stressed, meaning there’s a high likelihood of water supply disruptions by 2030 if all residents do not reduce water consumption.
Public opinion of the client was low. They needed an attention-grabbing campaign that raised awareness and empowered its consumers to change their habits without feeling blamed.
Using the COM-B model we created a behaviour change campaign to help customers reduce their water consumption. The concept focused on how small changes by many ordinary people at home, can make a big difference to the regional effort to reduce water consumption.
The TVC uses sporting commentary as a vehicle to show people at home as everyday heroes. The fast-paced sports-style commentary allows us to jump from home to home showing each simple behaviour change in action. It also reinforces the premise of the region as one big team. We styled the shoot for summertime, the timing of the campaign aligned with the football world cup when the nation would be swept up in football and sport.
Positioning people at home as everyday heroes. Playing with scale, making everyday objects big – highlights a big opportunity right there at home under your nose.
Impactful quotes from different people make the behaviour feel relatable and were better received than if it were to be posed as an instruction from SW. It gave gentle behavioural nudges – "if other people are doing it, it is a widely accepted behaviour and perhaps I should too. "
Quantifying how much one change can save, raises awareness of actual water usage.
We were transparent about the changes Southern Water were making.
Results
Impressions
39m
Across all channels.
CTR
2.5x
Across META ads.
Awareness
40%
Overall awareness of the campaign across all channels.
Website
225k
Clicks to the targeted website landing page.
Sentiment
80%
Participants agreed that the campaign was informative, clear and relevant.
Behind the scenes
Project summary
Campaign concept
Art direction of photoshoot and TV commercial
Campaign key visuals
Storyboard design
Billboards, road signs and pharmacy bags
Social and display ad design
YouTube video cut downs
Radio ads
Collaboration with York University Psychology Department