Global Water Resources - A Tale of Two Pipelines
There’s an old riddle about a green door and what can fit through it. Apples can, bananas can’t. Russia can, Tanzania can’t. We won’t give away the solution yet, but the challenge gives you a little idea of the kind of head scratching that we go through to create a successful marketing campaign. For Global Water, one word made all the difference: people were all for “recycling,” but weren’t wild about “reclamation.” What’s more, Arizonans loved the idea of dual pipelines to facilitate recycled water use, but not if it meant that the water saved would be used in the quest for more growth. Markets and audiences can be riddled with these little…well, riddles, but if marketing were easy, you’d be doing it right now instead fixating on that goddamn green door.
Global Water is all about quickly changing an industry known for its hell-bent stagnancy. It’s a classic American success story, really: two Canadians choose the desert of Arizona to set up a wastewater utility with the help of a billboard magnate investor. In less than five years, they become the fastest-growing private utility in Arizona, buying smaller utilities across the southern part of the state and bringing an entrepreneurial and environmental mindset to the industry. Global spearheads development projects by laying down a dual piping infrastructure before developers move in: one line for fresh water, one for wastewater. For a new company, Global Water already had a growing sphere of influence, but to expand its water recycling model and philosophy across Arizona and beyond, it needed a marketing campaign that would brand and educate across all media.
Park&Co answered with print ads stressing the long-term benefits of a community founded on reclaimed water. Or, as residents of Pinal County preferred to call it, recycled water. While ostensibly the same thing, research showed that the word “reclamation” implied a dirtier, murkier water process than did “recycle.” The Global Water campaign became a lesson in determining precisely the right language to convey the desired idea. So initial Global ads containing “reclamation” were themselves recycled and placed in Pinal County media. The print layouts featured simple, eye-catching icons formed out of water drops to symbolize the benefits and possibilities of recycled water.
Another powerfully symbolic image of the campaign was Global Water’s new logo. Originally, the company’s wave-inspired mark emphasized the word “Global.” But to customers in Arizona, the fact that their water company wanted to make a worldwide impact was irrelevant. The new mark created by Park&Co was a clean, stylish representation of Global’s commitment to the environment. The familiar recycling logo—a triangle formed by arrows—was twisted and streamlined into a bright blue “G.” The new iconic symbol is now used everywhere by the company and instantly identifies them as a forward-thinking, green organization that’s going global for all the right reasons.
It’s a bit out of the ordinary for a client to ask its advertising agency to play a key role in the design of its new building, but Global Water is far from ordinary. Their new Maricopa Global Water Center is a working showcase of environmental design, functionality, and education. The building materials and construction practices had to meet strict LEED guidelines: walls are made of recycled materials, the roofing material is recycled aluminum cans, and the lake out back doubles as a recycled water reservoir. Inside, the building connects with the community through water education. Park&Co designed and produced water conservation signage, interactive kiosks, videos, even water features to communicate a strong, consistent, water-friendly philosophy.
With new marketing to match the way they think and the way they do business, Global Water is now poised to go…well, global. They’re already an overwhelming success here in Arizona. Awareness among customers went from 12% to 49% in just one year, with a 63% approval rating. Marketing and educational outreach in southern Arizona led to a 20% increase in the number of customers who favor the use of recycled water in their communities.
Crafting the language and look of a successful marketing campaign can be a bit of a riddle, but as Global Water’s case demonstrates, great strategy and attention to creative details can open more doors than apples and Russians. (Itt’s thhe doubble letters.)