The Watersavers initiative

Background:

As the UAE has next to no fresh water, it depends heavily on desalination. This contributes significantly to the UAE’s heavy ecological footprint and produces a number of adverse by-products which pose a real threat to the UAE's marine life, residents, economy - in fact, to its survival. 

There is also a very real possibility that if demand continues unabated, the UAE will face water shortages, which would of course be disastrous.  The time, cost and environmental impact of building more desalination plants is prohibitive. There is simply no quick solution to providing more water to this rapidly expanding nation.

So Touchpoints worked with the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi to launch and implement the most ambitious, far-reaching water conservation campaign that has ever taken place, anywhere in the world. 

The Watersavers campaign will install water-saving devices in every single home, mosque, school, government and private sector building in the entire emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Objectives:

• Raise awareness of the initiative
• Overcome objections to the installers being allowed into residences
• Literally change the behaviour of a nation, by dramatically reducing the amount of water it consumes.

Our role:

• Development of the strategy with the Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi
• Development of all creative materials
• Lead consultant on database strategy, call centre set up and integration across the initiative
• Provision of training and KPI setting for contractors.

The campaign:

• The campaign required a strong utilisation of mass media to drive awareness. TV commercials, public service announcements on local radio, videos in elevators of mixed use buildings, print and outdoor posters were all used to announce the campaign and drive visitors to the website.
• The campaign hinges on the credibility of the Watersaver installers and the trust of the public to let the installers into their homes to fit them. There is a cultural consideration here: Abu Dhabi has many households where wives and mothers with limited social and language skills are often at home all day and likely to react to any caller at their door with suspicion.

 So direct channels were used to address frequently asked questions   and to implore the public to assist the government.

• Online banners served to drive to the website, which features robust, factual information on the campaign plus FAQs and technical information on the device.

        A results section is soon to be added, highlighting both the number of devices installed and the estimated amount of water saved as a result.

• A toll free number was set up (800 WATER) with a trained team available to answer questions.

• The campaign also leveraged channels from a key partner, the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company, with statement envelopes and payment receipts used to target every resident in Abu Dhabi. The ADDC front offices were also utilised, with posters and pull ups to communicate the campaign key messages.

ADDC meter- readers were fitted with custom made T-shirts bearing   the Watersavers message for high exposure. An HTML email is also being sent in phases to all residents in the ADDC database.

Creative rationale:

The creative needed to communicate the big savings that one small gadget could deliver.  It was also important to establish trust and credibility in the Watersaver, along with recognition of the Watersaver installers by showing the official uniform and easing concerns by depicting them as warm, friendly and trustworthy. The model selection and simplicity in the messages helped address this.

Click here to view the creative.