Tuerff-Davis EnviroMedia, Inc. formed in 1997 as the nation’s first full-service marketing firm focused solely on environmental and public health issues. EnviroMedia Social Marketing creates behavior-changing PR and advertising campaigns through research, creative, production, interactive, experiential marketing and media relations. Its clients include the Don’t Mess with Texas litter prevention campaign (a program of the Texas Department of Transportation), Climate Savers Computing Initiative, Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas Education Agency, Green Mountain Energy, Dell Computers, Oregon State University and the State of Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, among others.
In the arena of water conservation and efficiency, EnviroMedia Social Marketing created the Water IQ campaign, a state of Texas water awareness education program based on research that revealed nearly three out of four Texans didn't know the natural source of their water. The research also showed that the more people know about their water source, the more likely they are to save it. Water IQ informs Texans about their water source, while teaching them how to conserve this precious resource. North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) was the first to implement the campaign, and it worked — the district’s customers reduced peak day consumption by an estimated 200 million gallons a day, helping the district to get through the 2006-2007 drought without needing to take more drastic measures.
At present, five water providers across Texas are implementing the Water IQ program, including NTMWD, the City of Austin, City of Cedar Park, Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District and the Lower Colorado River Authority, and the campaign has been tailored to various geographic regions, water sources (underground or groundwater) and weather conditions from extreme drought to exceptional rainfall. Eleven communities across Texas have used Water IQ during the past four years.
EnviroMedia’s Water IQ campaign makes saving water a no-brainer — giving simple tips to consumers through TV, online, print and outdoor advertising, media relations, a robust Web site (www.WaterIQ.org) as well as business and consumer outreach. At Water IQ outreach events conducted by EnviroMedia’s Experiential Marketing Team, people interact with Water IQ experts who use tools like a giant lawn sprinkler to grab peoples’ attention, help consumers take water quizzes, offer an interactive computer tour of the Water IQ house and provide winning prizes. Outreach events are set up at shopping malls, home improvement stores and festivals.
This year’s advertising campaign uses gallon jugs to help people see just how much water they are wasting. In one ad, mocked-up plastic water jugs cover an entire front lawn and explains, “Broken or misdirected sprinkler head? You could be wasting thousands of gallons a year.”
With no state funding, Texas water providers are paying for this water conservation education on the local level. State public funding supporting a comprehensive water conservation message — similar to the Don’t Mess with Texas litter prevention campaign — is needed to fully meet Texas’ water demands.
EnviroMedia Social Marketing offers comprehensive advertising and PR campaign creation and oversight, while its subsidiary, EnviroMedia Buying Services, provides media buying and planning. Offices include headquarters in Austin, Texas, and a West Coast branch in Portland, Oregon. For more information, visit www.EnviroMedia.com.