Blog 4: Water.org and Levi's -- Carolyn Gillette

The jean company, Levi’s joined up with Water.org in 2012 to create a social marketing campaign for the Global Water Crisis. The campaign, Go Water< Less, encouraged people to save water through shortening your showers, efficiently washing your clothes and using glass wear instead of water bottles when drinking. The campaign went over several years and included an online challenge with prizes, a “waterless” jean for purchase and an overall encouragement for the public to conserve water.

Levi's and water.org were mainly targeting Californian customers.

The target audience of the social marketing campaign is identified to be the average North American who takes advantage of using their water sources. Though the campaign did not directly state their audience, the target for the campaign is most likely the Californians that are buying Levi’s jeans. The State of California (where Levi’s headquarters are located) limits daily personal water usage to account for their frequent droughts. The social marketing campaign is most likely targeting Levi’s customers and not only gains exposure for water.org but it also supports Levi’s water  conservation, who is often affected by water limits.

The main communication tactics used for this campaign are the use of Levi’s clothing tags. Levi’s released jeans that were 100 per cent made from recycled water bottles. As the target audience was most likely Levis’ customers, their consumers would frequently see their advertisements and these tags and theoretically have a very successful campaign. The campaign was also released on Twitter, however there was very little social media pick up.

While I do support water conservation, I found the campaign difficult to get behind. While some suggestions like taking an “intermission” from water usage during showers might be something to get behind, I thought asking people to not use reusable water bottles or waiting to flush the toilet was a bit unrealistic. Further research into California’s water restrictions and Levi’s target audience, might tell a different story.  

Levi's encourages their consumers to conserve water. 

The negative behaviour that the campaign is trying to correct is that using too much water is causing the Global Water Crisis. Why taking shorter showers would contribute to stopping the Global Water Crisis is never fully described. The campaign listed statistics that did seem positive, however the benefits could have been made clearer. The campaign description stated that 1.82 billion litres of water had been saved, thanks to cutting back water usage but it didn’t state why that was really important or whom it helped. I felt pretty disappointed looking at the campaign, as I expected it to be more informative than asking people to not waste water.

I think water.org would benefit from exposure they received by being on Levi’s advertisements but the actual name and logo of the organization was very small compared to Levi’s. Levi’s is a huge campaign to partner with and I don’t think they used it as effectively as they could have. There 
was media pick up about the new jeans, however there was 
little mention about the organization water.org.

Any time a social marketing campaign is launched, the main goal of the campaign is to change negative behaviour to a more positive one. Levi’s and water.org did effectively spread awareness about increasing water conservation and the Global Water Crisis, however there was little exposure for water.org. I think Levis created a successful social marketing campaign but without a clear benefit to changing negative behaviours and without exposure for the charity, I think the partnership could have been more mutually beneficial.

             

Blog Four: Successful Social Marketing - WaterAid's Water Works - Megan Beierle

In 2011, WaterAid launched its Water Works campaign to encourage positive behaviours toward water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) initiatives. More specifically, the goal was to encourage global governments to redirect their spending toward WASH initiatives and stop decreasing the percentages spent on water and sanitation. The campaign states that in 1990, eight per cent of public funding was spent on WASH; in 2009 that percentage dropped to 5 ½ per cent; and in 2011 governments across Africa agreed to spend just half of one per cent of its GDP on WASH.

WaterAid aimed to reach global and local governments to incite change in their behaviours; WaterAid’s ancillary publics included lobbyists and humanitarians who are fearless and courageous in their endeavours to support a cause they believe in.

The strategies used to target these publics were very effective as well. To gain lobbyists’, activists’ and humanitarians’ awareness, calls to action were posted on music festival and other event websites, where these ancillary publics gathered to fulfill other purposes like buy festival tickets or find festival details. These festivals became platforms for these activist groups to rally for change and start a movement, allowing the initial campaign launch to be successful.

By equipping these ancillary publics with fact-based speaking points, WaterAid was well-positioned to target its primary audience. Political discourse analysts maintain that politicians prefer logos approaches, which primarily use statistics and facts as the basis of an argument. These professionals argue that:

To dismiss numbers, whether through fear or loathing, is to give up the game on almost every cause you love or hate. For numbers are now, whether we like it or not, for good or ill, the dominant language of public argument.

The powerful mixture of logos and pathos, describing the numbers of people affected and the struggles that affect them, force politicians who can change their behaviours for the better both think about and viscerally feel a need to transform their behaviours. Moreover, understanding that politicians have limited time, WaterAid kept its messages short.

Evidence of the campaign is difficult to find online, as there is only one video, a few posts to event web pages, and an infographic. These tactics would have been sufficient had the target audience been local governments; however, such tactics likely did not reach global politicians. The only evidence I could find reflecting political support existed on Andrew George’s, a U.K. Liberal Democrat, website.

Some children have to miss
school to help their families
carry clean water for
countless kilometres.

While political negative behaviours are merely implied and never explicitly stated, they are exceedingly obvious. While children in this campaign are depicted as victims of the WASH crisis, carrying water canteens on their backs for countless kilometres, lying in hospital beds and missing out on school, politicians are depicted as greedy men and women negotiating spending cuts on vital WASH initiatives. The benefits are clearly stated: if these politicians increase public spending on WASH initiatives, children will be able to pursue their futures, fewer children will die from dysentery and general quality of life will improve in developing African communities. There is a direct cause-and-effect relationship between politicians’ behaviour and the suffering or well-being of these communities.

Social Marketing campaigns like Water Works has the ability
to draw people together and elicit change.

WaterAid’s campaign is a strong example of how a charity can benefit from using a campaign like this. A social marketing campaign like this rallies people together and creates a joint push for better behaviour. Further, this campaign forced governments to reflect on themselves and their actions, to make changes that contributed to both the charity’s cause and show their commitment to communities they work in and for.

Blog Four - Successful Social Marketing: Charity Water

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Blog Four

Vannessa Sutter-Smith

Dr. Ronald Strand

June 28, 2018

Charity: water’s campaign – Pledge your birthday, is a great example of a successful social marketing campaign.

https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/43839796342728451/

The organization utilizes simple marketing outlets including their website and blog posts in an attempt to influence others to pledge or essentially give up their birthday in exchange for raising funds and donations towards a great cause. Charity: water also uses an array of marketing techniques including videos, statistics and the use of storytelling to reach their intended audiences. The behavioral change Charity: Water is trying to impact is that of being selfless – by giving up your birthday, or potentially the traditional conventions associated with a birthday, e.g. receiving gifts and money for yourself – etc. Once you have pledged your birthday, 100 per cent of the donations received are dispersed out to people around the world in need of clean water.

http://blog.

cengagebrain.com/blog/2016/01/pledge-your-birthday-to-charity-water/

Although the target audience is not specifically identified, the website states that over 95,755 people have pledged their birthday to-date. My perception of the desired target audience sought by Charity: Water is quite broad; my assumption is that they would prefer to have a wide range of audiences to target with different methods for each group, in order to ensure maximum participation across the board. With that being said, via some deeper research of the pledge your birthday campaign, there was frequently repeated content reporting on pledgees being in the 20 to 30 years-of-age range.

 I believe the communication tactics used by Charity: Water are appropriate for the intended – and quite broad audience structure. The use of the internet, corporate website, blog posts and story-telling videos are used to reach a broad range of audiences. In addition, when targeting people who are frequently online users the feature employed by Charity: Water - the advanced email notification reminding you in advance that you have pledged your birthday is very useful. It also promptly reminds you that you are able to share the pledge link with your friends and family. I believe this tactics assists in ensuring that people stick to their original notion of pledging their birthday. 

I would not say the negative behaviour is clearly identified; it appears to be brought about more subtly than that. Charity: Water does not explicitly say that celebrating your birthday is a negative behaviour - instead, the organization suggests that by changing the way you celebrate your birthday – and utilizing a selfless or philanthropic mindset - you are able to support a great cause and help an average of 38 people in receiving clean drinking water.  

The benefits of the positive behaviour are clearly identified. The Charity: Water website states, “$770 Is the average amount raised by a person’s birthday campaign. 38 people get clean water as a result of an average birthday campaign; and $9Million has already been raised for clean water through birthdays.”

https://www.charitywater.org/get-involved/pledge-birthday

I believe the charity benefits from using this type of social marketing campaign because it allows the organization to utilize another method in an attempt to reach their target audiences and achieve their overall goal – raising funds to help millions of people in impoverish countries by providing them with access to clean drinking water.

Blog Three - Attractive Aspects of Generosity Water's CRM

This particular cause-related marketing (CRM) campaign is attractive to consumers because it associates the person or subsequently an organization with a good name and a good cause. There is a certain stature associated with doing-good - this positive discernment helps to raise public opinion, generally in a favourable manner - regarding a company or an individual's reputation and values. Research suggests this is because “There is a growing public concern over environmental and social issues, corporations have begun to affiliate their products with a range of popular causes, including social and ecological issues. Linking themselves to good causes has become attractive to many businesses, especially those engaged in dealings with consumers.”

The Generosity Water campaign is notably attractive to consumers because they immediately state the organizations good cause and exemplify their reasoning for helping others. The Generosity Water website states, “We believe that people matter and everything we do is an expression of that fundamental value.” The Generosity Water campaign utilizes the persuasive methods of ethos and logos. Drawing on individual’s emotional appeals as well as the logical. Ethos is addressed by stating that the organization values all human beings and places importance on helping others - above all else. This notion triggers an emotional response from people, it motivates consumers to buy the product because if they do, they are performing an act of benevolence

by helping others who are less fortunate. Logos is embedded by discussing the factual information regarding the health benefits of alkaline water, and the high-quality of water provided by the organization.  This method is clever – as I have personally noticed a growing trend in society – especially on social media, with people leading healthier lives and buying products that are good for them and can help to improve their health.   

Moreover, the Generosity water CRM campaign is attractive to consumers because the organization positions themselves to appear to have a philanthropic aspect to the business. While the company is of course still receiving funds for the cause and is not solely a philanthropic endeavour they denote that the notions of generosity and humanitarianism are embedded in the organization’s cause. In my opinion, consumers find this attractive because it enables them to feel a sense of selflessness.

Personally, I would prefer to associate myself with or buy products from a brand with a good public reputation and if the organization is also committed to social responsibility, this will only enhance my opinion of whether or not to purchase their products. Many consumers alike judge an organization based on the perceived public reputation and will associate with particular products because they are helping others. Research suggest that “76% of consumers buy products/services linked with charities and good cause primarily to help the charities.” A simple google search for Generosity Water reviews exemplifies that the Generosity Water organization appears to have a pristine public reputation with several reviews and stories highlighting the companies virtuous efforts. I believe the growing positive reputation of the organization continues to attract consumers.

A screenshot of Generosity Water's Instagram photos

One attractive aspect of Generosity Water’s cause-related marketing campaign is what they are selling. While the obvious product - bottled water - is the focus of their campaign, the charity has mastered its ability to sell a lifestyle. Generosity Water’s homepage depiction of attractive people living luxurious lifestyles, paired with its attractive social media posts featuring the health benefits of staying hydrated enable the charity to convince its publics that the product is worth buying. Such behaviours allow Generosity Water to truly connect with the customer. 

Considering the products consumers purchase on a daily basis, so few of them are purchased out of necessity. Rather, consumers often turn to the lifestyle a product can offer them. From the beginning, we follow the examples set by the attractive models used on Generosity Water’s website, as we believe them to be smarter, kinder, more generous and more trustworthy than “less-attractive” individuals. In Generosity Water’s case - which also serves a philanthropic purpose by providing clean drinking water to underprivileged people abroad - the sleek bottle opens a doorway to a new social status. 

The promise made by Generosity Water

To consumers, the trade-off is justified; the consumer is rewarded with a 12-bottle case of new, trendy pH-balanced water that promises a life of luxury, while 24 people are granted water for one month. 

We are guided by our hearts instead of our heads.
Seeing this photo reminds us that we can change a life.

After visiting this website and buying the product I would understand that I am helping destitute communities acquire the basic necessities of life - water and good health - simply by purchasing bottled water, which impacts these communities’ lifestyles as well. It’s the understanding that I am not just buying the product, I’m not just buying my lifestyle and I’m not just buying a desirable and scarce product, but that I am making a difference in the lives of people who have no control over their situation. It has even been proven that when choosing whether or not to give to a charity, we are guided by our hearts instead of our heads. 

Compared to its closest competitor, Smart Water - which also markets water with health benefits (ionized to stimulate muscles and nerves and electrolyte-packed to help recovery following workouts) - Generosity Water cannot be found on most grocery store shelves. Further, free shipping is offered only to Californian consumers, creating an element of scarcity. There are several reasons why scarcity like that employed by Generosity Water plays an important role in persuasion, like the threat of a potential loss (of opportunity), a fear that you won’t be able to have what they’re selling unless you act quickly, it indicates exclusivity and it seems like a luxury item. 

Competition and scarcity make us
act on purchase decisions.

Knowing that I could own a product that others cannot easily acquire always draws me toward online purchases. While I have my reservations about ordering things like water online and having it shipped to my home when I could just as easily - if not with more ease - drive to the grocery store in 10 minutes and buy a case of Dasani or Smart Water for less money, the consumer and competitor in me wants the product that is hard to find. Plus, after a quick scan of Generosity Water’s website I automatically feel compelled to buy the product for the cause my money is going toward. 

Considering the allure created by Generosity Water’s cause-related marketing tactics, the charity’s cause is likely to garner the support of many consumers hoping to change the third world and look personally attractive in the process. 

The Generosity Water cause draws consumers in with the use of ownership. It’s tagline “For every bottle of water purchased, we give clean water to two people for one month,” is effective in placing the customer in the solution. Everyone buys water and even avid recyclers and earth friendly individuals need to buy water on the go or in a pinch. These water bottles may be their choice as the better of two evils because they are uniquely designed with a code to scan. These scannable codes show the purchaser profiles of the individuals that they are helping by buying the water, which is a fun interactive way to build brand loyalty.

The amount of exposure and loyalty the brand will receive from customers sharing their story is the best form of advertising. Each consumer that purchases the bottle will tell whoever is with them, hey this is helping people. Then they will scan the code and be excited to share that experience because this is one of the first times that a water bottle has been interactive. The added bonus is that they helped other individuals, which is then yet another reason to share and be excited to get involved.

These water bottles have the viral appeal and individuals especially millennials will want to buy the product solely on the fact that they are helping others. They may not have the means to travel around the world to do so and this provides a great way to help from home. The appeal of selling the story more than the product is the best marketing strategy for the company and moving forward even if they reengineer the bottles to be more eco friendly they should still lead with their captivating story.

The benefit of using an interactive story to share the cause is that it becomes a teaching moment. Parents and teachers alike can purchase the bottles to show children the gift of giving and incorporate the activity into lesson plans. The bottles can also be used as party favours from corporate events to children’s birthday parties as a product to both give to guests and to give back to the cause while spreading awareness.

From a marketing perspective a brand of water that is helping a greater cause maybe seen as higher quality that the other water bottle alternatives. This physiological trick on the mind may occur because the purchaser assumes that a moral company wanting to help less fortunate people with the proceeds of their sales do not have a reason to cut corners in production and thus choose the highest standards when sourcing all materials and water used. They may also believe that individuals wanting to help others access clean water would not want to give them dirty water. lastly, unlike large corporations the audience will not have an image of greed or need to meet a bottom line when thinking of a charity organization, which can help the cause whether or not extra precautions were taken to ensure high standards of product.