On October 1, a group of 12 leading organizations in the water sector launched a national, multimedia campaign to increase public awareness of water as a natural resource and commodity. The “Value of Water” campaign is designed to educate individuals, families and businesses on the need for investments in the shared water infrastructure.
The campaign grew out of a concern shared throughout the water sector about the lack of public understanding and pressing need for investments in water and infrastructure to address today’s and future generations’ water needs. From the water industry’s perspective, the campaign goal is clear: clean, safe and reliable water for every home and community. The coalition reached consensus on the leading educational themes – water is shared, water is irreplaceable and water belongs to us, to our children and to the environment in which we live.
For more than a year, a dozen public and private organizations, including investor-owned water companies, nonprofit water organizations and technology companies, worked to develop a strategy to speak with a unified voice to address the current state of water infrastructure. The coalition committed to reaching individuals where they seek information most often, specifically, the Internet and through social media channels. In addition to establishing a website, the campaign has an active presence on Twitter, Slideshare, Flickr, YouTube and Google as well as the VoW blog.
Coalition leaders placed a high value on developing content that is appealing to their target audiences. Examples of the multimedia communication methods used include videos, infographics and blog posts. In each case, the content is designed to be repurposed by interested individuals and organizations as new information and materials are released. The interactive website serves as a central clearinghouse for the most relevant and compelling water-related news from the coalition and third-party sources.
