Case Study:
Southern Water
A year-long behavioural change campaign to reduce water consumption.
The South is officially water-stressed, meaning there’s a high likelihood of water supply disruptions by 2030 if all residents do not reduce water consumption.
Public opinion of this client was low. They needed an attention-grabbing campaign that raised awareness and empowered its consumers to change their habits without judgment.
Using the COM-B model, we created a behaviour change campaign concept to help customers reduce their water consumption. The concept focused on how small changes by many ordinary people at home, can make a big difference to the regional effort to reduce water consumption.
NB: Melanie led the creative development of this project while working at Mediaworks agency.
The Concept
Save a little water, make a lot of difference
Positions ordinary people as everyday heroes. Playing with scale, making everyday objects big – highlights a big opportunity right there at home under your nose.
We showed five simple water-saving behaviour changes in action, showing the capability and opportunity to make changes to simple everyday tasks.
The messaging uses a motivational sporting theme and reinforces the idea of the region as one big team, setting the expectation that saving water is what a team player would do. Impactful quotes from different people make the behaviour feel relatable and were better received than if it were to be posed as an instruction from SW. It gave gentle behavioural nudges – "if other people are doing it, it is a widely accepted behaviour and perhaps I should too. "
We styled the photo and TVC shoots for summertime, the timing of the campaign aligned with the football World Cup when the nation would be swept up in football and sport.
We were transparent about the changes Southern Water were making. Quantifying how much one small change can save, raises awareness of actual water usage.
Project summary
Design strategy and analysis
Campaign concept
Art direction of photoshoot and TV commercial
Campaign key visuals
Storyboard design
Billboards, road signs and pharmacy bags
Social and display ad design
YouTube video cut downs
Radio ads
Collaboration: University of York, Psychology Department
Display Ad design
TVC Still
Billboard design
Social media design