While students across the country are being put through the paces on fundamentals like reading, writing and arithmetic, school officials themselves are conducting water-quality tests to make sure students' well-being is protected, while also encouraging them to drink more water as a building block for overall health.
Nationwide, these tests are uncovering lead, resulting in schools turning to bottled water as a quick but unsustainable fix so they can still provide drinking water to their students. The Brita brand had recently renewed its purpose to reduce bottled water waste, so the brand and spokesperson and NBA star Curry stepped up to provide long-term solutions for these schools. To make sure that the right choice the schools are making for their students today does not become a drain on resources for the future, Brita launched the Filter for the Future grant program to help schools purchase and install filtering stations and replacements.
Through the program, Brita set out to not only make long-term drinking water solutions more widely available to schools in need, but to also engage people in the brand's purpose and encourage them to rethink their bottled water usage so Current executed against the following objectives:
- Raise broad awareness for the campaign and Brita through earned media outreach, with a goal of 75M impressions
- Ensure the campaign and coverage addresses the short term Issue in schools and the long term crisis being created by bottled water, ultimately positing Brita as the solution to both problems
In 2007 the Baltimore Public School District, one of the country's largest educational systems, found lead in the water and in response, they shut off the water in all their school buildings and have been trucking in jugs and bottles ever since.
We first heard the story of BPSD in 2014 at a drinking water conference, and in 2016 we:
Brita wanted to step-up with a solution for schools, backed by a product that delivered the safety and helped people join our purpose. We actively monitored news around school lead issues, and reached out to experts at the National Drinking Water Alliance and at select districts with lead in their buildings, including the Oakland Public Schools and the San Diego Public Schools, helping us further understand their bourgeoning need for sustainable water solutions.
We pursued a strategic blend of three key elements – an influential spokesperson, a consumer incentive and a non-profit partner – that together drive awareness and purchase of the new filter while earning coverage, creating buzz and engaging directly with real people.
Brita needed a powerful mouthpiece to deliver our messaging around water contamination, and brought Brita's existing spokesperson into the folds. As a Bay Area resident, athlete and parent, access to drinkable water is an issue that is close to Stephen Curry's heart. Because of his celebrity, we knew we could book high reach interviews and tie the grant program to the larger problem of bottled water.
Our grant program announcement was the perfect moment for building buzz and calling people to action. We added the incentive for people nationwide to lend their support: for every sale of Brita Longlast™ - a new filter certified to remove 99 percent of lead from tap water for up to 120 gallons for roughly the equivalent to six months of use from an average family – we would contribute $1 to school projects.
To also reach real people, Brita partnered with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which works with schools and community organizations to transform the systems that lead to healthier children. They are amplifying Brita's efforts by supporting our Filter for the Future grant program, where schools can apply to receive help with their long-term water solutions.
On Friday, March 30, 2018, Brita spokesperson Stephen Curry participated in an SMT, conducting media interviews, and successfully delivering program messages with 16 media outlets. Stephen discussed water contamination and bottled water issues in schools, and how he and Brita have partnered up to help support Brita's Filter for the Future program, while mentioning the grant donation message of $1 for every Brita Longlast Filter purchased.
Media outreach around our March day with Stephen Curry helped drive broad awareness for the launch of Brita's Filter for the Future grant program.
Striving toward a goal of 75M impressions, we garnered:
This program – supported only by this PR efforts and at shelf messaging –also delivered notable business results, triggered by the awareness, cause and offer of $1 for every Brita Longlast Filter purchased.
Business results include:
