Colorado River
Social Good Campaign
Situation: The Colorado River and its ecosystem are on the brink of collapse.
The basin’s ecosystem faces irreversible damage in 2-3 years, so public solutions are finally being implemented.
Synergetic Causes: Population Growth + Climate Change
The CO River Basin population's growth rate has been 2.5x faster than the rest of the US over the past 70 years.
The snowfall on the Rockies has decreased by 20% in the last 20 years due to global warming, which results in less runoff water to feed the river. This trend will be exacerbated as global temperatures continue to rise.
Attraction: People are drawn to better quality of life and cost of living.
“I got tired of NE winters, and you can live in a large city for medium city prices with good professional sports, lower taxes and fees, and there’s career growth opportunities” -Jerry, 34
Attempted Solutions: Government solutions are trying to kick into high gear but old data is keeping them from turning over.
Local, State and Federal legislation and water limitations are trying to save the CO River and basin, but they’re being built using current population data, which will render them obsolete in the near future.
Actual Solution: Stop population growth.
Methodology: Show potential movers that the CO River Basin they envisioned has dried up.
The overuse of water in the basin has substantially raised all costs of living, while also making the climate inhospitable.
Strategy: Expose the “Desert Oasis” as a Mirage.
TV/YouTube Spot
Since a lot of the people who move to the Basin are retirees, we’ll be airing this commercial on major news networks, as well as YouTube to catch a younger demographic.
Art Director: Becka Hammond
Experience Designer: Paul Noonan
Idea: Maybe Not Realty
A fake real estate company that exposes the realities of life in the Colorado River basin.
Phone Hotline
When people call the hotline listed in the TV spot or OOH, they will hear this message informing them about the ongoing water crisis in the CO River Basin as well as directing them to a microsite.
Brought to you by:
The Bureau threatened it will “act unilaterally to protect the system” if the states cannot devise a plan by 2023 to reduce water use by 2-4 million acre-feet. In 2022, the Bureau was given $4 billion earmarked for Colorado River Basin solutions. This proves the Bureau has the intent and ability to protect the basin.
Our OOH is ironically referencing traditional low budget real estate advertising in style and placement to generate curious traffic to the hotline and link.
OOH
Art Director: Kyle Brubaker
Copywriter: Ryan King
Creative Brand Manager: Hannah Zetty
Microsite
The microsite helps people consider other places to move by matching them with areas that fit the criteria most important to them.
