CAMPAIGN SUMMARY March 18th-24th, 2013 ^ ^ Fix a Leak Week WaterSense WaterSense partners and residential consumers alike rallied around the EPA's fifth annual Fix a Leak Week campaign to raise awareness on the importance of finding and fixing leaks in the home. The week was a success by all measures, as integrated promotions encouaged Americans to engage in educational events, participate in social media buzz, and (most importantly) to take action on water-efficiency by making small changes in their homes! SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER Just like last year, Twitter proved to be a dynamic tool to help spread the word about Fix a Leak Week. In addition to regular tweets to promote the campaign, WaterSense participated in three #fixaleak "Twitter Party" chats that significantly increased the use of the hashtag. Aside from the EPA-hosted chat, #fixaleak was also the featured in both the weekly "Kitchen & Bath Chat" and "ValleyCrest Landscape Chat." During each dedicated one hour chat, WaterSense engaged directly with the public in an open conversation outlining the "whys" and "hows" of finding and fixing leaks. They provided a great forum to share information, target new audiences, and offer the public a chance to ask questions. FACEBOOK The WaterSense Facebook page saw a big spike in engagement during Fix a Leak Week. Daily posts provided supporting facts and article links, as well as drew attention to several Fix a Leak Week partner events. 613 ENGAGED USERS * REACH: The number of unique users that saw a Tweet Y or Facebook story about Fix a r Leak Week. * IMPRESSIONS: The total number of Tweets or Facebook stories users saw about Fix a Leak Week. A single user can see multiple impressions *STORIES CREATED: The number of subsequent newsfeed "stories" that were created when a user interacted withour page or post. This includes "liking" a post about Fix a Leak Week, "sharing" our posts, or "liking" our page. ------- TRADITIONAL MEDIA Some of the best Fix a Leak Week publicity came from traditional media sources like print, online, broadcasts, and press releases that highlighted the awareness efforts of WaterSense partners. In addition to a considerable amount of local press coverage, several media pieces were generated from high-profile national outlets such as Consumer Reports, Yahoo! Homes, and The Washington Post. In total, nearly 3,000 articles and press releases that centered around the Fix a Leak Week message were able to garner over 440 million impressions. We can call this a win! PRINT: 9 ONLINE: 218 BROADCAST: 53 NAPS: 2,460 PLACEMENTS PRESS RELEASE PICK-UPS: 224 PARTNERS IN ACTION* WaterSense Partners from coast to coast took the Fix a Leak Week campaign as the opportunity to organize creative, informative, and interactive events. There were more than 30 events across the U.S. and Canada. Here are some highlights: OFF TO THE RACES Arizona Municipal Water Users Association In honor of Fix a Leak Week 2013, AMWUA hosted the third annual "One for Water" 4 mile race and family fun festival at Rio Vista Community Park in Peoria, AZ. Over 150 people ran the course and friends and family gathered to listen to music, eat, and learn how to fix leaks! Humor was a central theme to the event as "Leaky Loo McFlapper" and "Rowdy Rotor" ran the race alongside participants to remind them that this was the only way leaking toilets and sprinkler heads are funny. Charlottesville Water -CB ,,x Fix a Leak Family 5k ® March 17. 2013 WaterSense Charlottesville, VA promoted awareness for Fix a Leak Week by hosting the "Fix a Leak Family 5K" to kick off the week. Participants did not let a little rain dampen their enthusiasm to save water The event included local food vendors and an educational table with information about how to fix leaks in the home and WaterSense activity sheets for kids North Georgia Water Planning District With support from WaterSense partner, The Home Depot, the North Georgia Water Planning District organized the first annual Water Drop Dash 5K. Over 350 participants joined to take on the course along the banks of the Chattahoochee River in Roswell, GA. The family friendly event included a festival full of prizes, educational activities for kids, and photo ops with Flo. ------- Sonoma County Water Agency PHOTO CONTESTS The Sonoma County Water (CA) Agency partnered with the Sonoma-Marin Saving Water Partnership to promote a Fix a Leak Week photo contest. Participants uploaded photos of their leak-fixing efforts in the hopes of receiving one of the five high-efficiency prize packs that included showerheads, kitchen and bath faucet aerators, and a garden hose nozzle. Regional Water Providers Consortium: Clackamas, Multnomah, & Washington Co., OR Drippy Drew, the leak detection gnome, encouraged contestants to submit photo and video entries that depicted finding and fixing leaks around the home. The winners were promoted on Facebook and competed for $500, $300, or $200 Lowe's gift cards. TRADING UP City of Santa Rosa, California As part of Fix a Leak Week, the City of Santa Rosa Water-Use Efficiency Team hosted a free showerhead exchange event at local merchants throughout the city. Madison Water Utility During the week, Wisconsin's Madison Water Utility encouraged consumers to conduct dye tests to detect and fix toilet leaks through their "Project H20" initiative. They offered rebates of up to $100 to customers who met eligibility requirements. Central Arkansas Water With the governor proclaiming Fix a Leak Week in Arkansas, customers visited the Central Arkansas Water office to pick up WaterSense labeled showerheads, faucet aerators, and toilet leak detection tests and partnered with Lowe's to host Fix a Leak seminars. Leak repair services were also provided to 80 qualifying low income or elderly customers. AquaPro Solutions and Asheville, NC AquaPro Solutions, LLC worked with the City of Asheville Department of Sustainability to distribute free water conservation information, leak identification kits, showerheads, faucet aerators, and dual flush conversion kits to city residents. Local Green Plumbers also offered discounted services during Fix a Leak Week. Colorado Springs Utilities Over 600 folks braved icy roads and snow to trade in their old showerheads for new water- efficient ones at Colorado Springs Utilies' Conservation and Environmental Center The event included an interactive exhibit demonstrating how WaterSense labeled fixtures save water and perform compared to standard models, as well as a discussion by xeriscaping specialists to encourage residents to convert to landscapes that need less water ------- LISTEN & LEARN WaterSense Partners in Texas Numerous WaterSense partners in Texas planned events for Fix a Leak Week, The City of Forth Worth partnered with The Home Depot to offer three different do-it-yourself indoor leak-fixing workshop locations, and Arlington Water Utilities planned "Fix a Leak" workshops at both The Home Depot and Lowe's. The City of irving offered free residential indoor water audits, while free leak-detecting dye tabs were available from the City of Laredo Utilities Department and the City of Mesquite Water Conservation Office. WaterSense Partners in New Mexico New Mexico continued its "Bad Flapper" campaign in effort to find and fix leaks across the state. Commercials for the campaign were shown at local movie theatres in Los Alamos and Santa Fe Counties and on local news stations in Albuquerque, City of Rio Rancho, and Bernalillo County. In addition, The City of Rio Rancho hosted a workshop on leaks and plumbing at a local hardware store, Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, Las Cruces Utility, and the Office of the State Engineer gave away leak detection tablets. City of Redding, CA, Water Utility The City of Redding scheduled a free, drop—in workshop for customers to learn how to change a toilet flapper, read a water meter/bill, and identify leaks inside and out. Free kits on how to "Be Water Smart!" were available for the first 250 participants. San Francisco Public Utilities Commission In addition to encouraging residents and businesses to fix leaks and use WaterSense labeled products through a public service announcement, the Commission held an event at Lowe's with information on how to identify leaks and demonstration on how to repair them. City of Winnipeg Water and Waste Department Our partners north of the border also participated in Fix a Leak Week, which coincided with Canada Water Week. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, the local utility provided customers advice on how to find and fix leaks as well as how to get a rebate to upgrade to a WaterSense labeled toilet. They also supported a Leak Detector Challenge for Winnipeg schools where students took on the challenge of finding leaks in their schools. They presented their findings to maintenance staff to ensure that leaks would be fixed and educated their fellow students on the importance of water conservation. THANK YOU WaterSense would like to give a big thank you to ali of our partners who helped make this year's Fix a Leak Week such a success! We appreiciate your continued dedication to spreading the message of water-efficiency. EPA * WaterSense ------- |