Metropolitan Board Approves $14.7 Million Advertising Contract to Promote Conservation across Southern California

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As part of a broad effort to urge Southern Californians to save water
365 days a year, Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors today
voted to approve a three-year contract extending the agency’s culturally
diverse, multimedia advertising and public outreach campaign for water
conservation.

The board awarded the $14.7 million contract to the Los Angeles-based
firm Quigley-Simpson & Heppelwhite. The new campaign, to be launched
this summer, will build on the water-saving momentum that Metropolitan
created over the last three years through its award-winning conservation
campaign and rebate programs.

“These efforts have produced results. Our research shows attitudes
toward conservation have changed, awareness has increased. But we still
have work to do,” Metropolitan board Chairman Randy Record said.

The upcoming campaign will introduce new marketing strategies to promote
the many water conservation rebate programs offered by Metropolitan and
its member agencies.

During California’s recent record dry period, residents and business
owners across the region demonstrated an impressive commitment to
conservation. Since last year’s record precipitation, however, 2018 has
seen an uptick in water use as dry conditions have returned.

Metropolitan General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger said the new campaign
will remind Southern Californians the need for conservation isn’t based
solely on the weather, it’s a permanent lifestyle change everyone needs
to make every day. And the campaign will help residents and business
owners enact that change with direct guidance on how to make
conservation a way of life.

“In the past few years, we’ve seen dramatic swings in hydrologic
conditions, from the driest to the wettest periods in California’s
recorded history,” Kightlinger said. “Those kinds of swings aren’t
likely to end. Climate change will only add greater uncertainty and more
challenges. Some of that is out of our control, but what is within our
control is how much water we each use on a daily basis.”

For the first time since 2015, the upcoming campaign will include
television advertising, allowing the conservation message to reach many
Southern Californians in their homes, where sustainable behavioral
changes need to happen. The campaign also will connect with audiences
through radio and streaming radio, community newspapers, billboards and
busses and social media.

Like its predecessors, the new campaign will include multilingual
messaging to reach diverse audiences, a top priority for Metropolitan’s
board. Quigley-Simpson’s experience working with Southern California’s
diverse population is part of the reason it was selected for the
advertising contract, said Sue Sims, Metropolitan’s external affairs
manager.

The full-service advertising firm was chosen from among nine firms after
an open, competitive bidding process. Quigley-Simpson produced
Metropolitan’s award-winning Take a Turn and H2Love conservation
campaigns.

“Not only does the firm offer this experience and understanding of
conservation issues, it also proposes fresh, creative, and impactful
approaches for the next campaign,” Sims said.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a
state-established cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving
nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water
from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local
supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation,
recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

Contacts

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Rebecca
Kimitch, (213) 217-6450
(202) 821-5253, mobile
or
Bob
Muir, (213) 217-6930
(213) 324-5213, mobile