Public Relations course

Case Study

Read the case study below and summarize it from you understanding and write about how they ENGAGED with the public?

TAPTm campaign Engaging with citizen concerns.

• Sydney Water, the largest public water utility in Australia, is responsible for protecting public health and the environment, along with being tasked to be a successful business. In 2011, they introduced the tapTm campaign that was designed to position them as a sustainable, progressive brand and reintroduce the public to the benefits of tap water.
• Water from the tap was promoted as if it were a brand itself, in direct competition with bottled water. The branded tap water was launched in hundreds of cafs and bars in Sydney. Sydney Water invited cafs to take part in the campaign and become a registered tap destination. Cafs that opted to sign up to serve tap could choose to display tap served here window decals and/or tap stickers on caf water bottles.
• Cafs that signed up were promoted on the tap web site via the find a tap cafe featureusers could enter their suburb or postcode and find a registered caf. The brand strategy was simple and memorable. Sustainability, cost effectiveness and high-quality brand values increased the likelihood of connecting with multiple publics with environmental, economic, or health concerns.
• Bottled water was positioned as unsustainable and drinking tapTM water was positioned as sustainable and trendy. The brand values were echoed in communication messages such as its better for the planet, your pocket, and your health that linked back to environmental, economic and health concerns.
• Embedding citizen concerns into the campaign increased the likelihood of meaningful public engagement and identification with the messages. The messages were also designed to target peoples identity aspirationssuch as being perceived as environmentally conscious: Get sustainable, drink tap or tapTM is the original eco water. The tone of the messages was noteworthy the social media messages were conversational and engaging. There was an absence of scientific jargon. Rather than attempting to present facts or translate complex science.
• An online campaign was also launched featuring images of people drinking directly from their own taps and a series of short films that could be shared across social media platforms. Within their web site and a mobile app, interactive and locative media such as Google maps showed Sydney residents where tapTM was served.
• Insights for public relations
• Although this campaign was driven by a policy agenda developed by Sydney Water, we suggest that it was not an instance of institutional determinism because it was a governance-oriented proposal to promote social change rather than just advance Sydney Water. Power relations were reconfigured by the shift from interacting with publics as customers to engaging with concerned citizens. Caf owners and citizens were empowered by a sense of agency that offered them some control of the issue.
• Sydney Water established multiple spaces where conversations about the value of tap water could take place:
• Appeal to multiple values
• A campaign that targets multiple values is more likely to resonate with publics because they do not have to prioritize or select from potentially conflicting values. In this instance the campaign brand values linked to three potential matters of concernenvironmental sustainability, health and safety and economic issues. The campaign reach could be extended because the selection of a number of brand values made it possible to create multiple messages and target diverse publics.
• Connect with everyday meanings and practicesaddress things that matter Campaigns and communicative efforts that focus on everyday experiences and popular culture are more likely to connect with the ordinary ways we experience the world and have meaning for us. The creative idea, to reestablish tap water as the preferred drink of choice was linked to popular culturetapTM was available in cafs, associated with art and promoted at popular Sydney events. Sydney Water created opportunities to connect and engage with people and their concerns about watercampaigns need to provide a starting point for conversations and educational initiatives. The online efforts provided spaces for conversations to take place, but publics could set the agenda.
• Develop a network of advocates
• Key stakeholders need to be positioned as partners and trusting relationships developed. Cafs were invited to become part of a coalition of advocates, educating and helping customers to act sustainably and save money. By targeting eco-conscious bloggers, with a particular emphasis on eco-conscious art bloggers and family/parenting bloggers, Sydney Water was able to extend their audience for the tap campaign and communicate with target audiences that they may struggle to reach directly.
• Inspire change
• Sydney water adopted an interactive approach to meet its objectives of protecting public health and the environment. Governance, practiced in this way, has the potential to drive social change. In their communication with cafs Sydney Water adopted a conversational tone that did not focus on unsustainable choices, rather they aspired to help peopleand invited cafs to helpby making the sustainable choice easier, cheaper and fun.
• Indirectly seed online conversations
• Social media is a space where people share their everyday lives. Conversational approaches and use of visual imagery rather than just factual messaging and language resonate with digitally literate publics. Sydney water engaged in online conversations, demonstrating that it does listen to and respond to negative comments that are raised in social media forums in a timely, positive, and helpful way. Conceptualized as true engagement, the voice of dialogue shifts from I/ me and they/them, to we/us.
• The agency of engagement is not organization-centric but community-centric. Often it is hard for public relations practitioners to truly think in terms of we, but social media as a message, as McLuhan argued, is likely to shift organizational grammar.