#CloseTheTap Social Media Campaign

Home Portfolio #CloseTheTap Social Media Campaign

In collaboration with NATIVE VML – a full-service global digital marketing and advertising agency, we built a real-life running tap using recycled water, and video streamed it live.

People were encouraged to make a small commitment to save water and share fun, yet impactful water saving tips on Twitter and Facebook in order to collectively, turn the tap off. As soon as they Tweeted or Facebooked with the hashtag #CloseTheTap, the tap would literally begin turning shut. So the more people shared, the more social awareness was created and the more the tap would close.

#CloseTheTap was the trending topic on Twitter for the entire day it launched. It has since received countless mentions on local and international media platforms like theinspirationroom, creativity-online and adverblog to name a few, as well as being the topic of conversation on numerous radio stations including Good Hope FM, 567 Cape Talk and 702.

#CloseTheTap has received world-wide popularity from as far as the USA to Spain as well as a nomination for a CSS Design Award.

But most importantly, it demonstrated how adopting water saving habits can have a far greater affect when people are collectively doing it and after reaching our goal of 10 000 shares, we managed to #CloseTheTap!

Campaign Results

The tap closed in only 71 days when we reached the goal of 10 000 shares. Closethetap.com received 20 233 visitors, of which 15 095 were unique and they spent an average of 3 minutes and 51 seconds on the site.

To view the analytics click here.

The campaign was picked up and talked about on numerous radio stations namely: Cape Talk, Good Hope FM, KFM and Kaya FM.

We received over 500 000 impressions from websites that provided free media space for the campaign.

These sites were: Memburn, Mahala, Assembly, ZANews, Wavescape, One Small Seed, Thunda.com, IOL, iAfrica.com, LiveEco.co.za, Mybroadband.co.za

Additionally over 30 articles relating to the campaign were published on both local and international websites:

Trendhunter, Adverblog, Memeburn, 10and5, Pick n’ P, The Fwa, RSA Web, Naked Living, Heavy Chef, The Inspiration Room, Travel Blog, Spring Leap, Creativity Online, Pure Planet Racing, The Green Forest, Edwin Lim, Art Network, Geek Advertising, Longevity, Chrystal Johns, Hashtag Heroes, Eco-note, PR Log, Cracked Horizon, Lift Mag, Great Web Design Ideas, Bizcommunity, Marketing Update, Advantage Magazine, Ideate, Informazione, ADAge, 10-and-5, Ideate, Media Update, Memeburn

Credits

The Close The Tap campaign was developed at Native, Johannesburg and Cape Town, by creative director Adam Whitehouse, strategy and concept team Mari Basson, Ashton Hayes, Keenan Mulvaney, developers Jethro Flanagan, Jamie Golden, designers Nelleke van der Maas, Nic Rix, copywriter Keenan Mulvaney, UX Peter Hidden, media planner Ronen Cohen, community and PR team Aneshree Naidoo, Arne Dunckers, Savannah Walley, and project manager Isobel Ringrose.

The Campaign Message

It’s easy:

Visit www.closethetap.co.za
Choose from a selection of water-saving tweet pledges,
Tweet your pledge and share it on Facebook.

Just three simple steps to help us spread the word and (if you fulfill your pledge) to save fresh water now.

The United Nation’s 2012 theme for World Water Day, March 22, is Water and Food Security, highlighting the link between agricultural and industrial water usage and the looming global lack of potable water.

Water is systemic and integral to all we do and is not just what we see flowing from taps. Water is needed to grow and process our food, generate our electricity, make our cars, build our homes and our cities, and manufacture and transport the products we buy. We cannot live without clean water.

While industry and agriculture are the biggest water users globally, they’re keeping up with a demand for high water usage products, from us.

And each product we buy, or use, has a water footprint. Think 140l for a single teaspoon of instant coffee, or 2700l for a new cotton shirt. When just 2.5 percent of all water on the planet is fresh, and only half of that is available to us, it’s time to think twice about that next cup of coffee, or that lunchtime shopping spree, or visit www.closethetap.co.za to take your pledge and help close a real running tap.

For lasting change, let’s unite in collective action and alter the course of our growing water crisis.

Join change makers across the country. #Closethetap is @forloveofwater (FLOW) initiative.