Water utilities are facing an important dilemma. By striving to make water invisible so that customers can use our services without disruption, water exists in the background of daily life. Indeed, other industries envy the water sector’s invisibility. Uber, a poster child of digital transformation and a strong brand in its own right, promotes their service as “transportation that is as reliable as running water.”
To the extent water utilities engage publicly, it is often to ask customers to use less water. As one California utility observed, “We’re the only industry which asks our customers not to buy our product,” referring to water conservation efforts.
Invisible water however, fosters a low level of consumer involvement and marketability. After all, there is a reason tap water is often less appealing than bottled water, which benefits from creative marketing campaigns (Australian marketing guru Russel Howcroft even suggested that water utilities are lazy marketers). As a result, tap water is severely undervalued based on its price, availability, and delivery complexity.
Moreover, most water utilities are driven by regulatory compliance and rely on reactive customer engagement strategies, such as contacting customers about a service outage, boil notice, or exposed leak. Customers expect their water providers to act like their credit card companies, alerting them about incidents in real-time. Thus, if we want to confront the critical challenges of aging assets, climate change, and water rate increases, the era of water invisibility must end. The water sector must evolve its messaging to make water more visible and top of mind. How can we accomplish this?
Conveying Water’s True Value
First, we must showcase water’s added value using relatable communication channels. By employing “smart,” data-driven applications to increase efficiency and manage demand, we can offer individual experiences that resonate with a broader demographic. For example, online feedback technologies like mobile apps allow utilities to proactively communicate with their customers about their real-time consumption and utilise social norms to compare their behaviour to their neighbours.
Second, utilities should understand that using water is a personal experience. Water utilities often focus on the fact that water is essential for life. However, in countries fortunate to have reliable water supplies, water also plays a social role. We don’t just take a daily hot shower for hygiene, it is also a source of innovation where we get our best ideas. Cooking is more than a process to create food. Dinner is also a moment when a family comes together after a busy day. We water our garden to express our creative selves and create a secure place where we meet friends and family. These social aspects represent the true value of water that utilities often overlook.
Lastly, tailored messaging can have a substantial impact. For instance, educating the younger generation about the value of water with age-relevant materials like these examples from Coliban Water about how to be a “Water Hero” (Kindergarten), or the importance of “Healthy Water” (Grades 3-6). These messages could further demonstrate a utility’s data-driven capabilities to deliver clean water like a “smart water drop.”
Water utilities typically focus on the environmental impact of conserving water. For example, Denver Water ran the Use Only What You Need campaign in the 2010s to promote water efficiency, including “guerilla marketing” with inventive displays to elicit shock and awe. This campaign focused on the negative impact of water scarcity rather than the positive social value that water provides.
In sum, while the cloak of invisibility is a great achievement, utilities need to re-capture the hearts and minds of consumers. Below, are three ways to remove this cloak:
- Leverage digital transformation for proactive communication.
- Build a brand that emphasises the value a utility provides to the community.
- Tailor messaging to different audiences young and old.
Learn more:
Peter Prevos (2018), Customer Experience Management for Water Utilities (IWA Publishing)
The Customer Benefits of Smart Water Networks (in English)
The Customer Benefits of Smart Water Networks (in Spanish)
Have more ideas? Contact Peter (peter.prevos@coliban.com.au) or Amir (amirc@swan-forum.com)
