• by Larissa Faw , May 8, 2015

Last October, branding agency Omelet introduced the #H2No — a campaign that supported Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s challenge to reduce water usage in the city by 20% by 2017.

At the time, the agency was working independently from Garcetti's initiative, but now, the branding agency is officially joining the team as the initiative expands to launch "Save the Drop" to connect Los Angeles residents with water conservation tools. 

"This is a monumental crisis that requires an unprecedented response, so we cast aside the City Hall playbook and developed a new way forward that combines government's reach with the very best private sector creative and practices," says Yusef Robb, Mayor Garcetti’s director of communications. 

Omelet is working pro bono and the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles is providing staff to help launch and coordinate the campaign, in addition to securing donated creative content and donated media space, and raising funds for additional advertising purchases.

"Whenever you're trying to reach an audience as large as the entire city of Los Angeles, there's an inherent challenge in developing effective creative that will speak to everyone: from five years old to 95; from the beach, to downtown, to the Valley," says Sarah Ceglarski, Omelet’s senior director of marketing.

"In partnership with the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles and the LA Mayor's office, we kept this top of mind while developing Save the Drop, a campaign we believe has the breadth and flexibility to speak to all Angelenos."

The citywide water conservation outreach campaign is extensive and designed to reach Angelenos through the full breadth of city resources. City departments will deliver messages in a variety of ways, from signage on buses and sanitation trucks to information distributed at city-sponsored events.

Under the direction of the Mayor’s office, and in partnership with the Department of Water and Power (DWP), these existing outreach programs will be coordinated for the first time under one campaign -- 'Save the Drop,' to push Angelenos to take action and use less water. The campaign also includes efforts led by the city’s Neighborhood Councils.

In addition, "Save the Drop" messages will be projected to movie theater audiences and will launch on television and radio. Online, residents can find information here or via the hashtag #SaveTheDropLA. The information is also available in Spanish here. 

Since water conservation will be an ongoing issue for the region, Save the Drop is designed to be a campaign with long legs. "Saving water should be a badge of honor and a point of collective pride, so the ultimate goal is to create a rally cry that brings all Angelenos together," says Ceglarski. "And in order to do that, communications have to be simple, accessible, and above all, human." 

As part of the effort to reduce water usage, the city is introducing a $3.75-per-square foot rebate for lawn replacement and eliminating the need for permits to replace grass on parkways.