Public Information & Education

Preventing pollution in the stormwater drainage system in the Fresno and Clovis area since 1956, the Flood Control District was ready to start fresh with a new outreach campaign when they teamed up with Archer & Hound. With a long-standing, recognizable tagline and an otherwise clean slate, we were given the green light to let our creative sides go crazy.

Stormwater pollution prevention may not be an inherently exciting topic to the public, but it is incredibly important for our area, so this campaign needed to be as impactful as it was memorable. Our stormwater drainage system can be complicated to understand, as well. Our audience needed to understand this system, so they could make the direct connection between stormwater pollution and the harm it causes the community.

When stormwater is polluted, contaminates can end up in the water we use on a daily basis. We began by brainstorming how to convey compelling messages of that fact: people are giving this water to their pets, their children, and themselves in the form of everyday actions, like pouring cups of coffee, boiling pasta, and giving water to the dog. We used visually jarring metaphors to build our entire campaign around the visceral impact of polluting the water that is so essential for life in the Central Valley. Our team developed digital ads, bus ads, basin banners, social media ads, and videos in three languages to deliver our message to the Central Valley.