Brita Canada believes that access to good clean water is a fundamental human right. With that in mind, the company began a partnership with ME To WE as a way to make that belief a reality. With the purchase of a specially marked bottle, Brita provides one year of clean water to someone in Kenya. The company was looking to amplify the purchase of these bottles through a digital channel. To do that, the agency needed to contextualize the problem for North American audiences and offer an easy solution for consumers to act on.

Millions of women in Africa walk for hours a day just to gather water to keep them and their families alive. The YouTube platform and the familiar ‘skip ad’ button was at the core of the idea. Users expect short pre-roll ads on YouTube videos, which is why the platform was selected. Seeing a 4+ hour pre-roll ad stood out and grabbed users’ attention, prompting high engagement. A target audience was built using YouTube’s first party data (educated women 35- 45), leveraging interests such as nutrition, social responsibility, travel, home appliances and more. These interests aligned well with Brita’s product offering, as well as the theme of the campaign.

The campaign followed a real woman in real time and documented her daily trek to get water. A button embedded in the video prompting viewers to “end her walk” linked to Walmart.ca, where viewers could purchase a specially marked Brita bottle – bringing clean water to a person in Africa for one year.

The campaign launched on March 21, 2019, the day before World Water Day. “Water for all” awareness was very high at the end of March, with searches spiking for relevant search terms on March 22 (World Water Day). To date, the program has provided over 55,400 people in Kenya with clean water. Initial business results are impressive, with a click-through rate 19% higher than industry norms, and a 49% View Rate which was 47% higher than benchmarks.