The Water Is Missing

Need any more evidence of climate change? Just follow the water. In Colorado, roughly 80% of our water supply comes from snowmelt—and this year, snowpack was the lowest since record keeping began in 1987. With Denver experiencing its first major drought in 13 years, people need to cut their water use by 20%.

The problem isn’t awareness. Everyone knows we’re facing a drought. The trick is to make water conservation feel shared and actionable – without panic, shaming, or fatigue. So Denver Water reached out to Sukle to bring back the award-winning 'Use Only What You Need' campaign - which previously resulted in a 21% decrease in the City’s per person water usage in just 3 months, and a 35% decrease over a 10-year period.

This year's “Water Is Missing” campaign does exactly what the title implies. Familiar phrases — Pool Party, Car Wash, Watering Hole, Snow Cone, Splish Splash— appear in spare serif type with the water-related word struck through in a single orange line. Party, without the pool. Hole, without watering, and so on. Each execution signs off with the campaign’s familiar orange 'Use Only What You Need' lock-up and a call to action.