ABOUT

PROBLEM
Nature’s Spring, the number 1 bottled water brand in the Philippines, along with its partner water peddlers, faced criticism and potential damage to its image after a viral video showed a vendor allegedly illegally refilling empty bottles.

The netizen who captured the said video immediately made conclusions that the vendor intended to resell the allegedly refilled empty bottles. The issue quickly became the topic of talk of the nation after the viral video was made part of the primetime newscasts of 24 Oras Weekend of GMA 7 and of Frontline Pilipinas of TV5. It also became the topic in two episodes of the hit public affairs program Bitag Live of media personality Ben Tulfo.

Nature’s Spring needed a way to (1) defend the dignity and honor of water vendors, (2) address the potential backlash to its image, and (3) assure the Filipino public that the brand’s products continue to be safe, affordable, and fit for consumption.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Goal: The goals of the crisis-response communications campaign are to bring back the public’s trust in water and other street vendors and restore confidence in Nature’s Spring’s products, through an original video production targeted toward reaching and engaging the brand’s target audiences.

Objective 1: Drive reach and engagements to the campaign communications tool.
• ≥ 1,000,000 people reached within 1 week from publishing of the digital film
• ≥ 1,000 engagements within 1 week from publishing of the digital film
• ≥ 500,000 views within 1 week from publishing the digital film

Objective 2: Bring back the public’s trust in water and other street vendors.
• ≥ 80% of the target audience believes water and other street vendors are hardworking and honorable
• ≥ 80% of the target audience believes that people shouldn’t be judge based on their status in life
• ≥ 80% of the target audience believes that people should be more circumspect before posting anything online

Objective 3: Restore and/or maintain confidence in the Nature’s Spring brand and its products.
• ≥ 80% of the target audience believes that Nature’s Spring products are safe for consumption, wherever it is bought
• ≥ 80% of the target audience believes that Nature’s Spring products remain to be one of the most affordable water brands in the market
• ≥ 80% of the target audience believes that Nature’s Spring is doing a good work in making opportunities to earn available to everyone, regardless of one’s status in life

SOLUTION
Nature’s Spring is the only bottled water brand that directly supplies individual ambulant water peddlers and street vendors who make a living in the country’s many major thoroughfares. In the past, stories of success and inspiration from its many water peddlers have become the subject of nationwide news and TV programming, including that of Brian Rico Echavez aka the “Sosyal Water Vendor” of Iligan and that of Dodoy Teberio of Cebu, whose story was even adapted into one episode of the GMA 7 drama anthology Magpakailanman.

The many stories successes and of triumph over personal challenges of Nature’s Spring’s water peddlers has inspired us to create a digital film that fully encapsulates the struggles, motivations, and aspirations in life of street vendors. This became the resounding response of Nature’s Spring to the incident:
1. To remind people that we shouldn’t be quick to judge and make assumptions; and
2. To make the public realize that all of us face battles of our own each and every day.

The digital film, entitled A Day in the Life of a Water Vendor, also became an avenue to bring public trust back in water peddlers and street vendors first, and in Nature’s Spring in the offshoot.

DELIVERY
Filming and publishing A Day in the Life of a Water Vendor in Nature’s Spring’s official social media channels became the top priority for the brand, given the sensitive and urgent nature of the issue. Its inception, production, post-production and broadcast only took a total of 5 days, using a budget of just Php150,000.00 plus VAT.

It took the creative team 1 day to make the concept and the script, 1 day for making revisions and casting the talents, 1 day to shoot on location in a busy street of Makati, 1 day for post-production, and 1 day for client approval and publishing of the digital film on Nature’s Spring’s Facebook page.

The official Facebook page of the brand is chosen as the main avenue for the digital film as Nature’s Spring holds the record of the most followed Facebook page of a bottled water brand in the Philippines, giving it a wide share of audience for its agile-crisis response project.

PERFORMANCE
A Day in the Life of a Water Vendor succeeded in bringing back the public’s trust towards water and street vendors, and restored confidence in the Nature’s Spring brand and its products. Success was measured using social media data provided in Meta Business Suite’s Insights and through a digital survey conducted among 200 people confirmed to have seen the digital film and meet brand’s audience profile (50 participants from NCR, 50 from the rest of Luzon, 50 from Visayas, and 50 from Mindanao).

Objective 1: Drive reach and engagements to the campaign communications tool.
• Reached 2,300,000+ people within 48 hours of publishing the digital film on Facebook (beating the target of ≥ 1,000,000 people reached within 1 week)
• Received 3,400+ engagements within 48 hours of publishing the digital film on Facebook (exceeding the target of ≥ 1,000 engagements within 1 week)
• Recorded 723,900+ views within 48 hours of publishing the digital film on Facebook (more than the target of ≥ 500,000 views within 1 week)

Objective 2: Bring back the public’s trust in water and other street vendors.
• 100% of surveyed viewers believe water and other street vendors are hardworking and honorable (beating the target of ≥ 80%)
• 100% of surveyed viewers believe that people shouldn’t be judge based on their status in life (exceeding the target of ≥ 80%)
• 100% of surveyed viewers believe that people should be more circumspect before posting anything online (beyond the target of ≥ 80%)

Objective 3: Restore and/or maintain confidence in the Nature’s Spring brand and its products.
• 95% of surveyed viewers believe that Nature’s Spring products are safe for consumption, wherever it is bought (beating the target of ≥ 80%)
• 100% of surveyed viewers believe that Nature’s Spring products remain to be one of the most affordable water brands in the market (exceeding the target of ≥ 80%)
• 97.5% of surveyed viewers believe that Nature’s Spring is doing a good work in making opportunities to earn available to everyone, regardless of one’s status in life (beyond the target of ≥ 80%)