Company: Dow, Midland, MI
Nomination Submitted by: Golin
Company Description: Dow combines global breadth; asset integration & scale; focused innovation & materials science expertise; & environmental, social & governance leadership to achieve profitable growth & deliver a sustainable future. Dow's portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings & silicones businesses delivers solutions in markets such as packaging, infrastructure, mobility & consumer applications.
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Industry
Nomination Sub Category: Marketing Campaign of the Year - Agricultural / Industrial / Building
 Nomination Title: Raising awareness for updating water infrastructure
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
December 2021
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 241 words used.
After the February 2021 historic Texas freeze caused water piping systems to burst across the state, many communities were left without clean drinking water. Eager to help, Dow partnered with other industry leaders to donate 42,000 feet of leak-and-corrosion-resistant high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe to three rural Texas towns – the equivalent of the combined length of 116 football fields.
Against the backdrop of growing concern over aging infrastructure and the toll it takes on communities in the U.S., Dow created a robust, integrated marketing communications campaign focused on how the deployment and implementation of a sustainable HDPE water transmission created a long-term, reliable solution in these Texas towns. The campaign specifically highlighted the impact of the HDPE pipe, formulated with Dow’s CONTINUUM™ Bimodal Polyethylene Resins, and the impact Dow’s solution will have on the communities in the short and long term.
With the new pipes installed, these communities can avoid an estimated 3.5 million gallons of annual water loss due to water line breaks and required repairs. This communications campaign demonstrated how the solution that helped these Texas towns is also the right solution for countless towns across America who are (or soon will be) facing infrastructure emergencies.
Work around this campaign helped elevate this critical project with influential industry organizations. The campaign was recently recognized with a Plastics Pipe Institute Project of the Year Award and a 2021 Municipal Leadership Award from the Alliance for PE Pipe.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 249 words used.
We developed a holistic approach across earned, owned, and organic and paid social media to reach our target audiences – current customers, potential customers, and municipality stakeholders including city managers, councilmembers, public works directors, and city engineers.
Dow began by partnering with a leading industry organization to capture dynamic installation video and photography for use in a variety of marketing communications platforms, including aninformative video which is embedded on Dow’s uniquecase study webpage (and onYouTube). The visual content captured the collaboration that makes real infrastructure progress happen. Key audiences could then more easily relate to the citizens in these Texas towns and understand the magnitude of the problem facing so many communities across the U.S.
Leveraging this new visual content, the Dow team began activation across channels.
Earned media outreach focused on local and trade media, sharing the news with more than 115 reporters to raise awareness with publications that reach our key audiences.
Social media promotion included paid and organic content. We also activated more than 30 Dow executives, employees and donation partners to share content on their social channels. This helped target prospective and current customers, leveraging existing followers of key Dow leaders. A two-part paid LinkedIn campaign educated and raised awareness of the need to upgrade aging infrastructure to prepare communities for the future.
Additional owned content helped promote this work through Dow’sSeek Together Blog, Dow’sWorld Water Day webpage, ads on dow.com, and informative narratives on internal Dow platforms.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2019. Even if your initiative started before 2020, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2020 only (up to 250 words):
Total 231 words used.
This campaign elevated Dow’s impact by raising awareness with local communities and municipalities, as well as key customers in the pipe industry.
The earned media outreach resulted in placements in influential trade publications like APWA Reporter (both digital and print), and bylines published in Sustainable Brands, Star of Texas, and Water Environment and Technology Magazine (to be published Spring 2022). Other coverage included content on Yahoo News, Investoreight, Plastica Italia, and more.
This outreach led to more than 456,671,336 impressions, targeting both trade and traditional outlets.
Organic social content collectively earned more than 70,000 impressions across Dow Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram channels. This successfully drove viewers to the case study webpage to learn more and drove traffic to product information.
The two-part paid LinkedIn campaign proved successful in reaching municipality audiences and key customer audiences with more than 80,000 impressions over the course of the two-flight campaign. The content, targeted to members of the value chain, helped to showcase the sustainability benefits of the long-lasting, durable pipes made with CONTINUUM™ Bimodal Polyethylene Resins from Dow.
Dow also worked to elevate this campaign with influential industry organizations like the Alliance for PE Pipe, which recently awarded this project the 2021 Municipal Leadership Award, and Plastics Pipe Institute, which awarded it Project of the Year. Work around this campaign helped elevate this critical project with influential industry organizations.
- You have the option to reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
For more information and an overview video, please see here:
Dow.com
Case Study Video – Texas HDPE Water Pipe Donation
Case Study Webpage – Texas HDPE Water Pipe Donation
Dow Blog Post – How can we use today’s technology to create a safer tomorrow?
Dow’s World Water Day Promotion - How can innovation and collaboration reduce water loss?
Media Coverage
Sustainable Brands byline – After Disaster in Texas, Community and Industry Come Together to Transform Water Infrastructure
Star of Texas byline – After Disaster in Texas, Community and Industry Come Together to Transform Water Infrastructure
APWA Reporter – digital and print
NewsDirect – How Can Innovation and Collaboration Reduce Water Loss and Contribute to More Resilient Communities?
Plastic Italia – How can innovation and collaboration reduce water loss and contribute to more resilient communities?
CSR Wire – How Can Innovation and Collaboration Reduce Water Loss and Contribute to More Resilient Communities?
Yahoo! News – How Can Innovation and Collaboration Reduce Water Loss and Contribute to More Resilient Communities?
Plastics Pipe Institute Project of the Year Award video – Project of the Year Award
Plastics Pipe Institute Project of the Year press release – Industry projects and members awards announced
Social Media Coverage
LinkedIn Posts – Example 1, example 2, example 3, example 4
Twitter Posts – Example 1, example 2, https://twitter.com/DowPackaging/status/1485985614067650562?s=20&
Instagram Post – Example
Facebook Post – Example
YouTube - Video
Dow ambassador posts – Example 1, example 2
Donation partner posts – Example 1, example 2
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