California American Water (CalAm) is a private water supply and distribution company that operates throughout California. After a series of local controversies damaged the brand, we were retained to improve CalAm’s image in the Monterey Peninsula region. Voters’ frustration with rising rates due to the ongoing drought and water shortage in California had led to a significant drop in customer satisfaction ratings and left CalAm vulnerable to public measures for a public takeover of the water supply service.

The result of our advertising was a reputational increase from 64 percent customer satisfaction to 78 percent customer satisfaction after the advertising ran on local television stations and online. The ratings for “a company you can trust” rose from 21 percent to 40 percent and “cares about its customers” rose from 25.5 percent to 44 percent.