CASE STUDY
Water California
Can Count On
The California Water Association (CWA) represents 84 water utilities regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. Together, its members provide safe, reliable and high-quality water service to more than 6 million Californians while investing in the infrastructure, workforce and emergency preparedness essential to communities across the state.
Challenge
Regulated water utilities operate within a complex policy and regulatory environment, but the public conversation surrounding the industry often lacks that same depth and context. Misperceptions about ownership, oversight, water rates and infrastructure investment can obscure the essential role these utilities play in California’s public health, economic stability and emergency preparedness.
CWA needed a clear, cohesive way to authentically showcase and define the regulated water industry—communicating its value through information that policymakers, regulators and other decision-makers would find relevant, credible and useful.
Solution
Randle Communications partnered with CWA to launch Water California Can Count On, an integrated public affairs campaign designed to narrow the gap between perception and reality and create a stronger platform for telling the industry’s story.
The campaign reflects Randle’s distinct approach to public affairs: blending the creativity and audience-first thinking of consumer marketing with the policy fluency and regulatory depth of traditional public affairs. By bringing both disciplines together, the campaign translated a complex industry story into clear, compelling communications designed to cut through the clutter and drive impact.
Water California Can Count On established a unified campaign identity and message architecture supported by a dedicated website, educational collateral and an integrated organic and paid social media campaign.
This was more than a new brand or public education effort. It was a strategic platform built to define the industry authentically, demonstrate its value and make complex policy and regulatory issues more accessible to the people shaping California’s future.
The campaign set out to:
-
Establish a clear and consistent industry narrative by organizing communications around the accountability, affordability efforts, California values and economic contributions of regulated water utilities.
-
Equip policymakers and decision-makers with credible, useful information that provides greater context around regulatory oversight, infrastructure investment, water affordability and the realities of delivering reliable service.
-
Translate a complex industry story into accessible and compelling communications by pairing consumer marketing creativity with deep policy and regulatory expertise.
-
Create a flexible, long-term platform that CWA and its members could use across digital communications, educational materials, stakeholder engagement and future public affairs initiatives.
-
Cut through a crowded information environment with a distinctive campaign identity and coordinated content designed for the channels and formats priority audiences use.
Execution
Water California Can Count On began with the development of a new campaign brand identity and a clear strategic framework for communicating what regulated water utilities do, how they are held accountable and why their work matters to California.
Rather than addressing individual issues in isolation, Randle organized the campaign around four interconnected message pillars:
-
Accountability, highlighting rigorous regulatory oversight, the General Rate Case process, emergency preparedness and the responsibility to provide reliable service around the clock.
-
Affordability, providing context around the cost of delivering essential water service, fixed infrastructure needs and assistance programs for lower-income customers.
-
California Values, connecting regulated water service to conservation, responsible stewardship, public health, safety and long-term planning.
-
Economic Impact, demonstrating how infrastructure investment, skilled careers and long-term community partnerships support California’s economy.
These pillars informed every element of the campaign, creating consistency across the website, educational collateral and social media content while allowing messages to be tailored to different audiences and policy conversations.
The campaign’s dedicated website served as its central communications hub, bringing the brand and message architecture together in an accessible digital experience. Educational collateral translated complex policy, regulatory and operational subjects into clear, useful information for policymakers and stakeholders.
Randle also developed an integrated social media campaign combining organic and paid content. Organic storytelling created an ongoing platform for explaining the industry’s role and highlighting its contributions, while targeted paid media helped place campaign messages in front of priority audiences.
Across each channel, creative and marketing expertise worked in tandem with traditional public affairs strategy. The result was content with the clarity and visual distinction needed to earn attention, grounded in the substance and credibility required to inform policy and regulatory audiences.
Results
Water California Can Count On gave CWA a cohesive platform for defining the regulated water industry on its own terms and communicating its value with greater clarity, consistency and authenticity.
The campaign transformed a complex set of policy, regulatory and operational issues into a unified story centered on accountability, affordability, California values and economic impact.
Its new brand identity, website, educational collateral and integrated social campaign provided CWA with a flexible communications foundation capable of supporting both immediate education efforts and longer-term public affairs priorities.
Most importantly, Water California Can Count On demonstrated how creativity and substance can work together to strengthen public affairs. By combining consumer marketing sensibilities with deep policy and regulatory expertise, the campaign made an essential but often misunderstood industry more accessible, relevant and compelling to California’s policymakers and decision-makers.
Challenge
Regulated water utilities operate within a complex policy and regulatory environment, but the public conversation surrounding the industry often lacks that same depth and context. Misperceptions about ownership, oversight, water rates and infrastructure investment can obscure the essential role these utilities play in California’s public health, economic stability and emergency preparedness.
CWA needed a clear, cohesive way to authentically showcase and define the regulated water industry—communicating its value through information that policymakers, regulators and other decision-makers would find relevant, credible and useful.
Solution
Randle Communications partnered with CWA to launch Water California Can Count On, an integrated public affairs campaign designed to narrow the gap between perception and reality and create a stronger platform for telling the industry’s story.
The campaign reflects Randle’s distinct approach to public affairs: blending the creativity and audience-first thinking of consumer marketing with the policy fluency and regulatory depth of traditional public affairs. By bringing both disciplines together, the campaign translated a complex industry story into clear, compelling communications designed to cut through the clutter and drive impact.
Water California Can Count On established a unified campaign identity and message architecture supported by a dedicated website, educational collateral and an integrated organic and paid social media campaign.
This was more than a new brand or public education effort. It was a strategic platform built to define the industry authentically, demonstrate its value and make complex policy and regulatory issues more accessible to the people shaping California’s future.
The campaign set out to:
-
Establish a clear and consistent industry narrative by organizing communications around the accountability, affordability efforts, California values and economic contributions of regulated water utilities.
-
Equip policymakers and decision-makers with credible, useful information that provides greater context around regulatory oversight, infrastructure investment, water affordability and the realities of delivering reliable service.
-
Translate a complex industry story into accessible and compelling communications by pairing consumer marketing creativity with deep policy and regulatory expertise.
-
Create a flexible, long-term platform that CWA and its members could use across digital communications, educational materials, stakeholder engagement and future public affairs initiatives.
-
Cut through a crowded information environment with a distinctive campaign identity and coordinated content designed for the channels and formats priority audiences use.
Key Initiatives & Results
1
unified campaign platform, giving CWA and its members a distinctive, accessible identity through which to communicate the value of California’s regulated water utilities.
12
core message pillars—Accountability, Affordability, California Values and Economic Impact—creating a consistent framework for communicating across policy, regulatory and public audiences.
2
complementary social media approaches—organic storytelling and targeted paid content—working together to expand the campaign’s visibility and reach priority audiences.
Execution
Water California Can Count On began with the development of a new campaign brand identity and a clear strategic framework for communicating what regulated water utilities do, how they are held accountable and why their work matters to California.
Rather than addressing individual issues in isolation, Randle organized the campaign around four interconnected message pillars:
-
Accountability, highlighting rigorous regulatory oversight, the General Rate Case process, emergency preparedness and the responsibility to provide reliable service around the clock.
-
Affordability, providing context around the cost of delivering essential water service, fixed infrastructure needs and assistance programs for lower-income customers.
-
California Values, connecting regulated water service to conservation, responsible stewardship, public health, safety and long-term planning.
-
Economic Impact, demonstrating how infrastructure investment, skilled careers and long-term community partnerships support California’s economy.
These pillars informed every element of the campaign, creating consistency across the website, educational collateral and social media content while allowing messages to be tailored to different audiences and policy conversations.
The campaign’s dedicated website served as its central communications hub, bringing the brand and message architecture together in an accessible digital experience. Educational collateral translated complex policy, regulatory and operational subjects into clear, useful information for policymakers and stakeholders.
Randle also developed an integrated social media campaign combining organic and paid content. Organic storytelling created an ongoing platform for explaining the industry’s role and highlighting its contributions, while targeted paid media helped place campaign messages in front of priority audiences.
Across each channel, creative and marketing expertise worked in tandem with traditional public affairs strategy. The result was content with the clarity and visual distinction needed to earn attention, grounded in the substance and credibility required to inform policy and regulatory audiences.
Results
Water California Can Count On gave CWA a cohesive platform for defining the regulated water industry on its own terms and communicating its value with greater clarity, consistency and authenticity.
The campaign transformed a complex set of policy, regulatory and operational issues into a unified story centered on accountability, affordability, California values and economic impact.
Its new brand identity, website, educational collateral and integrated social campaign provided CWA with a flexible communications foundation capable of supporting both immediate education efforts and longer-term public affairs priorities.
Most importantly, Water California Can Count On demonstrated how creativity and substance can work together to strengthen public affairs. By combining consumer marketing sensibilities with deep policy and regulatory expertise, the campaign made an essential but often misunderstood industry more accessible, relevant and compelling to California’s policymakers and decision-makers.
Client
SERVICES
