Pur

Pur is a small division of P&G that makes home water filters. Our goal was to position Pur as more than a filter brand. We wanted to elevate Pur to the broader territory of being a Clean Water brand.

We started with building the brand from the ground up. Our team created their equity pyramid. We crafted their brand beliefs. And we identified the three pillars that support the brand’s position and will define their behavior: Drink, Reduce, Share.

Drink refers to Pur’s superior technologies, giving people the cleanest, healthiest water possible.
Reduce refers to the reduction of the waste, pollution, cost, and harm of bottled water.
And Share is P&G’s philanthropic effort to distribute water packets that turn foul water into drinking water to those who have none. We convinced Pur that they had to fold the program into their business model and tie their support directly to sales.

Once we had the pillars in place, had established the broader territory of “clean water,” and took a look at the future global realities of clean water, it became pretty obvious what the brand’s point of view needed to be: Clean water is the most precious and necessary resource on the planet, and from Pur’s point of view, nothing is more important than water.

We then got to work on their Visual Brand Identity. We wanted to establish Pur as a universal water company who believes everyone, everywhere deserves access to clean water. And so we created an ID that is clean, essential, and accessible. We then concepted new package designs and worked with their packaging agency to explore new designs and a new logo. We even named upcoming products still in development .

Next we started working on the global launch of Pur’s new position, attitude, and look. We knew the first job we needed to do is re-orient people’s thinking and get them to value water. We had to make the complex issue of clean water understandable and important, but not dry and dull. We wanted to create something people would want want to become a part of. So rather than start a brand campaign, we thought it better to start a movement: Water First.

We first started with designing a universal icon to stand for clean water (and by proxy, for Pur). We then created what we refer to as our Heretical Launch. During this phase we will challenge conventional ideas of what is important. Our plan is to launch with multi-page spreads that end with thought-provoking messages about the importance about water. We will then continue the idea into other media and we’ll give people the tools to become a part of the movement themselves.

And because water is such an important and global issue, we will encourage partnerships with some of the most popular, democratic global sites to help further spread the idea.

Once we’ve sufficiently caused enough of a fuss, we will shift our messaging to how Pur is helping the cause of clean water through its three pillars - Drink, Reduce, and Share- and use the brand’s messaging and behavior as proof of its commitment and its worthiness of the consumer’s trust.

We generated a ton of additional work and examples of how the Water First mission can drive everything from DR to product disposal to documentaries. Working internally with our passionate team of creatives, planners, and brand leaders, and externally with our vendor partners did nothing if not prove how flexible and strong Water First could be and how it could elevate Pur far beyond the rest of the water filter category.

(Tragically, this campaign suffered from long-term swirl, which eventually resulted in other brands jumping on The Clean Water wagon in the interim.)

ACD/CW: Kristina Slade
ACD/AD: Rodrigo Butori
CW: Eric Terchilla, Ted Kapusta
AD: Denise Zurilgen, Paulo Cruz, Bory Chung
CDs: Margaret Keene, Chris Adams