SAN MATEO COUNTY SUSTAINABILITY DEPARTMENT

STOP WATER POO-LLUTION CAMPAIGN FOR CLEANER COASTS.

Campaign Strategy | Campaign Voice | Campaign Identity | Campaign Experience

Dog on leash on the beach with water drop outline vector around it

Pet waste isn’t just a nuisance—it’s an environmental and public health hazard. Dog waste contains millions of bacteria, and when left on the ground, it can be washed into storm drains and carried into streams, creeks, and ultimately the ocean. San Mateo County’s Sustainability Department brought us in to address these environmental issues with a campaign to promote better pet waste habits. With the typical rain season three months away, the Sustainability Department needed campaign assets as soon as possible. Using our campaign sprint process, we were able to focus our approach for quick implementation.

Sign that reads "STOP WATER POO-LLUTION" with illustration of dog with a water droplet as the ear

Differentiating a campaign with strategic positioning

The standard "clean up after your pet" messaging is generic and widely used. Our strategic approach gets attention, shifts perceptions, and ultimately drives a change in behavior about managing pet waste. Research revealed that most pet waste campaigns rely on rules, penalties, or general urban visuals, but the environmental impacts are rarely shared.

Our target audiences, dog parents on the west side of San Mateo County, are on or near the coast, so they have a unique relationship with water and marine environments. We saw a great opportunity to differentiate the campaign by celebrating environmental responsibility.

We positioned pet waste management as an act of coastal stewardship. The tagline “Stop Water Poo-llution” is memorable, action-oriented, and lighthearted. It makes the connection between pet waste and water protection without being preachy.

Using paw-sitive reinforcement and community pride as motivational drivers.

We developed a campaign logo that avoids the typical pitfalls of regulatory campaigns while authentically connecting to San Mateo County communities. We intentionally avoided punitive and shame-based visuals; instead, we emphasized partnership between pet guardians and environmental protection.

Building from there, we defined a simple brand system to be used across campaign touchpoints. Logo variations, a font hierarchy, and the waterdrop photo treatment provide flexibility and consistency in application. With strategic messaging and an approachable visual identity, the final campaign feels community-driven rather than imposed–turning what’s often seen as a chore into a meaningful action to protect the county’s waterways and marine life.

The campaign creative was delivered within a month, giving the County time to produce and implement the campaign before rain starts to fall.