The campaign turns mirrors of hotel’s bathrooms into a new media channel in a highly original way. It makes use of bathroom mirrors across the famous hotel chain, one of the biggest international hotel chains in Russia, delivering educational messages about water usage. The messages were made with the help of thin removable stencils, anti-condensation substance and a waterproof marker. The messages contain facts about the way we use water, one of the Earth’s most valuable resources, and the ways to avoid wasting it. They appear when mirrors become steamy, targeting only people who actually used water excessively. The mirror here acts as an instant reminder, and steam becomes a ‘wasting water’ detector.

We used a two-level message on the mirror. When a hotel guest entered a bathroom he saw only a clean mirror with a small simple sticker below with the global brand saving water message reminding that every drop counts. But if the guest made an extensive use of water when taking a shower for too long or brushing teeth with water running, the main message, made with the help of plastic removable stencils, anti-condensation substance and a waterproof marker appeared. The message looked handwritten and appeared unexpectedly, therefore, of course, it immediately attracted people’s attention. The activation took place in 20 rooms of hotel chain, the video was uploaded to YouTube, the selfies of hotel guests were posted in all the social networks.

The accompanying YouTube video, as well as hotel guests’ photos, have spread virally, helping to attract millions of visitors to the ‘Save Water Mirror’ website and thereby educating individuals on how to save water.

What’s more, bloggers and celebrities spontaneously joined the cause, helping to spread the message of the #SaveWaterMirror hashtag and the wider communications campaign.

In less than one month the #SaveWaterMirror project has reached more than 48 million people both on- and offline. What’s more, during the period of activation, the hotel reduced the amount of water wasted by 15% per room.