Since 1926, The Novato Fire Protection District has provided all-risk emergency and non-emergency services to the City of Novato and the surrounding unincorporated areas.
In California, wildfires have become less defined by a season and are instead a year-round occurrence. The Novato Fire Protection District was looking for a way to encourage more home and business owners to be proactive and prepared for potential wildfires by signing up for free wildfire assessments in the town Kiosk US calls home.
Instead of leading with fear, we focused on helping home and business owners get ahead of the problem with a multi-channel advertising campaign.We let people know that the assessments were free, easy to schedule and made recipients eligible for matching grants for qualified home or business improvements. Understanding the power of social proof in motivating people, we included messaging that focused on the fact that they would join thousands of Novato residents who already took action.
Whether it be due to neighborly peer pressure, insightful media planning, or great creative (if we do say so ourselves), nearly thousands of homeowners in Novato took action to sign up for their free wildfire assessment. Overall, we saw a lift in website visits by 278% and an over 100% increase in direct site visits and sign-ups in the first quarter of launch.
