UC PR students place second with awareness proposal for Kohler’s Save Water America campaign

A group of University of Cincinnati students brought home a second-place prize for their plan to raise awareness of Kohler's Save Water America campaign.The Wisconsin-based kitchen and bath fixture company awarded runner-up status to the University's chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America for their proposal. It involved raising campaign awareness where large groups of people gather in Cincinnati's urban core, including Findlay Market and the Reds Opening Day parade in addition to placing more traditional radio ads."The unique situation with us is that we are the University of Cincinnati - we could utilize the entire city in our campaign. That’s why we went beyond campus to include Findlay Market," says senior Brad Okel. "We had two goals for our campaign: use Cincinnati as an example for water conservation trends, and position Kohler as an expert in water conservation."The Save Water America campaign promotes water conservation and awareness and tips through an interactive web site that allows users to find specific ideas for their lives."Winning second place in a national competition is a great indication of the way the program is growing," says Communication Professor Maribeth Metzler, the director of UC's Public Relations Program and faculty advisor of PRSSA. "Our students are seeing the benefits of their hard work and it's causing them to become more competitive and proud of what they’re doing."UC came in second behind Syracuse University with Ohio State University finishing third. The winners were announced in April and were told they will receive water saving products for their home universities.UC began offering a public relations certificate in its Communication Department in 2003. The certificate is one of two in the state certified by the Public Relations Society of America (the other is Ohio Northern University just outside of Lima) .Last year, UC's PRSSA chapter won first place in a statewide Donate Life Ohio campaign, the organ donation effort sponsored by the Ohio Department of Health. The year prior, in its Debunkify campaign, the chapter earned "Best Creative Execution."Writer: Feoshia HendersonSource: Kim Burdett, assistant PIO McMicken College of Arts and Sciences, UC PRSSA chapter president Kelley UjvaryYou can follow Feoshia on twitter @feoshiasoapbox