Irrigation and Water Management
2012 Smart Marketing Contest winners, from left: Lowell Kaufhold, president, CPS Distributors, Inc.; Pete Moeller, director of marketing, the Toro Company; Richard Restuccia, director of
water management solutions, ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance
W
ith drought conditions expected to continue, irrigation
professionals in every industry sector — from manufacturer to distributor to contractor to water provider
— will continue to feel pressure to become more efficient water stewards and help their customers do the
same. This means raising awareness among customers and end users
of the benefits of efficient irrigation and increasing customer demand for water-efficient products and services. One initiative designed to help the industry do just that is the Smart Irrigation
Month campaign. Since its launch in 2005, the campaign has gained
traction within the industry, and helps irrigation professionals unite
behind a common message and confront this growing challenge.
Focused on July — the peak month of water demand in the
United States — Smart Irrigation Month gives industry professionals a platform to showcase how their efforts are part of the solution to water-use issues by promoting water-use efficiency to
business partners, customers and water end-users. Smart Irrigation
Month promotes the following key tenets:
* Educate irrigators and other customers about water-use effi-
12 Landscape and Irrigation May/June 2013
ciency and sustainable use and smart stewardship.
* Grow demand for pressurized, efficient irrigation technologies, products and services.
* Provide practical and viable solutions to today's water-use
challenges.
Part of that campaign is the Smart Marketing Contest, a yearly
competition to highlight the best efforts of irrigation professionals
in their promotion of the Smart Irrigation Month initiative. Winners are recognized at the Irrigation Show and Education Conference and across Irrigation Association (IA) communications
throughout the following year.
This past March, a webinar hosted by the IA Smart Irrigation
Month committee showcased three of the four 2012 Smart Marketing Contest winners and how their efforts translated to successful campaigns. Presenters included:
* ValleyCrest Landscape Maintenance, Calabasas, Calif., contractor winner
* CPS Distributors, Inc., Westminster, Colo., distributor winner
* The Toro Company, Riverside, Calif., manufacturer winner
www.landscapeirrigation.com
Photo provided by Rain Bird
Smart Irrigation Month:
Becoming Part of the Solution
