Banyan Water

Environmental Innovator: Using the Internet of Things to protect Earth’s most precious resource

Banyan Water is the leading provider of data-driven water conservation software for the built environment. Using smart devices and real-time monitoring and analytics, Banyan protects Earth’s most precious resource while generating untapped savings for clients. Since the company’s inception, Banyan has saved more than 3 billion gallons of water—equivalent to the resources required to make 150 million pints of beer—secured the esteemed EPA WaterSense label on select products, and in 2019, increased customer asset value by $20 million.

The Story

Americans take water for granted. The U.S. consumes more water per capita than any country on Earth, with the average family using more than 550 gallons per day. If the rest of the world shared our water habits, we would need three and a half times more freshwater than the Earth has to give.

The combination of accessibility and absurdly low municipal water rates has conditioned us to believe that water is an inexhaustible resource, when in fact dozens of countries—including the U.S.—will face extreme water shortages in the next 25 years. It’s already happening elsewhere: Capetown, South Africa; Barcelona, Spain; São Paulo, Brazil; New Delhi, India.

One person or brand won’t be able to solve water scarcity, but there is a growing wave of B2B tech companies delivering market solutions that aim to reduce water usage at scale.

Banyan Water was one of the first brands to market, combining Internet of Things devices with advanced data analytics to reduce water usage on commercial properties. Among its clients are leading property management companies, large tech and school campuses, and office complexes.

As a true category creator, Banyan’s primary focus was establishing brand awareness among large commercial enterprises, highlighting the value water conservation technology provides to individual properties, portfolios and the environment at large. Over time, Banyan’s partnership with Red Fan grew to include:

Media and analyst relations programs that targeted industry trades and top market research firms with IoT coverage areas.
A thought leadership strategy that leveraged CEO Gillan Taddune’s extensive expertise and experience in environmental conservation and clean technology.
An awards program that reinforced Banyan’s strategic value to clients.
A full-funnel content strategy—including bylines, white papers, webinar scripts, blogs, case studies and email marketing campaigns—that supported lead generation, enabled sales and engaged customers.
Since its inception, Banyan has saved more than 3.5 billion gallons of water. In 2019 alone, it increased its customers’ asset value by more than $20 million.

Challenge

Maintain and increase Banyan Water’s presence in a relatively nascent B2B market with a communications strategy that supports lead-gen efforts, provides touch points with business leaders in Banyan’s target audiences, positions Banyan as a thought leader in innovative water conservation software, as well as highlights the company’s advanced analytics and IoT-enabled solutions.

Solution

Banyan initially approached Red Fan for expert guidance on building an impactful media outreach strategy supporting a product launch. Since then, Banyan’s communications blueprint evolved to include media and analyst relations, thought leadership and content development, social media strategy and execution, company announcements and awards submissions.

Designed an executive thought leadership strategy—consisting of regular op-eds placed in industry publications, awards submissions and speaking engagements—for CEO Gillan Taddune.
Supported social media strategy, executive communications and marketing efforts with a strategy that positions Banyan as an active and knowledgeable leader in the Internet of Things, global water trends and activity, water optimization strategy, and conservation technology.
Maintained a consistent news cycle through partnership announcements, company milestones, award wins and industry recognitions, as well as data analysis for intelligent water management.

Results

As Banyan has grown, its communications strategy has scaled in tandem. What was once a startup in a brand new market has evolved into an established player in a growing industry. Banyan Water stands out in an industry that will see continued investment as more enterprise-level businesses make water conservation a priority through the implementation of intelligent water technology.

Red Fan’s ongoing media relations and thought leadership programs secured coverage for Banyan Water and CEO Gillan Taddune in the International Facility Management Association’s Facility Manager Journal, Journal AWWA from the American Water Works Association, Environmental Leader, the International Water Association’s The Source magazine, CISCO’s The Network, FacilitiesNet, GreenLodgingNews, the Austin Business Journal, Built in Austin, Crain’s, Commercial Property Executive and more. Results included:

13 percent web referral traffic from PR in corresponding campaign months.
Sales enablement content that included:
- A lead generating-webinar with Environmental Leader, which drew nearly 300 stakeholders from Fortune 500 brands, commercial property managers and others. Red Fan also repurposed content from the webinar into a white paper exploring how enterprises can deploy IoT and smart data to mitigate portfolio risk.
- Two owned research reports:
  - The Banyan Water Analysis Trends and Emerging Risks (W.A.T.E.R.) Report, which analyzed critical water-related risks for commercial enterprises.
  - The Leak Detection Report, which analyzed customer data to determine average leak size, estimated savings using Banyan’s platform and other findings that showcased the brand’s core value propositions and technology.
- Two in-depth case studies—HewlettPackard’s Palo Alto campus and The Thacher School’s campus in Ojai, California—that highlighted water and cost-savings and other business-critical KPIs.
- Four award wins.
- Nine bylines written and placed in relevant trade publications.
- An investor deck for pitch meetings.
Media placements in International Facility Management Association’s Facility Manager Journal, Journal AWWA from the American Water Works Association, Environmental Leader, the International Water Association’s The Source magazine, CISCO’s The Network, FacilitiesNet, GreenLodgingNews, the Austin Business Journal, Built in Austin, Crain’s, Commercial Property Executive and more.

Share this Case Study

Over the last three years, Red Fan has collaborated directly with Banyan Water’s executive team to establish and reinforce the company’s position as a leader in innovative, intelligent water software. Our cross-functional PR strategy directly supports sales by securing consistent coverage, elevating the company’s thought leaders and highlighting Banyan’s award-winning, IoT-based solutions.

Banyan Water