In preparation for the 100th anniversary of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management approached WPI to develop an emergency preparedness website and related outdoor advertising campaign. On a budget that would make a shoestring blush, 72hours.org was born. Its concise messaging (“Make a Plan. Build a Kit. Get Involved.”) strongly influenced preparedness organizations around the country and can currently be seen in the top nav at ready.gov.

To promote the website and its call to action, WPI produced an upbeat and memorable outdoor advertising campaign featured contrasting images such as a wine bottle vs. a water bottle or fresh sushi vs. canned tuna with the intriguing hook, “Nice to have. Need to have.”

The secret power of 72hours.org is its simplicity; its economy of design showcases universally recognized iconography and accessible messaging. The site was selected for an international Webby Award for Best Website in Government in 2006. Remarkably, the site continues to garner more than a thousand hits per day. When the Japanese tsunami threatened the California coast in 2011, the site received over a million page views in one week. Incredible!