Benchmarking Conservation Awareness for a Utility
Challenge
National Fuel, a utility company providing natural gas to 500,000 customers in Western New York, planned to launch an awareness campaign to convince consumers to take advantage of a rebate program for energy-efficient appliances and furnaces. They asked Level 7 Market Research along with our advertising agency partner, to help them establish a benchmark of consumer awareness, usage and opinions regarding energy conservation and rebate programs. After the launch of the campaign, they wished to continue tracking these measures to determine the success of the program and its impact on awareness.
Solution
Initially, National Fuel’s Conservation Incentive campaign took a dual approach of urging consumers to not only save money, but to save the environment.
Level 7 conducted 600 interviews during the benchmark study (and over 3,000 over a four-year period), after which we recommended that messages promoting ways to save money would most motivate consumers to take advantage of a rebate. Furthermore, we suggested the best places to reach consumers were through bill inserts, direct marketing and news stories, as these were considered most credible and persuasive to Western New York customers.
Insights and Results
Based on the research, creative teams crafted messages such as “You’d be amazed what you can save” and “Doesn’t it make sense to save money by saving energy?” along with images of folded hundred-dollar bills to complement the notion of saving the environment. National Fuel was limited by the PSC in their use of radio, TV and daily newspapers, but promoted these messages in bill inserts, post card mailers, brochures to contractors/retailers, outdoor bulletins and in local newspaper online banner ads. Public awareness of energy conservation programs jumped from just over a third (35%) in the benchmark to nearly two-thirds (65%) in the quarter following the Conservation Incentive Program launch and achieved similar awareness levels thereafter.
A 30% jump in awareness is quite a significant lift, especially within the three-month timeframe. Though every campaign and the tactics employed are different, past studies have shown that it usually takes years to gain this type of increase in awareness. Some examples include:
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s “Spread the Word” campaign (awareness of the number 711) indicated 22% increase in awareness, up from 4% over a full year.
The South Florida Water Conservation Campaign saw a 10% increase in public awareness over a two-year period.
The Ontario Power Authority “Every Kilowatt Counts” program saw an increase of 13% in the number of Ontarians that were aware of conservation initiatives over a three-month period.