con edison: a case study utilities are a ......4 the gate utilities are a monopoly. so, why...

CON EDISON: A CASE STUDYUTILITIES ARE A MONOPOLY. SO, WHY ADVERTISE?

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the gate UtILItIeS aRe a MONOPOLY. SO, WhY aDVeRtISe?: a CaSe StUDY

THE GATE’S UTILITIESCLIENT:CON EDISON

Con Edison (and its Orange and Rockland subsidiary)provides energy – electric, steam and gas — to commercial

and residential (customers in the greater New York City area.)

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An industry under pressure (from new technologies), under a microscope (from regulators) and selling a vital product which

nonetheless, customers take for granted.

THEENVIRONMENTFOR UTILITIES

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THE CONTEXT

Con Edison does not get the credit it deserves. Delivering energy in its various forms to 9 million customers is an extraordinary engineering feat.

Yet, customers take them for granted. They only think of Con Edison when something does wrong, which if we

were honest with ourselves, is not often (if at all).

And when things do go wrong, for the most part, it is from events outside Con Edison’s control: Mother Nature

is not very supportive of utility companies. Remember Superstorm Sandy?

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THE CONTEXT:PART DEUX

Sure. Con Edison is a monopoly. So why advertise?

Because a positive image and high favorability ratings are critical to receiving government approval to raise rates,

upgrade their system, build more substations, etc.

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Con Edison is the most reliable utility in the world, with a 99.7% reliability rating. They invest over a billion dollars a year in their infrastructure.

CON EDISON’STRUTH

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99.7% reliable is not reliable enough.COMPANYPROMISE

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• Unite two different companies (Con Edison and Orange & Rockland) behind the same strategy, campaign and look.

• Unite multiple programs – corporate, energy education, energy conservation, diversity and community-outreach – under a single campaign.

• Build appreciation for Con Edison’s excellence.

CAMPAIGNOBJECTIVES

9CREATIVE

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The Gate developed an integrated, multilingual campaign comprising over 850 pieces of communications

across five different divisions/programs.

EVERYTHINGMATTERSCAMPAIGN

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EVERYTHINGMATTERSCAMPAIGN

• The entire layout is a grid, much like the power grid that Con Edison uses.

• The main visuals involve a photograph of Con Edison’s customers using energy in a way that is personally important to them.

• The inset visuals are a peek behind the curtain.

• A chance to see the things Con Edison does to give power to whatever’s shown in the photograph.The schematic represents the unseen blueprint for how Con Edison gets energy from A to B.

• The line drawings represent the visible technology they use to do it (via power stations, transformers, gas meters, etc.)

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UTILITIES ARE A MONOPOLY. SO, WHY ADVERTISE?: A CASE STUDY

PRINT AD

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PRINT AD

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PRINT AD

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PRINT AD

16GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGIES

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MEDIA:A BIPOLARAPPROACH

On the one hand, everyone in Con Edison’s service area is a customer and, therefore, a prospect.

While on the other hand, Con Edison offers very specific programs appealing to a very specific and limited group

often in a very specific and limited geography: a zip code or even to the census block within high-value communities.

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All customers:

• Used traditional and non-traditional media to build broad awareness.

Specific/high-value prospects:

• Identified their consumption habits based on behavior, geography, job title and function, seasonality and monitoring of social landscape.

• Executed media, block-by-block, to reach prospects in their local communities.

• Used a mix of digital, community papers and select OOH locations.

• Bought multi-cultural local media in order to reach non-English speaking prospects in their language.

EXECUTING A BIOLARMEDIASTRATEGY

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HYPER-LOCAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

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Con Edison overall:

• Awareness of key message increased substantially versus the previous campaign.

Energy Education programs:

• Click-through rates on programs designed to educate customers on energy usage are 40% above the industry average.

Energy Efficiency programs:

• Click-through rates on programs designed to get customers to take specific steps to reduce energy consumption are 50% above industry average.

RESULTS

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CONTACT

Beau FraserPresident

The Gate | New York

212 508-3450

[email protected]

CON EDISON: A CASE STUDYUTILITIES ARE A MONOPOLY. SO, WHY ADVERTISE?

con edison: a case study utilities are a ......4 the gate utilities are a monopoly. so, why...

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