Cutting through the clutter with an electric tool incentive
Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) is a publicly owned utility that serves 86 of the 93 counties in the state, which includes an estimated 530,000 Nebraskans. Through EnergyWise, NPPD’s savings and electrification incentive program, customers can access valuable rebates that save them energy and money when they make certain home upgrades. However, NPPD’s data found that most customers were unaware of the many cost-saving opportunities available through the program. So Bozell crafted an attention-grabbing campaign that would build on the excitement of Black Friday sales over the holiday season.
Insights
To develop our target audience, we extracted NPPD customer ZIP Codes with high concentrations of retail consumers, while suppressing wholesale and agricultural customers. Then, we researched consumer purchasing habits, focusing on the period spanning from Black Friday through the Christmas shopping season. During this time, audiences make long-delayed purchases and search out sales and gift ideas for loved ones. We knew that targeting consumers who were already shopping would offer maximum reach and attract a broad audience.
While NPPD provides a wide range of rebates, we identified the categories and products most often included on shopping wish lists and those with high purchase rates in the winter months. We then cross-referenced these items with those found in the EnergyWise program. The result? We were able to focus our efforts on the lawn and garden category, which offered customers a 20% cost savings benefit for electrified yard tools – an offer similar to one you’d find during Black Friday and the Christmas shopping season.
Execution
To position NPPD as a top-of-mind go-to while shopping for savings during the holidays, we created an offer-driven campaign that led with a bold, clean “20% off savings” message and featured popular outdoor holiday gift ideas – lawn mowers, snow blowers, chainsaws and leaf blowers.
To meet audiences where they were, we opted for digital display ads, which were served across the websites of relevant retailers like home improvement stores and ecommerce companies. We further enhanced these efforts with retargeting ads aimed at audiences in our chosen ZIP Codes. To reach consumers on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, we ran a series of static and carousel videos. All social media assets were continually optimized based on performance, which allowed us to more effectively utilize the client’s budget.
Results
NPPD’s holiday campaign drew significant attention and engagement, with customers taking full advantage of the available savings. In less than three weeks, the campaign earned more than 2.5 million impressions, generating thousands of clicks from curious consumers. Both the display ads and paid social media efforts achieved click-through rates (CTR) that surpassed benchmarks for the energy industry, showcasing the power of well-targeted, optimized content.
Key Results:
- 5 million impressions
- Thousands of clicks
- More than double the CTR for display ads and paid social media
