Selling energy is a tough business. For the most part, utility companies are a monopoly and are only given consideration when something goes wrong or a bill
needs to be paid.
Looking to change this perception among customers across its 8-state footprint, Xcel Energy is launching a new campaign to soften its image and show how it
serves customers through encouraging responsible energy usage and service. The effort, from agency Yamamoto in Minneapolis, depicts the energy brought to consumers as a big, red box delivered to a
customer’s doorstep.
“Instead of just informing people about the service, Xcel wanted to bridge the gap to become a trusted and preferred brand, which is difficult
when you’re basically a regulated monopoly,” Andy Thieman, executive creative director at Yamamoto, tells Marketing Daily.
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Television commercials in the
campaign show a character delivering the box to doorsteps, while offering information about Xcel and its electricity delivery and conservation programs. (In one spot, for instance, the box contains “clean, renewable energy” to illustrate Xcel’s 10-year commitment to providing wind
energy.) The spots end with a graphic of the box and the tagline, “Always delivering.”
“Energy [as a product] is largely invisible; we needed to make [it]
visible,” Thieman says of the approach. “Because it’s void of presence, we wanted [people to] imagine if it was delivered to your door.”
The campaign will
run across television, print, radio, digital, social and video platforms across Xcel’s 8-state footprint (which includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan, New Mexico, Colorado, North Dakota
and South Dakota). The ads will be customized to highlight deals and services in those markets.