Background

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), one of the leading utility companies in the U.S., changed their brand position from being service oriented to environmentally oriented: everyone is part of the solution and that smart, simple and every day actions can really make a difference (environmentally). PG&E wanted to develop a campaign to change their customers’ perceptions, behaviors and energy consumption. PG&E wanted to convey the idea “we” in order to invite Hispanic customers to partner with PG&E on a deeper environmental level.

 

Challenge

Since global warming and other environmental issues are so momentous in scale, convincing Hispanics that simple and everyday activities can have a profound impact on the environment posed the greatest challenge. Many believed that they could not have an impact on the environment. Since Hispanics traditionally worry about financial stability and the cost of energy before they consider the environment, connecting the security of families with the health of the environment posed another challenge. On a different note, PG&E thought of Hispanics as an uninterested segment of their consumer base because historic research, from 2007 and before, had shown little awareness on environmental issues among Hispanics.

 

Research

Fortunately, research we conducted in 2008 identified a shift in environmental engagement among Hispanics. Hispanics believed that PG&E was a progressive and modern company that continues to innovate, and evoke hope in alternative energy to improve quality of family life. According the qualitative and quantitative research conducted, Hispanics noted that reliable service as a must-have; public outreach and education on energy and environment as a nice-to-have; and solar panel installations as very-nice-to-have. Hispanic customers said they would like PG&E to develop educational programs for both adults and children and promote environmental initiatives that have global impact. In essence, PG&E was in the unique position of being the brand that could help California through very tough and changing times.

 

Solution

As part of the overall PG&E Hispanic campaign — we called “Local Media Integration” — we proposed a heavy grassroots outreach component. Other aspects of the campaign included radio, rich-media banner ads and a mobile marketing component. The purpose of the grassroots outreach effort was to open a dialogue between PG&E and Hispanic customers on environmental issues and energy conservation. We intended to engage Hispanics about PG&E’s environmental commitments that ensure a healthy and bright energy future for Hispanic families; as well as empower Hispanics to take smart, simple and every day actions and help the environmental movement, ultimately changing the attitude and behavior that Hispanics had toward energy consumption.

We identified seven culturally relevant Hispanic events throughout Northern California to guarantee that PG&E had a strong presence in each of the seven areas they serve: Festival de la Familia in Sacramento, Día de la Familia in Salinas, Viva Mexico in Bakersfield, Día de los Muertos in Oakland, Mariachi Festival in San Jose, the Marin County Fair, and the Big Fresno Fair.

 

Components

To deliver on the goals mentioned above, we executed a strong event program that spoke to both Hispanic adults and their children. At each event, PG&E had a 20x10 booth space near the main stage or entrance of the festival or fair. The space consisted of two 10x10 branded canopies with backdrops and sprint banners to create an enormous PG&E corner. The space consisted of two 10x10 canopies that contained two Carbon Calculators, a Prize Wheel, and a kid’s section for a Solar Racer Workshop.

PG&E’s main booth received over 500+ visitors (per event) accompanied by their relatives and friends. As visitors came to the main booth, they lined up to take a spin of a prize wheel. We asked every visitor a question about energy efficiency and conservation. If the participant did not know the answer, we would help them with a hint. The idea was that everyone would get a prize and learn something new about energy efficiency and conservation. All visitors were offered a PG&E branded tote bag and other educational collateral pieces.

In addition, the main booth displayed two PG&E Carbon Calculators. Everyone that played with the Carbon Calculator received a solar-powered flashlight. The Carbon Calculator demonstrated how smart, simple and everyday actions like changing a light bulb and planting a tree could really help the environment.

PG&E also hosted a Solar Racer Workshop for kids. Parents would sign their kids up (ages 7 – 15) to make a Solar Racer. During each session, we discussed the importance of solar energy in a fun way as we built a solar powered racing car. In total, 75 solar racers were made throughout each event. The idea behind the Solar Racer was to teach kids about the future of energy in a fun and memorable way. The Solar Racer Workshop became the most popular activity for kids at every event.

At each event, we also implemented a branding tool called Picture Marketing. A member of our event team approached visitors near the PG&E booth and offered to take a free picture of the visitors. They would then hand the visitors a card with the PG&E logo and instructions on how to retrieve the picture Online. Visitors would then go to a PG&E branded website to retrieve their photo and fill out a short survey. The idea was to gauge what Hispanics thought about PG&E and PG&E’s presence at the event.

 

Results

The outcome of the grassroots component of PG&E’s Local Media Integration plan was overwhelmingly positive. We noted encouraging feedback during the events with comments like: “this (solar racer workshop) is awesome”, “I’m glad that PG&E is here”, and “I can’t wait to sign my son up for the solar racer workshop”. In addition, the results from our Picture Marketing survey were astonishing. A total of 1,512 pictures were taken with 312 surveys filled out during the 2009 event season – for a response rate of 20.6%. The surveys revealed valuable insight about Hispanics: 60.6% of respondents said they learned something new about energy conservation, 44.6 % of respondents said that they conserve energy to reduce their impact on the environment, and 52% of respondents said that PG&E is helping them be part of the solution by providing tips on how to conserve energy and money. The most impressive stat recorded was that 60.8% of respondents said they felt more favorable towards PG&E after visiting the PG&E booth. In conclusion, PG&E was extremely happy with the program we established and looks forward to continuing it for years to come.