Powering the Future Advertising Campaign

Transcription

1 Powering the Future Advertising Campaign SaskPower Corporate Relations / Regina, Saskatchewan NEED/OPPORTUNITY SaskPower is a government of Saskatchewan Crown corporation. Since 1929, the company has been the principal supplier of electricity in Saskatchewan, a province in western Canada. Today, SaskPower serves an increasingly diverse and sophisticated customer base of more than 467,000 residential and commercial customers in a large geographical area spanning 652,000 square kilometers. SaskPower employs approximately 2,800 full-time employees located in more than 70 communities provincewide. The company manages CDN$4.9 billion in assets to generate and distribute power to its customers. It operates three coal-fired power stations, seven hydroelectric stations, five natural gas stations and two wind facilities. Combined, these stations generate 3,371 megawatts of electricity. The company maintains more than 157,000 kilometers of power lines. The company will face a significant challenge in the years ahead. The majority of SaskPower s electricity system was built 30 to 50 years ago. SaskPower has entered a period of renewal and expansion to meet the growing demand for power across the province. In 2010 alone, the company invested approximately CDN$617 million. Total capital spending in the next 10 years is expected to exceed CDN$8 billion as the company rebuilds aging infrastructure and constructs new facilities that will produce and distribute the power Saskatchewan needs. By 2030, the company will need to rebuild, replace or acquire 4,100 megawatts of electricity in order to ensure it can meet the increasing customer demand and effectively revitalize its aging infrastructure. During hearings with the government of Saskatchewan s Crown and Central Agencies Committee (CCA) in late 2009 and early 2010, SaskPower shared its short-, medium- and longterm plans to guide the company s unprecedented multiyear investment in the province s electricity infrastructure. Despite a favorable final report from the CCA, Saskatchewan residents remained uncertain about SaskPower s ability to successfully deliver its electricity supply plan. Overall, awareness of SaskPower s plans and decision-making process was low. In response to a 2009 SaskPower customer survey, nearly 70 percent of respondents indicated they would like to know more about SaskPower s plans and decision-making process; they also thought that the company should increase communications about its future power supply plans. A multiyear electricity supply plan communication strategy was developed in 2010 to raise awareness. An advertising campaign in 2010 was one component of that strategy.

2 INTENDED AUDIENCE/STAKEHOLDERS As mentioned earlier, SaskPower has 467,000 residential and commercial customers. Although everyone in the province consumes electricity, the primary age target for the advertising campaign was years of age, with a spillover to age 65. Both males and females were the intended audience. Their average minimum annual household income is CDN$50,000 as these customers tend to be engaged, concerned and interested in the future of the province. They care about their lives in Saskatchewan and want their Crown corporations like SaskPower to make wise, environmentally responsible and sustainable choices. Based on research SaskPower has commissioned over recent years, some perceptions or biases that exist within the target audience include: Fear that Saskatchewan may be running out of power. Concern that SaskPower is not exploring renewable energy (green) options fast enough or perhaps not at all. Worry that SaskPower doesn t have a solid plan to address the issue of generating enough power to support economic growth. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES GOALS 1. Provide key stakeholders with balanced and objective information about SaskPower s sustainable plan to power the province and the process through which the plan is determined. 2. Position SaskPower as a progressive and responsive company that plays an integral role in the province s economic development and growth. OBJECTIVES 1. Increase the number of residents who believe that SaskPower has a plan to meet the province s future electricity needs from 46 percent to 55 percent by 31 December Of those who are aware of SaskPower s supply plan, increase the number of residents who have an accurate understanding of the plan from 32 percent to 40 percent by 31 December Increase the number of residents who believe SaskPower is doing a good job of communicating its future plans from 37 percent to 45 percent by 31 December Increase the number of residents who believe SaskPower is seeking environmentally friendly alternatives to power generation from 50 percent to 55 percent by 31 December Increase the number of residents who believe SaskPower is investing in innovative technology from 44 percent to 50 percent by 31 December SOLUTION OVERVIEW WEBSITE A primary vehicle for the multiyear electricity supply communication strategy was the launch of a website ( just prior to the launch of the advertising campaign. The site, within SaskPower s main website, provides information on the company s short-, medium-

3 and long-term electricity supply plan), and discusses generation technologies that are being considered and what customers can do to conserve power. The call to action in all the advertising components encouraged people to visit the site to get the complete picture of SaskPower s supply plan. (Note: the budget to develop the website was not included in the advertising campaign budget.) KEY MESSAGES SaskPower is well aware of the province s future electricity needs and has a sustainable plan in place to continue providing safe, reliable, sustainable power today and for future generations. SaskPower is making an unprecedented multiyear investment in renewing the province s electricity infrastructure. By 2030, SaskPower will have to replace its entire existing generating system. It s time to rebuild and renew once again. TIME FRAME Campaign development began in July 2009 with the company s advertising/communication agency (Brown Communications Group), but was suspended in late 2009 because of the CCA hearings mentioned earlier, as the outcome of the hearings would guide the nature and messaging for the advertising campaign. Campaign development was restarted in June The advertising campaign ran 20 September 5 December. Post-campaign research was conducted in mid-december. MEDIA STRATEGY Provincewide television advertising played the lead role as the medium for informing customers about SaskPower s plan. All Saskatchewan television outlets were used. Commercials provided an excellent launch for the campaign as viewers were tuning into their favorite prime-time programs. Non-prime-time programming was also used to help achieve viewership target levels. The television campaign was planned to reach percent of the target audience and, on average, viewers would see the commercial seven times. Online media supported the television ads and targeted users who search for information on the Internet. Through the agency s database, it was determined that MSN and Yahoo networks were the top online properties that fit within the target demographic. Within those properties, behavioral targeting was used to narrow the fields, which allowed for targeting clusters according to the way they search within a network. There were two behavioral targets within the MSN network. The first was home decision makers, who skewed female and categories that included home decor, kitchen improvement and appliances, among others. The second group was informed decision makers and was evenly split between males and females. These searchers mostly include news information seekers. Within the Yahoo network, the behavioral target was environment and energy information seekers. The online campaign reached 81.4 percent of the target audience. Provincewide radio advertising was also used to provide further reach and frequency, and to support the messaging and call to action in the other two media.

4 CREATIVE COMPONENTS The campaign s advertising elements included one 30-second television commercial, one 30- second radio commercial and two animated online ads (big box and leaderboard formats). Web banners were also placed on SaskPower s main website. The television commercial featured a confident spokesperson, representative of SaskPower s brand progressive, responsive, respectful, accountable and proud. The commercial contained computer-generated special effects with a wide range of graphics and images that represent the many elements that make up the company s electricity supply plan. The radio commercial was voiced by the same person used on the television commercial, and some of the same sound effects (high-tech, digital, electronic) were used as background audio. The animated online ads featured some of the company s supply option icons used on the website and the television commercial. BUDGET A total of CDN$383,000 was spent on the campaign, including CDN$60,000 for campaign and creative development in In 2010, approximately CDN$218,000 was spent on the media buy (the actual cost was a bit lower than the plan because of credits from media outlets after the campaign ended). Additional costs included production of the television and radio commercials, and online ads at CDN$69,000 (television production being the large majority of that budget). Agency fees and disbursements were CDN$33,000 and photography costs were CDN$3,000. IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES A marketing communication project brief was prepared by the strategic communication consultant assigned to this project. The brief guided SaskPower s team as well as its advertising/communication agency in planning, developing and implementing the advertising campaign. Following a briefing meeting with the agency when the project was restarted in June 2010, the agency prepared a creative brief that focused on the creative requirements for the campaign. There were some challenges involved with this campaign. On the very day the campaign was launched, a by-election was called in a provincial government constituency in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan s largest city. According to government regulations, advertising was prohibited for most Crown corporations (including SaskPower) during the four-week election campaign period in that city and the immediate surrounding area. SaskPower s agency media planner had to immediately pull the television and radio commercials off the air in that market, and all of the online ads provincewide. Next was the challenge to reschedule the media, after the election in late October, during a very busy pre-christmas time period when television airtime in particular was in very short supply. Fortunately, through considerable negotiating, the media planner was able to secure airtime that another Crown corporation had booked. The timing of the post-campaign research was an issue. Outside of the Saskatoon area, the campaign, for the most part, concluded on 14 November. In the Saskatoon area, in order to

5 achieve desirable reach and frequency, the TV component of the campaign ended 5 December. Research fieldwork was conducted in mid-december, approximately five weeks after the campaign had ended in most areas of the province. The research firm indicated one can typically expect a decline in impact (i.e., recall) of about 10 percent per week. If the campaign had gone according to plan, all areas of the province would have been researched immediately following the campaign end date. It was not feasible to do the research in two phases because of logistics and for budgetary reasons. MEASUREMENT/EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES The post-campaign study conducted in mid-december was done by an external research firm to evaluate communication efforts. The research was in the form of a quantitative survey involving 800 residents across Saskatchewan. The participants were a cross-section of electricity consumers who were representative of the target audience. Following is a summary of the survey findings. The first part of the survey probed general awareness, prior to testing of the advertising campaign. As mentioned in the previous section, the delay in doing the fieldwork research in most parts of the province likely impacted awareness levels. 1. In 2009, during the height of hearings on uranium power development, almost half (46 percent) of Saskatchewan residents claimed to be aware of SaskPower s future supply plan; however more than a quarter of respondents (27 percent) described the plan as nuclear energy. In 2010, with nuclear out of the media, the percentage of respondents who claimed to be aware of the plan dropped to 28 percent. 2. Although awareness of the company s plan had decreased to 28 percent, survey respondents descriptions of the plan were more accurate. Also, those aware of the plan demonstrated a better understanding of power generation sources overall. 3. The majority of respondents (59 percent) indicated that SaskPower should continue to communicate its future power plans. Respondents were then asked specific questions regarding their reaction to the advertising campaign. In general, the campaign had a positive impact on the knowledge, opinions and profile of SaskPower. The ads achieved strong proven recall rates and high communication scores for both relevance and accurately communicating the intended message. In relation to the last two objectives, the following is the percentage of those respondents in the top box scores (gave a rating of 9 10 out of 10) who agreed with the following statements in reaction to the individual advertising components. 4. SaskPower is focused on renewable energy sources: TV: 69 percent Radio: 67 percent Online: 66 percent SaskPower is environmentally responsible: TV: 60 percent Radio: 58 percent Online: 58 percent 5. SaskPower is forward-looking:

6 TV: 73 percent Radio: 72 percent Online: 68 percent The research findings also revealed that SaskPower s website was a primary source of information about its plan, with an increase of 29 percent over the previous year.