BACKGROUND

PSO had ambitious energy-saving goals to meet in 2016, and encouraging businesses to use PSO rebates for upgrading to highly efficient equipment would be a significant step in achieving those goals. A 2015 campaign featured Kenneth Easton, owner of the Ace Hardware store in Lawton, Oklahoma. His charisma, community connections and enthusiastic support of PSO’s rebates for upgrading to LED lighting led to record-breaking rebate applications. In 2016, we needed to demonstrate that other businesses could achieve impressive savings, too. 

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the “Starts with a Light” campaign was to increase the monthly average of applications for business rebates by 20%. Additionally, PSO sought to significantly reduce the kilowatts and kilowatt-hours used by business customers in 2016.

The following key performance indicators were used to measure success during the campaign:

• Increase inbound commercial call volume by 50%.
• Increase overall traffic and new visitors to PowerForwardWithPSO.com by 50%.

STRATEGY

Our strategy was to highlight a known business from an industry other than retail, in a town other than Lawton, that benefitted from PSO rebates. Our messaging focused on the monetary benefits and ongoing lower utility bills, as well as the positive impact LED lighting can have on the atmosphere of a business. We selected a testimonial from a restaurant customer, which also allowed us to mention other rebates like highly efficient commercial kitchen equipment.

TACTICS

Rib Crib in McAlester, Oklahoma was featured in a case study video, which told the story of the $6,400 lighting rebate they received and their long-term savings. It explained that LED lighting created a better atmosphere for people dining at Rib Crib, and how lighting upgrades were just the beginning of Rib Crib’s journey to energy efficiency.

VI developed a detailed media plan designed to reach business customers through different media channels at various times throughout their day.

Pre-Roll:Three 15-second videos were developed to highlight the savings they experienced with LED lighting, improved atmosphere and kitchen upgrades.

Radio: Thirty-second spots were created to run on news talk radio stations across the Tulsa and Lawton metros.

Print: Print advertising in Tulsa Business and Legal News was used to further share Rib Crib’s experience with PSO rebates. Half-page, full-color ads ran every week in August.

Digital Display: Ads were purchased on top local news sites and ad networks, targeting the Tulsa area and company decision-makers and executives in specific industries.

Outdoor: Reinforced the availability of PSO’s rebates by showcasing Rib Crib’s rebate through billboards purchased in key parts of the service territory.

Social Media: Website click ads and 15-second videos targeted specific industries and job titles in the Tulsa and Lawton metros.

Email: Emails highlighting the benefits of energy-efficient equipment and PSO rebates were distributed to business owners and managers within PSO’s service territory.

Paid Search: To ensure business customers interested in PSO rebates can quickly and easily find our website.

RESULTS

We exceeded each of our lofty objectives!

• In 2015, the monthly average for business rebate applications was 80. In 2016, this grew to an average of 113 per month — an increase of 41%, doubling our campaign objective!
• By using PSO’s business rebates, commercial customers saved 6,464 kilowatts and 32,207,474 kilowatt-hours.

In addition to exceeding our objectives, we also succeeded in surpassing our key performance indicators.

• Average monthly inbound commercial call volume was up 56% in 2016.
• Overall website traffic increased 61% over 2015 monthly averages. Monthly new visitors to the website was up 50% over 2015.