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Winning an award is always a nice thing. But winning 3 Gold Awards for our marketing efforts from a prestigious organization dedicated to the service industries is truly an honor. That is why we were thrilled to recently learn that the Service Industry Advertising Awards (SIAA) bestowed 3 Gold Awards on SmartPower for advertising excellence. We won advertising awards for our energy independence print and radio spots created in collaboration with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, and a video that won our SmartPower and YouTube Clean Energy Ad Challenge.
Nearly 2,000 entries were submitted to the SIAA and we joined many well-known, multi-national companies as multiple entry winners. It is truly a wonderful thing when your peers recognize your achievements and, to be sure, this recognition has made us very proud. But more importantly, when thousands of consumers commit to clean energy because of our marketing, that is an even greater accomplishment. Our advertising has demonstrated to consumers that clean energy is available today and is just as reliable as any other kind electricity source.
While the winning of these awards continues to demonstrate the creative successes realized by SmartPower, we have also been historically fortunate to have professionals at SmartPower who knew how to deliver our award winning messages. Over the past two and a half years, one of these staff persons has been our Connecticut Director, Keri Enright. And now, as SmartPower begins its research and creative development on energy efficiency, we will have to do so without Keri, as she will be taking her talents and the SmartPower marketing approach on clean energy to a new position at Yale University.
We are confident that the Yale University Office of Sustainability will benefit from Keri's skill, dedication and professionalism as much as we have. Over the past two and a half years Keri has helped our 20% by 2010 campaigns evolve in both Pennsylvania and Connecticut and her efforts in Connecticut have been a major reason why the State recently celebrated its 69th municipal commitment to the SmartPower 20% by 2010sm clean energy campaign.
Finally, all of us at SmartPower know that wherever Keri goes, she will carry with her and use often our now well used catch-phrase, "clean energy: it's real, it's here, and it's working!"
Let's Make More!
Brian F. Keane
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Arizona Public Service Company (APS), is the largest electric utility company in Arizona. Over the last year, SmartPower has assisted APS by supporting their solar incentoive program to increase the number of solar installations in their territory.
Now APS has proudly announced plans for the Solana Solar Generation Station, to be built 70 miles southwest of Phoenix. The station, when completed in 2011, will become the largest solar station in Arizona, delivering 280 Megawatts of electricity while serving 70,000 Arizona homes. If Solana were operating today it would be the largest solar plant in the world, providing APS with more solar electricity per customer than any utility in the US. It will be APS' largest source of renewable energy.
As we have said repeatedly in Arizona, 'Solar Makes Sense.'
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For the first time in Super Bowl history, the grass on the field and the money spent on the tickets will not be the only green attributes of the biggest sports event of the year. This year at Super Bowl XLII, the organizers arranged to purchase enough renewable energy credits to power the stadium, the adjacent NFL theme park, and two nearby luxury hotels. The local power supplier worked with the NFL to fulfill its promise last year to be 100% green.
In the previous 15 years the NFL has hosted the game with various green elements, but this years ordeal is truly the first of its kind, with it being 100% clean energy powered.
As well, the NFL and the local supplier will be working with different state officials to plant thousands of trees in an effort to offset the greenhouse gas emissions from the game and all the activities that will take place as a result of the event. With a record number of viewers, 97.5 million to be exact, one can only hope that a fraction of that amount will think green and purchase clean energy for their homes across the country!
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to learn how to sign up in your state. |
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In Mid-January, SmartPower was honored to win three prestigious Gold Awards from the Fifth Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards (SIAA) committee. SIAA is the only advertising award to specifically recognize the achievements of the service industry, recognizing their creativity and communication accomplishments. Nearly 2,000 entries were received in this year's contest, comprised of more than 250 advertising agencies and 800 service institutions. Joining SmartPower this year in winning awards were many major corporations including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Busch Gardens, Honda, JP Morgan, Kodak, McDonalds, Toyota, US Army, US Steel, Verizon and Wendys. A national panel of judges evaluated and rated entries in twelve groups and twenty-seven categories.
SmartPower won Gold Awards for three entrees in three different categories:
The Jimmy Tingle radio ad and "Declare Your Energy Independence" print ad were created in junction with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The "Telephones" ad was the recent winning video on the "SmartPower and YouTube Clean Energy Ad Challenge" which drew over 150 entries on YouTube with thousands of viewers. The winning entry was submitted by a 19 year old college student - Dan Sheppard - an advertising major at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln who won $10,000 from SmartPower for his efforts with this contest.
SmartPower has consistently predicated its marketing success on professional research, followed by the development of strong creative design and ultimately with an effective "on the ground" marketing strategy that takes advantage of the critical research and creative pieces. This second round of awards received by SmartPower from the SIAA (the first SmartPower awards from the SIAA were received in 2005) is testimony to the unique approach of SmartPower and our reliance on this three-legged stool of research, creative design and marketing strategy.
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| Facilitator speaks to the focus group participants. |
Three days of focus groups that started in Hartford, CT, touched down in Boston, MA and ended in Portland, Maine, now complete Phase 2 of SmartPower's landmark Energy Efficiency Campaign Development with Teens and Young Adults. For those who have not followed its progress, this campaign began last summer in conjunction with the North East Climate Protection Partnership, made up of the six New England Departments of Environmental Protection, the Region One office of the EPA, and the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund, along with SmartPower. Our goal is to create a compelling energy efficiency campaign that would work with a younger audience.
Our energy efficiency market research began with a two-week On-Line Diary of adults and teens who were asked to engage in energy efficiency behavior. We asked them to unplug and switch off, take shorter showers, and reduce car idling. Our panelists wrote in their on-line diaries about their experiences and from those findings we learned:
- Keep it simple
- Inspire. Don't Preach
- Providing equivalencies for CO2 emissions makes it real and motivating
- Unplugging/switching off was the energy efficiency our panelists found most likely to continue and whose equivalencies were most motivating
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| Focus group participants look at different marketing graphics and messages. |
During phase 2, we recruited teens and young adults to review creative concepts and discuss which images, messages and information they found most compelling. From our six focus groups we gained valuable insight from our target audience regarding the most compelling information and messages that will motivate them to become energy efficient.
Moving forward with this feedback we will refine our creative to ultimately implement a myriad of marketing strategies. Later in 2008 these themes and messages will be further developed in ‘test-pilot' regions across the country.
For more information contact Lyn Rosoff, SmartPower Director of Marketing at lrosoff@smartpower.org
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Back in the summer of 2006, the Pennsylvania Clean Energy Communities Campaign took off like wildfire but the net impact has been cool. Globally cool, that is. Ultimately, twenty-two local municipalities in Southeastern Pennsylvania committed to purchasing 20% clean energy by 2010 and promoting clean energy within their communities. These municipalities have launched comprehensive and creative community outreach, spreading their clean energy message through newsletters, advertising/PSAs, letters to the editor, community events, door-to-door canvassing, web-based outreach, municipal competitions, school-based outreach, educational forums and performances. Many of these communities have exceeded their original goals, becoming national leaders by attaining some of the highest clean energy enrollment rates in the country. Many of these communities are now reaching their clean energy goals and poised to receive a free 1-kilowatt solar energy arrays as symbols of their leadership.
As a result, the message that clean energy is real, it's here, and it's working has reached a collective audience of 350,000 people and generated over 3,000 new clean energy customers. Collectively, these solar systems, municipal, and residential purchases will generate 20,381,800 kWh of clean energy each year. This is the equivalent to a reduction of 34,934,450 pounds of carbon dioxide. In layperson terms, this is equal to saving the greenhouse gas emissions from 1,798,638 gallons of gasoline. This is especially significant since Pennsylvania contributes 1% of the world's greenhouse gases, making it the 3rd largest emitter in the United States, largely due to its heavy reliance on coal burning power plants. Moreover, the 20 million kWh of clean energy equals over $220,000 worth of solar hardware that will eventually be installed in Pennsylvania, through our efforts and those of the Sustainable Development Fund. Combine that with our joint efforts in Connecticut with our collaborators and nearly $1 Million dollars of solar hardware will be installed when completed. Through the leadership of local municipalities, Pennsylvania is taking on global warming and making clean energy history.
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In the spirit of the opening of Major League Baseball's annual rite of passage, Spring Training, SmartPower this month announced that a key teammate from the past few seasons has been acquired by the Yale University Office of Sustainability.
Sources close to Yale have indicated that Keri Enright, until recently the Connecticut Director for SmartPower, will assist the University and their efforts to maximize energy efficiency across the campus as well as utilize an increasing amount of clean energy. It is well-known that Yale has become a national leader among universities to realize a sustainable campus and lower its overall carbon footprint. Last year, the University announced that it was purchasing 10,000,000 kilowatt hours of clean energy from Sterling Planet, one of Connecticut's leading providers of clean energy.
The mantra of "Let's Make More!" has been heard consistently across Connecticut over the past two and a half years as Keri has promoted clean energy and the SmartPower 20% by 2010sm campaign and we are confident that the saying will now take on special significance at Yale.
The entire SmartPower community wishes Keri all the best in her new position and with her new responsibilities.
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