FirstEnergy
B2C , Energy & Sustainability
The COVID-19 pandemic left more people than ever unable to pay their utility bills. Energy provider FirstEnergy knew many of their customers were struggling. We knew they needed an innovative media strategy to help inform customers about all of the payment programs available during these challenging times. So FirstEnergy hired us to help make it happen.
We recognized that customers have different needs based on their financial situations, and many were in arrears for the first time. FirstEnergy needed a media strategy that would reach a lot of people, in several markets, quickly and effectively. But it wasn’t as simple as that. Perfect media placement would be key.
More people were spending more time at home, so to ensure maximum impact, we needed to shift the way we placed media. With straightforward and supportive messaging, we rolled out tactics on several social media channels and streaming services, including podcasts, digital radio, OTT and CTV. We also mixed in some traditional placements such as billboards, as more people began to take road trips and chose cars as their primary means of transportation.
These media placements generated some really powerful results. The campaign delivered more than 300 million impressions, and its performance was, in a word, unprecedented. The campaign led to significant engagement on paid search with a click-through rate of 38.89% (more than 10X the benchmark) and a cost per click of just four cents. This delivered 71% of traffic to the assistance program’s webpage. Once on the page, customer engagement was significant. Visitors had a low bounce rate (22.58%) and long sessions (161 seconds). But hey, that’s just what friendship is all about. Because friends always make sure friends can keep the lights on, especially in a global pandemic.
The pandemic left a lot of people unable to pay their utility bills—and many of them were experiencing this for the first time. We wanted to let them know that FirstEnergy has many ways to help. So we set out to inform customers about all of the payment programs available during these challenging times by studying where they were getting their media and creating messaging they better connected with on those channels.
Key Brand as Friend® drivers:
Hey! Our name is pronounced Mōw-rrr, like this thing I’m pushing.