National Grid

How one authentic video shoot charged Up(state) New York’s perception of electric vehicles.

B2C , Cars & Trucks , Energy & Sustainability

Advertising // Content // Data & Analytics // Digital // Media Planning & Buying // Performance Marketing // Research // Social Media // Strategy & Planning

Despite the buzz around electric vehicles, many Upstate New Yorkers were viewing them as the vegetarians of the road—an environmental lifestyle that just couldn’t be for them. The reality though is electric vehicles (EVs) are way more than environmentally friendly. They’re affordable, reliable and, most of all, really fun to drive. So, National Grid partnered with us to knock down EV misconceptions and let Upstate New Yorkers know EVs are actually for everyone.

the great escape sizzle final

Research? We thought you said road trip…

With the COVID-19 pandemic, people were looking for ways to travel responsibly. And with fewer people taking to the skies, this was the perfect time to hit the road in an electric vehicle. Oh, and the perfect time to throw some drones in the air for a bird’s-eye view of the natural beauty New York has to offer.

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So we loaded up our electric Nissan Leaf, grabbed our camera equipment and set out to capture an adventure through New York’s most popular destinations. And whoa! The places we did go. From sandy beaches to rolling hills, we traversed Upstate New York, recharging at some of the hundreds of charging stations located across New York state.

mower map

The creative that drove it home—and everywhere else.

We captured our road trip through video and still photography, creating short vignettes to share on social. Then, we built on the road trip theme with powerful digital, email and direct-mail tactics driving to websites that made it easy for National Grid customers to find the right vehicle and take advantage of incentives.

Sunset Bay Beach

More traffic (the good kind).

Together, we proved that taking a road trip further is more than possible in an electric vehicle—it’s pragmatic. And the results were as stunning as the ride.

On social media, we achieved more than three million impressions in just five months, and cost per click fell to one fifth of the industry benchmark. On Facebook, our road trip ads saw click-through rates three times the industry average. Educational Twitter videos hit rates seven times the industry benchmark, and programmatic ads overall earned an average click-through rate of 0.79%—that’s eight times the average benchmark.

7,000 view-through visits

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The relevant road trip theme was key to our creative success. It blew away benchmarks with 10 times the average click-through rate and generated more than 7,000 view-through visits. Overall, the campaign increased web sessions by 275% compared to the same period the year before. No, we didn’t invent the phrase “road to success”—but we’ve certainly driven on it!

We turn brands into friends.

Through taking a real road trip in an electric vehicle and documenting it along the way, Mower was able to create an authentic story for National Grid that consumers related to. So much so that the consistent pipeline of content increased web sessions by 275% compared to the same period the year before.

Key Brand as Friend® drivers:

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Lufthansa Group

Hey! Our name is pronounced Mōw-rrr, like this thing I’m pushing.

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