Virginia Energy Sense
Virginia Energy Sense (VES) is the Commonwealth’s energy education program managed by the State Corporation Commission.
The challenge
Virginia set a goal to reduce electric energy consumption 10 percent below the 2006 level by 2022 and created the Virginia Energy Sense program. The goals of this statewide public awareness campaign are to help consumers make informed choices, increase awareness of options for conserving electricity, and enable consumers to reduce their energy consumption.
The approach
Madison+Main created a bold new multifaceted marketing and PR campaign that appealed to a wide range of Virginians and put more of an emphasis on digital media to maximize the campaign reach and most importantly, get Virginians to take small steps towards energy reduction. We created Jack, a wise-cracking power plug, who sounds remarkably similar to an Academy award-winning villain with the same first name. Jack achieved instant recognition, delighting everyone aged three to 93.
We expanded VES’s digital reach across the state, securing coverage and mention in high-impact media targets. In addition, we helped them strengthen existing partnerships and cultivated new ones to increase awareness of energy conservation as well as share the many ways that Virginians can easily and cost-effectively save energy in their homes, at work, or at school.
The results
In 2019, VES attended more than 17 large public events across the Commonwealth, resulting in 215,450 impressions of program material. We generated 5,829,275 paid and organic Facebook impressions and 5,467,374 impressions on Google Ad Networks. After designing and launching a new website to enhance the program’s online presence, their website had a month-over-month visitor increase of 38 percent, website page view growth of 18 percent, and a significant increase in mobile viewers — which accounted for more than 80 percent of total users and visits to the site. In addition to bringing their partner count to over 200 organizations, solidifying 13 new affinity partners, we developed and launched the program’s first-ever partner newsletter to create additional touchpoints to drive partner engagement. VES distributed their energy efficiency curriculum to more than 250 public and private school systems throughout the state, which accounts for 60 percent of total school districts in Virginia — delivering 14,000 copies of the energy-saving curriculum to third-grade students. We also secured $29,000 in added value broadcast spots through Cox and other media groups. Last but not least, we served 21,842 ads featuring VES “spokesplug”, Jack, generating more than 12,354,220 impressions in seven markets. It’s safe to say we put a lot of energy into helping our wonderful clients save energy in Virginia this year.
Virginia Energy Sense was awarded a Silver Telly Award for their “Kids vs. Parents” 30-second social video that Madison+Main created for them in 2019. They were also awarded a prestigious Bronze Telly Award for their 60-second social video entitled “Thanksgiving Jack” that features their ever so popular, wise-cracking “spokesplug” providing tips to lower your power bill during the holiday season. The Virginia Energy Sense campaign, over the last four years, has garnered Madison+Main more than one dozen local, regional, and national awards for the Jack campaign.
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