American GreenFuels
Introduction
The energy industry is constantly changing and today, there are more ways than ever to make green choices to reduce your environmental impact.
However, not all oil customers know that they can switch to using biodiesel without any upgrades or changes to their oil burner and immediately save greenhouse gas emissions by up to 93% as compared with the ultra low sulfur heating oil made from traditional fossil fuels.
To help spread the message, American GreenFuels teamed up with GEM and launched an omnichannel campaign including web development, digital advertising, social media, outdoor, radio, video production and public relations.
Branding
The GEM team began by branding American GreenFuels as a consumer-facing organization, and developed a set of core messages to create awareness, interest and intrigue from American GreenFuels’ target audience. In the spirit of educating the audience, the central brand positioning statement for the campaign became American GreenFuels’ flagship message: “You are what you heat.”
GEM worked with American GreenFuels to create an approved message so that Connecticut residents would come to understand exactly what American GreenFuels produced in the local market:
“Choose Bioheat® heating oil made with certified biodiesel produced by American GreenFuels. Biodiesel is a renewable, cleaner-burning alternative to diesel fuel that reduces dependence on foreign oil, creates jobs right here in Connecticut, and lowers the negative impact of carbon emissions on the environment.”
Creative Assets, Advertising and Public Relations
With the brand positioning statement, message and root design approved, GEM went to work producing American GreenFuels’ suite of creative assets that would serve in all traditional, digital and PR campaigns.
GEM started by creating a simple, mobile-responsive website that would serve as the central hub for consumers, where visitors could get their questions answered and contact their local retailers to make the switch. The site features “mythbusters” that would help consumers understand the truth about biodiesel and its positive benefits. The site also offered a directory of oil retailers that offered Bioheat® so consumers could make the switch.
A new website showcased the benefits of Choosing AGF BioDiesel Visit the site at AmericanGreenFuelsCT.com
To complement the digital and outdoor effort, GEM wrote radio scripts, a key press release, and interview talking points for the PR effort that was set to launch at the height of winter. Just after Thanksgiving, the entire consumer campaign went live on all channels.
Outcomes
American GreenFuels was featured in full-length interviews with the press on News 8’s Good Morning Connecticut, Hartford Magazine’s Clean Energy Players, CBS Radio, WRCH Radio, Biodiesel Magazine, and in 170 news sites yielding over 82 million impressions nationwide including Yahoo! Finance, ABC and NBC affiliates, Markets Insider, and numerous business journals.
In addition, American GreenFuels earned a visit from the incoming Lt. Governor, Susan Bysiewicz, with a subsequent press pickup by the New Haven Independent. Rounding out the print effort, American GreenFuels was featured in a full-page spread in the local Seasons Magazine.
On the digital front, American GreenFuels earned more than a million display impressions with a double-than-average click-through rate to its new website, with a special geo-targeted campaign around the Connecticut’s capital region to enforce the importance of clean energy to Connecticut’s governor, senate and house of representatives.
Social media reach scaled to over 20,000 targeted consumers over the first 30 days, with over 25% engaging meaningfully with American GreenFuels’s content. That helped site traffic double month-over-month through the cold winter months of January and February.
While digital ads targeted demographic and behavioral opportunities, a radio campaign put a broad cover across the State on WSHU public radio, WTIC, WRCH, and various news talk affiliates to carry American GreenFuels’s message to all oil consumers across the state.
Turning To The Future
American GreenFuels’ primary goal was to make Connecticut oil customers aware of American GreenFuels’ heating option so they can make a better, more informed choice about their heating oil. Now, with GEM’s partnership, American GreenFuels is ready for the next phase of growth as it continues to remind Connecticut residents: You are what you heat!