© Bord Gáis Energy

Presented by Nicky Doran, Head of Marketing

The Big SwitchAn integrated campaign

Bord Gáís Energy

Introduction

The opportunity

• The catalyst for our entry into the residential electricity market was the opening of the electricity and gas markets to competition

• This presented us with a choice between managing a decline in gas (as new entrants took market share) or grasping the opportunity for growth in a newly available market by developing a new product

• The decision to enter the residential electricity market was therefore strategic

Bord Gáís Energy

Introduction

The goal

• The goal was to become a significant long term player in the residential electricity market by having a large and diverse customer base, which we would supply from our soon to be available power station

• The market targeted consisted of 2 million residential homes, (1.6 million occupied) supplied by ESB Customer Supply

• The launch objective was to gain 250,000 customers in 4 years. This equated to around 16% of the available market and assumed another market entrant

Bord Gáís Energy

Introduction

The Challenge

• To enter a market with a new take on a product where there were high levels of satisfaction with both the incumbent supplier and the product

• The existing supplier• Well thought of• Was a safe pair of hands – experts in electricity

• The existing product• Worked, it did not go wrong, supply for most is consistent• Was not seen as highly priced for the job it does

Bord Gáis Energy

Research and analysis

-Desk research-Quantitative-Qualitative-Advertising focus groups

Bord Gáís Energy

Research and analysis

Desk research and analysis

• The residential sector was not the first area open to competition and Ireland is not the first country to open its energy markets to competition

• We could therefore draw on both our own experience in the business electricity market and international experience in energy. i.e. British Gas (10 years to fall below 50% share)

• We also looked to other utilities and services such as telecoms and banks and observed challengers making little headway against incumbents. i.e. eircom (reputed to still have a high proportion of landline)

Bord Gáís Energy

Research and analysis Quantitative research

• Conducted by tns mrbi early in 2008 amongst 590 respondents nationally spread with quota controls set on age, gender, region and socio-economic status

• Identified – Openness to switching gained from other markets

– A positive disposition towards Bord Gáis Energy

– Credibility as an electricity supplier

– Motivations to switch• price

– Barriers to switching• lack of knowledge/experience• perceived risks

– security of supply

– disturbance

– difficult process.

Bord Gáís Energy

Research and analysis Choosing a headline price

Percentage savings

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0-4% 5-9% 10-14% 15-19% 20%+

Very likely

The key outputs from the quantitative research on the level of discount required for switching to be considered are

• Low levels of interest (32% at 5-9%) at discounts lower than 10%

• A significant increase in the level of interest (70%) at discounts of 10-14%

• Diminishing returns from discounts of 15-19% and above.

Bord Gáis Energy

Robustness of planning

Bord Gáís Energy

Robustness of planning Project plans

• Commenced 12 months ahead of launch

• Early scoping by marketing but as a project it was multidisciplinary and required co-ordination and recruitment of sales, operations, IT, billing and regulatory resources

• Separate office formed to hot house project

• Full array of planning tools used by professional project managers, customer proposition led– Charter, scope, Gant charts, risk register, progress reports– Monthly steering groups– Weekly working meetings

Bord Gáís Energy

Robustness of planning Marketing plans

Core marketing

plan

Launch &PR plan

Web strategy plan

Acquisitionchannel plan

Media plan

Customer numbers model

Advertisingbrief

Weekly work in progress meetings across agencies, initiated and run by Bord Gáis Energy Marketing Team

Bord Gáís Energy

Robustness of planning Acquisition methods considered

Customer

TVDirect

Response

RadioDirect

Response

PressDirect

Response

Onlineadverts

Ownwebsite email

Bill insert

Direct mail Gas

Direct mail

Non Gas

Outboundcall

Inboundtransfer

Feet onstreet

ServiceEngineer

BTL Phone Person to Person

ShoppingCentrestands

TradeShowstands

New Housing

Affinity

Groups

EmployeesOwn

ATL

Registration

EmployeesBusiness

Customers

PhoneInbound

(IncInboundtransfer)

PhoneOutbound

Website email

Printed (filled in by

agent)

Printed(filledin by

customer

Valid application

Creditworthy

Acceptoffer

Meter Reading

(Optional)

Indirect Direct

SponsorshipPR Customer

TVDirect

Response

RadioDirect

Response

PressDirect

Response

Onlineadverts

Ownwebsite email

Bill insert

Direct mail Gas

Direct mail

Non Gas

Outboundcall

Inboundtransfer

Feet onstreet

ServiceEngineer

BTL Phone Person to Person

ShoppingCentrestands

TradeShowstands

New Housing

Affinity

Groups

EmployeesOwn

ATL

Registration

EmployeesBusiness

Customers

PhoneInbound

(IncInboundtransfer)

PhoneOutbound

Website email

Printed (filled in by

agent)

Printed(filledin by

customer

Valid application

Creditworthy

Acceptoffer

Meter Reading

(Optional)

Indirect Direct

Customer

TVDirect

Response

RadioDirect

Response

PressDirect

Response

Onlineadverts

Ownwebsite email

Bill insert

Direct mail Gas

Direct mail

Non Gas

Outboundcall

Inboundtransfer

Feet onstreet

ServiceEngineer

BTL Phone Person to Person

ShoppingCentrestands

TradeShowstands

New Housing

Affinity

Groups

EmployeesOwn

ATL

Registration

EmployeesBusiness

Customers

PhoneInbound

(IncInboundtransfer)

PhoneOutbound

Website email

Printed (filled in by

agent)

Printed(filledin by

customer

Valid application

Creditworthy

Acceptoffer

Meter Reading

(Optional)

Indirect Direct

SponsorshipPR

Bord Gáis Energy

Excellence in execution

Bord Gáís Energy

Excellence in execution Communication challenges

• Things we had to do– Educate

• The residential electricity market was open to competition• You can switch your electricity supplier• The gas company are selling electricity • You don’t have to be a gas customer

– Reassure• There will be no disruption to your supply• There will be no work needed on your home – same meter, same wires

– Make offer• You will get a minimum 10% discount• You will get extra discounts for Direct Debit and being a gas customer

– Enable• You need your ESB bill to switch • It is easy to switch• How to contact us – telephone and website

Bord Gáís Energy

Excellence in execution Advertising concepts focus groups

• 4 groups of varying age, social class, location and customer status

• Tested– Attitudes to switching services– Attitudes to electricity from Bord Gáis Energy

• Presented two advertising creative concepts using animatics– The Big Switch won out

• Campaignable concept with entertainment factor provided by the choice of the right presenter – Lucy Kennedy

• Need for conveying information more than entertaining

Bord Gáís Energy

Excellence in execution Marketing mix

• The launch and ongoing campaign utilised numerous sales and marketing channels to maximise reach.– Outdoor– TV– Radio– Online advertising– Online search– Bill insert– Inbound and outbound call centre

• There were also numerous support materials required for – Field sales– Customer service– Customer retention

Bord Gáís Energy

Excellence in execution Marketing communications

Bord Gáis Energy

Quantified results

Bord Gáís Energy

Quantified results World ranking

• Before– “Ranking 22nd in the 2007 rankings, and 14th in Europe, the Irish electricity retail market

has been slow to develop its level of competition in the residential sector since it opened in February 2005. ESB, the incumbent Electricity supplier, is still dominating.”World Energy Retail Market Ranking Fourth Edition - October 2008

• After– “it is fair to say, without doubt in my opinion, that yours was the most successful

campaign ever”. “no company has ever gained such a large proportion of the market in such a short time”.Dr Philip E Lewis, CEO and Founder, VaasaETT Global Energy Think Tank, Helsinki, April 2010