2013 Silver Public Sector

Client Scottish Government EAP

How did the campaign make a difference? Making a virtue of an unseasonal message with a 'snowman on the beach' overcame cynicism, self-exclusion and low confidence among the target audience. This campaign reversed declining response rates with over 9,000 enquiries (4.4% response rate versus 3% target) and 1,617 qualifying households: an average fuel cost saving of £669 and 2.9 tonnes of CO2 emission savings per household annually.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? The Energy Assistance Package (EAP) is one of the Scottish Government's flagship schemes for tackling fuel poverty. EAP provides free central heating, boiler or insulation installation to those who meet a very detailed set of checks and inspection criteria. The core fuel poverty audience have proved immune to past marketing, with many schemes and services having been promoted by Home Energy Scotland, the Energy Savings Trust (Scotland) and energy suppliers. The net effect is most people predisposed to seek assistance have already done so, leaving a disadvantaged core in desperate need but stubbornly immune to marketing. EAP response rates have almost halved since inception (6% in 2009 to 3.2% in 2011). The first step was to re-profile the targeting model based on: age/presence of children; housing tenure; property type; benefits and income profile; and 'Lookalike' profiling of past EAP qualifiers. A core prospect pool was identified of the 210,000 most-in-need households. But the biggest challenges were a series of deeply entrenched barriers.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? The audience were wary of those 'trying to sell you something' and were untrusting, so this programme used official-looking mail, leading with Scottish Government/Natural Scotland branding. The audience also believed that offers are usually too good to be true, so straightforward language was used, avoiding hyperbole. Self-exclusion was tackled with an inclusive/exclusive tick-box device and by citing the number of households already assisted, plus the fullest range of reply options for easy response. Conventional wisdom held that autumn/winter was the optimal campaigning period. But in 2012 the ambition was to implement installations in advance of winter. So the 'Snowman on the beach' creative allied to the message 'Make your winter feel like summer'.

Results The 9,264 responses equated to a 4.4% response rate: a 47% rise on the 3% target. Most importantly, 1,617 households passed the full eligibility criteria for EAP assistance. The remaining enquirers benefitted from advice on energy efficiency and access to other schemes. The Scottish Government estimates average annual savings at £669 per household (or £1,081,773 across all 1,617). It's a massive amount to people for whom every penny matters.