NORTH AMERICAN POWER

Power for Change

Retail energy supplier North American Power had grown fast thanks to a favorable commodities market and unique network marketing opportunity. Fast forward to a more challenging regulatory and pricing environment, and the company needed to ditch its’ past multi-level marketing reputation, and compete for customers on a platform beyond low rates.

mood board

Mood board

Approach

By filtering current customer files against desired profitability metrics, we were able to submit a subset of customers for demo/psychographic profiling. These details helped visualize North American Power’s core customer target; an audience for whom we could then construct a believable, compelling and differentiated brand value proposition.

While focus groups and customer studies concluded that no offer trumped price, there was a secondary desire to cut through the mystery of each month’s utility bill with some form of personalized, usage-based meter – infusing sensibility when comparing one month to another.

mission statement

Mission statement

Branding

After arriving at a new value proposition centered around ‘making it easy to be smarter about how your home uses energy,’ we crafted a friendly visual tool kit for the brand, with a mix of colorful iconography and infographic treatments to help tell our story in a simple, memorable way.

brand book styleguide

Brand book collage

Paul helped North American Power grow customer count by 17%.

brand book styleguide

Brand style guide

sample messaging

Sample messaging

pins

Flair

brand illustration

Sample spot illustration

illustration style

Illustration style

sample out-of-home messaging

Out-of-home marketing message

Living up to the brand promise meant developing a smart, simple tool that could dissect suspected home energy use based on user feedback and algorithms.

Enter Understandabill, a monthly e-report that offers customers a greater deal of transparency into their home’s energy usage.

product branding, logo design

Understandabill branding

product collateral design

Understandabill inserts

understandabill customer survey

User survey

Digital Presence

Some early mood and aesthetic boards for the new website explored the concept of simplifying the entire home energy shopping experience to just a few commands and transforming the site into an app-like dashboard to solidify the connection between rate + usage = cost; a cornerstone equation in bringing the new brand to life.

site map

Brand musings

site design process evolution

Website content evolution

While unique, the proposed simplified site structure didn't offer enough room for SEO content and the appropriate level of storytelling. Longer-form pages were generated in the next round of design, with a focus on bringing the value prop equation to life through visual interaction and a more personal tone.

cms site design

CMS website exploration

responsive website design

Website design

Marketing Communications

The brand is primarily marketed via direct mail, with growing support across digital channels. The need for versatility and inventiveness is constant; to maintain open rates and keep offers fresh, while still holding true to brand construct.

Early on, a test was even done licensing characters from The Jetsons to create interest and position the new brand an easy progressive choice for smart households of the future.

direct mail rotation samples

Direct marketing campaigns

social media

Social media

the jetsons campaign

Campaign starring "The Jetsons"

email design campaigns

Email campaigns

bill shock tv commercial campaign

The new brand’s clever playfulness even came to life on TV in 2017 with the debut of “Bill Shock,” a freewheeling and gloriously unaware character who annoys a married couple with his tactless antics. (Note: Brand and creative work done while Creative Director, North American Power. “Bill Shock” Concept and Creative: North American Power team. Agency Co-Credit: milk* SoNo. Film & Production: Alkemy-X).

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