Marketing & Media professional

David Fontana

People don’t normally think about their electric company unless the power is out. Utilities are taken for granted and just aren't that interesting to most consumers. The challenge was to connect with customers on an average day and have them get involved with their accounts.

As media AOR for PPL Electric Utilities' omni-channel efforts I managed the overarching campaigns focused on motivating consumers to sign up for state mandated savings programs and efforts aimed at maintaining positive brand health/image. Additionally I coordinated with PPL’s other creative agencies to maximize an overall presence and negotiate all contracts. Media included all traditional, digital, tactical, mobile, search, sports sponsorships and multicultural channels.

The programs executed exceeded PPL and state mandated goals.

Media Touchpoints

• DRTV to drive action to savings programs and Brand TV to maintain positive brand health scores
  
• Tactical print / print positioning for the business audience. Negotiated front page and business section strip positioning as inexpensive ways to generate action
  
• Used consumer segmentation data to reach cohorts in Online Video and Display
  
• Included Search to drive consumers to savings programs
  
• Included Hispanic efforts to reach the growing Hispanic population in the PPL trading area. Worked with Hispanic personalities in the area to record Radio and TV
• Negotiated all sports contracts - NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball, Minor League Baseball and Minor League Hockey
  

Tactical Efforts
Tactical efforts were ongoing and included:

• "Click for Cards” - A digitally based effort  supported by social media, shopping channels and TV. This program was designed to reward consumers to make account changes such as setting up online profiles, choosing autopay and trying electronic billing.  Not only did PPL wind up with a richer customer database, they saw long term cost savings from customer shifts to paperless and e-billing. 
  
• Weather Safety  -  A mobile based program that pushed out alerts based on individual zip code weather. The creative was completed to mirror  alerts from Accuweather iconography. Consumer actions drove people to sign up for "PPL Outage Alerts" which lowered call volume and costs in the call center.
  
• Paperless Billing - Used behavioral targeting to reach this eco-friendly target. Each sign-up resulted in significant savings for PPL.
• Charge Stations - Adding utility to an Out-of-Home effort.  Provided branded locations that served as business and community charging stations
  
• Local Business / Institutional  Efforts – Included all available forms of digital, email and print channels to reach out to these highly targeted segments