City of Salem, Oregon Energy Efficiency Public Awareness Campaign

In 2010, Staples Marketing Communications was awarded a contract by the City of Salem, Oregon to develop a marketing plan, campaign name and marketing materials to drive residents and businesses in the Salem community to energy efficiency programs offered by Salem Electric, Portland General Electric (PGE) and the Energy Trust of Oregon. 

Situation

• Develop marketing plan and materials highlighting the benefits of energy efficiency and encourage Salem’s residents to access existing energy saving programs/projects in their homes and businesses.
• Increase access to tools/resources for residents and businesses to improve energy efficiency
• Generate excitement and awareness for sustainability initiatives community-wide and begin to brand Salem as an energy efficient capital city. www.takechargesalem.com.

Solution

• Identify opportunities for saving energy. We worked with the two local utilities and the Energy Trust of Oregon to determine opportunities for improvement.
• Define the campaign focus and outline key elements. We further refined the campaign focus to determine what tools would be most effective in conveying the energy efficiency message. 
• Gather information about existing energy programs/initiatives. We coordinated with PGE, Salem Electric and the Energy Trust of Oregon as well as other community based organizations, colleges and universities to determine the spectrum of energy efficiency, green and conservation programs that were currently being offered.
• Develop key messages and actions for campaign. We produced several campaign names, taglines and logos as well as tip sheets, web site concepts, interactive tools and marketing recommendations for distributing the City’s energy efficiency message. 
• Recommend ways to measure progress. We developed an annual report template to assist the City of Salem in reporting campaign progress to key thought leaders and constituents.

Results

The City of Salem was provided with a host of outreach strategies and marketing materials to help convey the benefits of energy efficiency to its residents and businesses.