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Has anyone out there heard of Alberta’s Office of the Utilities Consumer Advocate (UCA)?
When the Alberta government asked that question and got a 90% negative response, they knew they had to raise awareness of the government agency that represents consumers in the province’s complex, de-regulated energy industry.
“It was clear that the office was toiling away in darkness and that Albertans needed to know more about what it could do for them,” said Alberta Services Minister Heather Klimchuk.
The result was a rebranding and repositioning strategy for the agency that was created in 2003 when Alberta deregulated its utilities. The agency had previously never marketed itself to Albertans except at a basic, grassroots, face-to-face level.
As part of its rebranding, UCA launched its first ever TV spot in primetime earlier this week. Unlike the dry, factual tone of many government ads, the new UCA spot takes a more mainstream, humorous approach.
“We knew we had to go with something a bit edgier than usual to grab the attention of people of all ages,” said Klimchuk, explaining that the broad demographic for the campaign includes urban homeowners, rural farmers and small businesses.
The spot, from Calgary’s Wonder, features a booming-voiced plane passenger asking his apprehensive looking seat mate the cheeky question: “How are your outlets working?” After a rapid-fire barrage of energy facts, the spot ends with the tag line “You have a powerful voice. We are that voice,” and the UCA’s web address and phone number.
Christopher Heatherington, Wonder’s creative director, said it was a challenge finding the right approach to the rebranding campaign. Based on its research, Wonder “positioned the campaign from the perspective that UCA is serving the consumer even if the consumer doesn’t know he is being served.”
As a result, said Heatherington, the apprehensive passenger is an archetype of the unengaged consumer, while the big voiced man, like the UCA, provides information and answers.
In addition to the TV campaign, which will run until just before Christmas and again in the early New Year on the three major networks, the UCA has revamped its website and added a helpline for consumers.
UCA will also continue its face-to-face approach to consumers at trade fairs and other events.
