Bridging the Gap Between Brand and Performance

When it comes to tough categories, the Texas electricity market truly is the Wild West for advertisers. Customers searching for a home energy provider have the freedom to choose from dozens of utilities offering hundreds of plans, offers and incentives. With choice comes frustration – especially when brands crowd the space with samesy promotional campaigns devoid of humor, warmth or humanity. 

As the category leader, TXU Energy had the opportunity to break the mold. We did it by breaking the fourth wall, with a brand platform built around “The Conversation.” We identified an important insight: energy decisions are rarely made in a vacuum, but through dialogue between partners, neighbors, roommates and friends. 

We transformed TXU Energy’s longtime pitchman into a neighborly brand ambassador, bringing him off the stage and into people’s homes where real energy conversations happen – with a dash of magic to pique interest. And we seamlessly combined elements of brand and performance marketing under one campaign umbrella. The results were some of the highest-testing creative in the category’s history – and customer acquisitions that outperformed the market.

And because the Texas market is largely Hispanic with many primarily Spanish-speaking homes, we cast bilingual talent so that the Spanish audience saw the same work (with the same characters) as the English speaking audience.

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