El Paso Electric
Community Solar Campaign

The Project

El Paso Electric is more than El Paso’s public power utility; they’re a proud community partner who’s always looking for ways to bring clean, reliable power to their customers. So when they connected with us to help promote their new Community Solar Program, we thought it was a bright idea! What makes Community Solar unique is that the cost of generating and distributing solar energy is shared among a large group of participants, while the solar facility itself is actually maintained and operated by El Paso Electric. Basically this means that residents who want to go solar can do so without the cost or maintenance of rooftop solar. It’s a win-win! To familiarize our community with the value proposition of a worry-free solar program, we embarked on a year-long project designed to help El Paso Electric’s Community Solar Program find its place in the sun.

The Approach

To begin, we explored existing general market research as it related to consumers' attitudes toward purchasing a home solar system. We quickly realized that our market was quite unique and that presenting a program like Community Solar, which is one-of-a-kind in many ways, would require a highly specialized and focused campaign in order for the program to be successful. This is where the real research began. In short order, we learned that though many
El Pasoans were definitely interested in solar energy, many felt that it was too expensive or were wary of the long-term contracts that can come from rooftop solar providers. While this could have presented a challenge, we found a unique opportunity to position our product as “A New Solar Option”.

We began with focus groups across many socioeconomic profiles throughout our community, zeroing in on our perfect target. Once that was clearly defined, we developed two unique creative directions and jumped back into testing. After several weeks and plenty of tweaks, our campaign was ready for execution. And while every project is important, the relevance of El Paso Electric’s Community Solar Program was not lost on us. The potential of this bold pilot program would help set the stage for the expansion of Community Solar in El Paso and beyond. This is the first program of its kind, and it had to be a hit. No pressure right?

After a year of work, and plenty of late nights, our Community Solar campaign finally stepped into the sunshine. Our omni-channel, multi-media approach positioned Community Solar everywhere our target might potentially see it.  

Our mix included a custom website, TV spots, radio spots, hyper-targeted digital ads, e-blasts, community events and even outdoor boards. The message was out that El Paso’s new solar option had arrived!   

The Result

Homework, hard work and a hopeful attitude paid off for us as each and every subscription block for Community Solar was fully booked within one month of launching our campaign. Things are looking sunny for Texas’ first and largest-to-date Community Solar Program. There is even currently a waiting list for those yet to subscribe but still interested, and
El Paso Electric has begun site visits for future Community Solar facilities. Our energy future is looking bright!