Make the Switch Campaign

Background

Ecobility, a UAE based energy consulting firm, launched the Make the Switch Campaign to increase awareness and promote the benefits of energy conservation and efficiency. With the sponsorship of Nakheel, they introduced and subsidized a new brand of energy saving bulbs called “ILLUME."

Objectives

• Educate people in the UAE about the benefits of sustainability and the dangers of energy wastage and global warming.
• Introduce a new light bulb brand
• Sell 1,000,000 price subsidized bulbs

Challenge

One of the main challenges was to educate and engage an audience that is not particularly "eco-minded," without sounding overly commercial.

Approach

Flip positioned energy-saving as cool and hip by developing a visually appealing website which offers clear and concise information about the problem and the possible solution, using  language that directly involves the users. The site incorporates many useful tools which demonstrate the benefits of engergy saving to the consumer.

Execution

www.maketheswitch.ae

The website's innovative design adapts the look and feel of the actual lightbulb packaging to establish the connection between the channel and the product. A flash spotlight on the homepage begins the user journey with a background on  global warming and consumers' roles.

The CMS driven site is packed with unique tools which show the environmental benefits as well as monetary savings of switching to engergy efficient lightbulbs. A progress meter showing the number of bulbs sold and positive impact of it on the UAE and the planet accompanies the visitors globally on the site . The  “light bulb factory” flash tool compares the lighting color and shade of  energy saving bulbs with regular incandescent bulbs to dispel the common misconception that energy saving bulbs come only in bright white lighting color. A flash powered “savings calculator” shows visitors how much energy they will save and the value of it in UAE dirhams.  These tools can be downloaded from the site enabling people to use them directly from their desktop without needing to go to the site.

The website is accompanied by tools to promote it externally, such as a “Make the Switch” badge which bloggers and website owners can embed externally on the site, as well as a facebook application which allows users to feature the progress meter on their profile / wall.

Also, the website provides corporate channels to buy the bulbs in bulk as well as  a “hall of fame” section which showcases these companies who have "made the switch."

Result

• Over 135,000 bulbs were sold in the first 3 months after the launch.
• The website received around 8000 unique visitors with an average time of 3 minutes per user. 5% of the total visitors used the contact form (300 contact enquiries and 25 corporate bulk purchase requests were registered).
• The Facebook application pushed around 570 visitors to the site in just a few weeks.
• The website appears on the first page of google.com search results, and as a top result on google.ae search for term “Make the switch."

Awards

The Make the Switch site has received many honors:

• Gold “non-profit website,”  Summit International Awards 2009
• Silver “best idea never produced,”  Summit International Awards 2009
• Bronze Dubai Lynx award for 2009
• Bronze “consumer image website,” Summit International Awards 2009