HEATKEEPER - Turning an energy-saving product into a national news story
SHIFT created National Radiator Day to raise awareness of HEATKEEPER's energy-saving radiator panels. Combining creative PR, consumer research and national media relations, the campaign generated widespread coverage and helped deliver a 46% increase in sales the following month.
The challenge
SHIFT was asked to create a newsworthy media campaign that captured the imagination of the UK public, raise the profile of HEATKEEPER panels as an inexpensive energy saving product, and create a platform on which to increase online sales.
The project
HEATKEEPER Energy Saving Radiator Panels are an inexpensive energy saving product, which are accredited by the Energy Saving Trust.
Whilst they can save homeowners up to 20% on energy bills, they haven’t traditionally generated the same level of media interest or consumer awareness associated with products within the food, drink or fashion sectors. A campaign that created debate, generated coverage and increased sales was required.
SHIFT devised and launched National Radiator Day – an awareness day that encouraged homeowners to think about how they could get more from their overlooked and under-appreciated radiators. A cartoon character named Ronnie the Radiator was created to head up the campaign and seven individual illustrations were created to visually support Ronnie’s top tips for homeowners to get the most out of their radiators. The illustrations were used on a national homeowners’ checklist and throughout all PR and marketing activity.
We also commissioned an ICM poll that revealed the heating habits of UK homeowners, the findings of which were used to prepare 13 individual stories at regional and national level.
The results
Not only did the campaign generate significant coverage across regional, trade and national media but it also created debate on Twitter, where news of the awareness day and Ronnie’s top tips reached over 40,000 accounts via over 100 Tweets. In total, media coverage of the campaign had a combined circulation of almost one million and engaged key influencers from the BBC including the organisation’s ‘favourite property expert’, Henry Pryor.
One of HEATKEEPER’s main yardsticks for evaluating the impact of National Radiator Day on its business has been sales from www.heatkeeper.co.uk. This scored a highly impressive gain of 46% in the month of October (the month following National Radiator Day on the 1st October) compared with with previous month.
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Whether you're looking to build your reputation, communicate a complex story or strengthen your brand, we'd welcome a conversation about how SHIFT can help.