In California, where an energy bill can be higher than a mortgage payment, utility providers don’t get much love. To improve brand likeability, trust and product engagement, PG&E would need to do something compelling to get customers’ attention.

Not an easy task considering that unless they’re paying bills, average Americans only think about their utility provider 7 minutes a year.

To break through customer skepticism and ambivalence, we tapped into something Californians do love. Reality TV.

Energy House Calls, led by celebrity host Carmen De La Paz, made “house calls” to show real Californians how to take on projects big and small to save energy and money. By engaging customers through reality TV, a medium they enjoyed, Energy House Calls made energy efficiency seem fun, easy and worthwhile.

In just three months, site surveys indicated Energy House Calls vastly improved likeability and brand awareness by generating over 38MM impressions and 133k engagements across a four-region test market with 2.8MM people and 962k residential accounts.

• 91% improvement in brand perception

• 76-95% intent to take part in a PG&E program

• 100% positive live engagements

• Cinema advertising changed 1 in 2 people's perceptions of PG&E

• 94% intent to share Energy House Calls content

• Changed 1 in 2 people's perceptions of PG&E, per a post-cinema climate survey

• NBC Fresno affiliate KSEE24 picked up Energy House Calls for their Saturday program Your Green Life, indicating content relevance

• Four families featured in episodes saved an average of 6.4% on electric and 13.6% on gas over the seven months following filming

• Based on positive results, both with customers and internally, PG&E is reviewing how to roll out Energy House Calls to more regions

Based on specific climates and demographics of the four test markets, we selected families with relatable energy challenges to film six episodes.

Then, we made a localized media buy–that meant if a customer lived in Fresno, local Energy House Calls marketing would feature a Fresno family.

Starting on August 3, 2012, Energy House Calls was promoted via YouTube, Hulu, Specific, Facebook, About, Video On Demand, Twitter, Pinterest, Bing, Google, interactive retail store displays, cable TV and cinema advertising, a San Francisco 49ers football sponsorship, pge.com and an interactive mobile tour.

All media channels directed customers to watch episodes at EnergyHouseCalls.com, the content hub and conduit to PG&E program signups. They could also watch episodes on NBC affiliate KSEE24’s Your Green Life.

Energy House Calls and PG&E social platforms linked to one another to promote content and corresponding platforms, allowing for locally relevant conversations and sharing to flourish organically.