British Gas launches price drop campaign
British Gas has launched a press advertising campaign to tell customers it has cut its rates.
The energy supplier cut its prices by 7% yesterday and was the first big provider to pass on savings after a drop in wholesale prices last year.
The “price drop” press ads, which include a cover wrap on the London free sheet Metro as well as pres ads in other national papers follows British animated “Your World is your Home” campaign created by CHI and Partners.
The add claims that British Gas offers the “Cheapest standard gas and electricity at average consumption”.
The price cut could fuel a price war from the other big energy providers such as EDF Energy and Eon.
The campaign comes as marketing specialists Kyp reveal that almost one in three consumers (30.1%) are considering switching their gas or electricity supplier in the first six months of 2010 suggesting a lack of understanding and engagement is impacting customer loyalty in the utilities sector.
Additionally almost a third of consumers say they have not engaged in any communication with their service providers over the past six months.
Nicholas Miller, CEO of Kyp says: “Our research distinctly suggests that brands failing to differentiate themselves from rival providers are gambling with customer loyalty. It is evident that the current strategy of attracting customers with promotions but then not being open about their service is not going to benefit providers in the long term. The balance of focus between acquisition and retention needs to be addressed. Ultimately, if providers have a good product, communicate clearly and honestly, and deliver on promises, they will benefit through increased loyalty and consumers will benefit through better service.”
Meanwhile, AOL is debuting a new, fully-interactive 3D video advertising technology, called the Videocube, across its content and advertising portfolio. The technology has previously only been used in the US and Germany, and is being showcased as part of a campaign for British Gas running on AOL UK.
British Gas were also the first to adopt AOL’s targeted text links technology when it arrived in the UK last year. James Turnbull, head of online advertising at Centrica, says: “British Gas is constantly evaluating its advertising strategies, and loves pushing the boundaries of creativity to access, and appeal to, new audiences. AOL’s Videocube is a superbly creative innovation and when they suggested it we naturally couldn’t wait to try it out. We expect this technology to become mainstream and hugely effective, and are proud to be pioneering it in the UK.”
The campaign was booked through Steak Media and the technology designed by EyeWonder.
