Breaking Barriers by Design: Collaborative Approach Delivers Significant Results

Teri Duncan, Portland Energy Conservation, Inc.
Paul Berkowitz, D&R International, Ltd.
Mike DelNegro, Applied Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Sara Van de Grift, Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp.

Keywords

Abstract

In spring of 2003, a national collaboration of utilities, retailers, manufacturers and energy efficiency organizations launched an ENERGY STAR promotion simultaneously across the country. This national partnership of 13 regions offered more than 18 million households a uniform promotion on ENERGY STAR qualified clothes washers. This bold, innovative approach resulted in a new model for program design that brought unlikely partners into a productive relationship. In effect, the effort drove partnerships among natural competitors in the market.

This paper shares the experiences from three regions implementing this unique promotion, the Northwest, Northeast and Midwest, as well as the DOE contractor who facilitated the process. While the promotion was designed collaboratively, each region adapted the message to address their specific market needs. The large-scale national scope of the promotion allowed for mass adoption of the coordinated ENERGY STAR clothes washer campaign at the retail level. The inclusion of multiple manufacturers not only enabled retailers to advertise multiple brands under one message – ENERGY STAR – but also made it easier for the utilities to drive the energy efficiency message. This was a cohesive endeavor for the common goal of energy savings, brand awareness and market transformation.