Third party promotion of CFLs in the conditions of the lighting market in the Czech Republic

Jan König, SEVEn, The Energy Efficiency Center, o.p.s., Czech Republic

Keywords

third-party promotion, energy efficiency, efficient lighting, advertising, market barriers, communication campaign, public relation, school, luminaire design, CFL, manufacturers, retailers, ELI – Efficient Lighting Initiative, SEVEn, IFC, GEF

Abstract

URL: http://www.efficientlighting.net

How can we best disseminate energy efficient lighting technologies out to the users? Many approaches have been used throughout the world both by manufacturers and energy efficiency propagators. There is no best single universal approach, which could be adopted regardless of specifics of each country.

Many, even well developed, countries benefited from running third-party promotions to supplement manufacturers’ own campaigns. The lighting market in the Czech Republic is no exception and the paper is based on the experience from a two-year program – ELI, which aims to accelerate the market penetration of energy-efficient lighting technologies and to introduce a unifying logo for quality products. The paper describes the preparation of the overall marketing strategy tailored for local conditions, among others characterized by low sensitivity to environmental issues. The development of this strategy involved detailed market assessment including evaluation of consumer awareness, potential cooperation with all stakeholders, analysis of previous mass communications about efficient lighting and evaluation of the effectiveness of individual available approaches.

The market assessment resulted in a communication strategy towards consumers using media advertising and complex PR activities, and a strategy towards other stakeholders – mainly manufacturers and retailers. The content of the communication towards consumers is kept simple with emphasis on the trustworthiness of the message. Involvement of manufacturers aims at their follow-up communication and execution of hard-selling activities leading towards higher sales. The non-brand character of the campaign helps to interconnect the advertising with point of sales. The strategy includes basic retailer education and cooperation with luminaire manufacturers.

The ELI program for residential sector in the Czech Republic is one of the first nationwide promotional program in the Central and Eastern Europe and probably the most complex one. Thanks to its extent, complexity and strategic approach it succeeded in high manufacturers’ involvement and close cooperation of almost all stakeholders.