The Best Ad for Clean Energy Wasn't an Ad
How a request for print ads turned into a first-of-its-kind renewable energy partnership between a utility company and a commuter rail line.
My Role
Creative Direction | Copywriting | Strategy |
The Problem
The client wanted a print ad.
The audience wanted proof.
NIPSCO, a Chicago-area utility client, was committed to green energy, but few knew about it. The brief was straightforward: create print ads promoting their environmental efforts. But another utility running ads about going green wasn't going to change anyone's mind. People are skeptical of energy companies claiming to care about the planet. NIPSCO didn't need another ad. They needed proof.
The Approach
Don't just advertise clean energy.
Demonstrate it.
There was no ready-made story to tell. So I pitched one we could build from scratch: partner with the local commuter South Shore Line, power the electric trains with NIPSCO's renewable energy, and use the train itself as the media channel.
We brokered the partnership between NIPSCO and the rail line, standing up a program that had never existed before. A print ad says "we care about clean energy." A train powered by clean energy says it without saying anything.
The Work
Same goal.
New voice.
After getting leadership buy-in, I collaborated with designers to build brand guidelines. We then worked with internal teams and agency partners to apply the new voice and brand to every touchpoint.
While the old voice was transactional, the new voice and messaging spoke to parents like people and with empathy. We still drove conversion, but we also built brand loyalty by starting with connection and trust.
Comprehensive brand guidelines painted a clear picture of our audience, their needs, and how we can meet them.
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Web copy went from hard-sell to benefit-driven. During the pandemic, our model and our messaging focused on helping parents navigate learning from home.
With the new brand in place, we developed a series of 30-sec spots to promote online camps and classes.
The Result
Varsity Tutors went from <19% brand awareness to becoming the #1 live online tutoring platform in the U.S.
Content consistency improved across every channel. Teams that used to wing it now had a shared language and a shared standard.
But the result I’m most proud of is the cultural shift. The company moved from a mindset of sales-first to customer-first. People started asking, “How does this help a student learn?” before they asked, “Will this convert?”
The Best Ad for Clean Energy Wasn't an Ad
How a request for print ads turned into a first-of-its-kind renewable energy partnership between a utility company and a commuter rail line.
My Role
Creative Direction | Copywriting | Strategy |