Elsparefonden - Recommend the A-pump

Insight into the installer’s daily life opened up the wholesaler’s door for Elsparefonden with “Recommend the A-pump”

The challenge
Circulation pumps consume approximately 10% of the electricity in an average household. But there is a huge difference in electricity consumption from pump to pump. Elsparefonden began providing energy labeling on pumps and wanted to get consumers to choose A-labeled pumps. But the most influential role in pump selection is that of the installer. That’s why it was important that the installer argue for A-labeled pumps even though they are a bit more expensive. But how to get this particular trade group to become interested in fighting for the environment and A-labeled pumps?

The strategy
Our research revealed that installers had to be coaxed into participation, and that the place they were most accessible was at the wholesaler’s, where they would visit daily to buy spare parts, grab a cup of coffee and chat with the others. On this basis, we chose to run the campaign “Recommend the A-pump” at the wholesalers’ shops. The pump competition was the central focus of the campaign, which took place three Mondays.

All wholesalers received a poster with “Five good reasons to recommend A pumps” and a campaign box for their counters. The box contained 100 small Ritter Sport chocolate bars with the Elsparefonden label on them and a challenge to take a contest card, answer the questions on it and enter to win a mobile phone. Everyone who filled out and submitted a contest card received a text message the following Monday challenging them to participate in the contest again. To motivate the wholesalers to publicize the campaign and send in filled-out contest cards, they could also participate in their own contest: if an installer from one of their stores won, they’d win a mobile phone themselves.

Results
Week by week, the campaign became more influential among installers:

• In the first week 446 installers participated
• In the second week that number dipped a bit to 390
• But by the third week the total number of participants had risen to 1,433 installers

Although it is still too early to evaluate the campaign’s effect on sales of A-labeled circulator pumps, we can safely say that the target group has become familiar with the campaign message.