The Brief

In Australia, due to rapidly rising prices, Energy Companies have now become the most hated service industry in the country. Even below banks. And as a result, the entire industry has been trying to justify their prices and pacify the public by carefully explaining how the industry works. But instead, millions of dollars worth of media is being completely ignored. Because the truth is, people find the energy discussion frustrating, complicated and boring. Origin Energy, as Australia’s largest energy provider, need more than anyone else to unlock this conversation. We needed a new way to break the communication deadlock.

Creative Execution

The Fantale wrapper ritual is so part of Australian culture that the Australian public found themselves engaging with Origin, before their natural cynicism came into play. And as a result they were willing to engage with Origin, perhaps for the first time, to discuss real energy issues, as opposed to just complaining about their bill. It elevated Origin from being just a ‘hated energy bill’ to energy provider and educator. And finally, the tone and generosity of using Fantales as a vehicle was appreciated - making a company once perceived as bland and boring, as playful and innovative.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

For 80+ years, Australians have been raised on the ritual of chewing Fantale chocolates, while reading their wrapper to learn entertaining movie trivia. So much so it’s almost a reflex. We adapted this ritual to become our communication breakthrough – by creating Origin EnergyTales. Energy topics normally considered too complex and boring, were explained in a way people not only understood, but actually enjoyed. At the end of each tale, #knowledgeispower was placed to invite people online to become part of the emerging energy conversation. Our initial goal for the project was Origin’s positive social sentiment scores to lift by 10%.

Results

The newly created EnergyTale ritual succeeded where other methods failed, completely bypassing people’s mental barriers. In total, 9 million EnergyTales were read by the Australian public. 38% of people who read an energy tale shared it. While 35% claimed they learnt something new.11% of readers engaged with Origin in a new energy conversation. And perhaps most remarkably, social sentiment for Origin went from only 4% positive to 52%. With Origin EnergyTales, a national chocolate ritual has now become a national energy conversation.