Our Work

Leading the charge for Green Energy Ownership – Ripple Energy

SETTING THE SCENE:

Ripple Energy is a leading clean energy ownership platform, enabling people to part own large scale wind farms and solar parks. The result? Low cost, green electricity supplied to their home or business via the grid, by its utility partners. An affordable and simple way to reduce one’s carbon footprint in the long term, whilst also helping to stabilise and lower monthly energy costs.

THE CHALLENGE:

How do you communicate a first-of-its-kind but complex offering to media who are focused on short-term affordable savings for their readers in the cost-of-living crisis?

THE RIPPLE EFFECT:

Our approach was two-fold…

1.   An engaging press office programme that educated the media, and in turn the public, on what Ripple Energy is, tapping into key trends and conversations and delivering regular news and features

2.    A brand campaign that created a bigger conversation around green energy ownership – taking the brand into the mainstream

Our press office programme inserted Ripple Energy into the ongoing energy conversation, linking the Ripple Energy offering to trending news stories such as the Ofgem price cap and winter energy crisis. For each, we showed the value of owning a wind farm or solar park alongside the huge bill savings.

We introduced Ripple Energy to a sceptical press by tapping into the cost-of-living conversation, the rising popularity of at-home solar and December’s destructive storms to gain cut through. Ensuring every piece of outreach demonstrated the growth and scale of the business, and how Ripple Energy is a key player in the green energy space. We placed personal finance case studies, such as “High winds and storms see owners of a wind turbine save over £500 on their energy bills in one month” with national, regional and consumer media utilising passionate members to show other customers how this could work for them.

Alongside this, we pitched interviews with female CEO Sarah Merrick in national publications such as City AM and The Guardian to announce their first solar project. With visible proof the green energy movement was gaining momentum, it piqued interest from publications such as the Financial Times who then saw Sarah as a credible industry expert and featured her commentary on the latest energy news.

GENERATION YES – A STRATEGIC CREATIVE CAMPAIGN:

To grow brand awareness and position Ripple Energy at the forefront of a bigger movement around green energy ownership, we had to drive debate and ownable conversation.

We challenged the stereotype that Britain is a nation of NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard) – the term used to describe residents who object to developments in their local area and instead showed that we’re a nation of YIMBYs – a growing group supporting green energy projects.

We launched a new initiative called Generation YES, calling on members of the public to say yes to renewable energy projects being developed and support more clean power. Those in favour of renewable energy projects could pledge their support via Ripple Energy’s website – adding their postcode to an interactive map showcasing the wave of support for renewables across the UK.

The initiative drew attention to the growing demand from consumers for real action to be taken against climate change and offer them a platform to be heard.

It was supported by research that tapped into the media and social conversation around NIMBYs and stoked debate around the divisive term. We found that people are less likely to be “NIMBYs” if a development near their home is “green” and were able to tell a much more positive story – getting Ripple Energy into mainstream media and on national news pages where the brand hadn’t been before and joining conversations outside of the energy and money saving space where the press office continued to deliver.

THE IMPACT:

Throughout 2023, we put Ripple Energy front and centre of the cluttered energy conversation, generating 74 pieces of coverage, including 1 live TV piece and 10 nationals including The Guardian, The Telegraph, Sky News and BBC News. Positioning Ripple Energy as an innovator in the green energy movement, we secured 8 interviews with its CEO Sarah Merrick, with publications including the Financial Times and City AM. Reach for the year exceeded 522M.

Over the course of a month, our Generation YES campaign drove mass brand awareness, securing 23 pieces of coverage across key national and regional publications including The Times, Metro, and Daily Express with a reach exceeding 338M. The campaign delivered coverage in national titles which have previously never featured Ripple Energy and added additional value by opening the door to conversations with influential energy and business editors who previously had doubted Ripple Energy’s share of voice and national impact.