Consumer Education Activities

2005 Consumer Advertising and Education Campaign Overview

Consumer Survey Shows Positive Results

The 2004 national advertising campaign, which featured the Energy Guys, produced encouraging results, as measured by year-end interviews with homeowners conducted by Wirthlin Worldwide (now Harris Interactive). Consumers' recall of the Energy Guys commercials (68%) and favorability of propane (58) were at all time campaign highs. In addition, as seen in the chart below, the favorability gap between propane and electricity has narrowed significantly since March 2002. There were also increases in consumers' agreement with key campaign messages — propane is an energy source that is reliable, efficient, and a good value.

Metrics measuring consumer behavior were mixed. Interest in obtaining information about propane was flat year to year, and this measure has shown some volatility over past years. In contrast, consumer traffic on the website, usepropane.com, more than tripled in 2004, with more than 100,000 searches of the Find a Propane Retailer feature of the site.

2005 Homeowner Advertising and Outreach

A seasonal campaign will continue in 2005 with both national advertising and outreach messages focused on one key strategic attribute of propane—efficiency in spring to kick off the home buying/planning season, versatility in summer with outdoor living, and reliability in fall as consumers head into the winter. Media outreach efforts will pick up during non-advertising periods to continue spreading the message about the lasting value of propane throughout the year.

In addition to the national program, many states will be implementing their own Energy Guys campaigns utilizing state funds and PERC matching dollars in an effort to increase visibility of propane's benefits statewide and locally.

2005 Revs Up With the Daytona 500
The propane industry kicked off the 2005 television campaign on February 20 with a presence in the Daytona 500 on FOX. The campaign will continue with other NASCAR events on NBC as well as on cable networks including HGTV, The Weather Channel, and Country Music Television through May 15. Radio, online and print advertising in home-related special interest publications will round out the campaign aimed at people in rural areas buying, renovating, or building a home—those most likely to be making a home energy choice. See the campaign timeline for details.

New Energy Guys Commercials on the Horizon
The three successful television commercials from 2004óCold Turkey (water heating), Now You're Cooking (cook top) and Draft Dodger (whole house heating)ówill continue to run throughout the spring. Two new television ads are in the works and will utilize recent market information coming out of the Market Metrics Initiative. These new commercials will be produced later this spring.

New print and radio commercials are also being developed. The results of testing a new print concept using Propane throughout the house were very positive (see below) and the new ads will be available in March. All ads will be posted to the Online Ad Kit as they become available. (http://members.propanecouncil.org/).

The print ads, one a cutaway of a new home and the other a blueprint floor plan, are done in the style of the home plan magazines and will run in publications such as House Beautiful Home Building, Best Selling Home Plans, New Country Homes, and Family Style Home Plans. These home plan publications are shopping guides for consumers and builders who are planning and building homes.

In addition, three new "Ask Propane" radio commercials are in the works and will air nationally in April.