British Gas Swimming
British Gas
The Brief
British Gas was finding it harder and harder to retain its customers: most of the 12m plus households it supplied with gas and electricity had a negative view of the company. Carat's challenge was to deliver the utility sector's best Net Promoter Score (NPS) - a measure of customers' willingness to recommend a brand - and British Gas was languishing in third place.
The Solution
For nine out of 10 consumers, perceptions of British Gas were based on experience. High bills, broken boilers and call centres were driving customers away. Carat's insight was to create real, positive customer experiences to balance the negatives and drive up NPS.
We convinced British Gas to take £15m out of its brand advertising budget and invest in something new and untested: the largest, longest and most-extensive association with swimming ever in the UK.
Swimming would reach Alpha Mums and Weekend Dads: 2m household decision makers who were currently negative about British Gas.
Swimming had scale: it's Britain's most-popular participation sport.
Swimming would appeal: 50% of British Gas customers already swam.
Swimming was a natural fit: British Gas could help pools threatened with closure cut their single biggest cost - the energy bill.
Carat ensured British Gas owned the sport from paddling pool to podium:
It became Principal Partner of British Swimming, the ASA, Scottish Swimming and Swim Wales for six years.
It launched British Gas FREE Family Swim campaign, giving away 300,000 swims.
Created British Gas Pools 4 Schools programme, providing temporary swimming facilities for disadvantaged communities and teaching 10,000 non-swimmers to swim.
Sponsored the annual Great Swim series and the resulting four one-hour TV shows on C4 getting 10,000 people swimming in open water.
Sponsored the inaugural Duel in the Pool, pitting the stars of European and American swimming against each other. Broadcast live on the BBC, it attracted 1.3m viewers.
Recruited ambassadors such as Rebecca Adlington and Duncan Goodhew to build media profile for the sport.
Created the British Gas Business Energy Audit to cut the energy bills of community pools by at least 10%.
The Results
"Carat took this brief head on, creating a unique and innovative response grounded in a clear insight about what affected customer perceptions." Pamela Brown, Brand Experience Manager, British Gas
Prompted awareness hit 22% for customers and 18% for non-customers, 180% ahead of target.
Customers who took a free swim were 65% more positive about British Gas. Net Promoter Scores for customers aware of the campaign were an incredible 10 points higher than those unaware and their brand commitment grew 15%.
The number of Detractors shrank from 35% to 28% of all customers (That's 700,000 additional happy households!).
In year one, we have already achieved our long-term goal: British Gas now has the highest NPS of any energy supplier.
By making the largest strategy shift in Utility sector history, Carat has transformed consumer attitudes to British Gas.