Building support and reducing emissions for Drax

We worked with Drax to deliver a large-scale multi-channel media campaign as part of their wider marketing strategy which involved the ‘takeover’ of Westminster tube station in London, public transport in the Humber region, to help gain support for their Bioenergy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) plans which will create 10,000 new green jobs and deliver new skills in the UK in the 2020’s.

Drax Group is a renewable energy company engaged in renewable power generation, the production of sustainable biomass and the sale of renewable electricity to businesses. Enabling a zero carbon, lower cost energy future is Drax Group’s purpose and in 2019, it announced a world-leading ambition to be carbon negative by 2030, using Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) technology to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere at scale whilst delivering reliable renewable electricity.

As the partner CRM agency for Drax, we were tasked with planning and delivering a strategic campaign to build support for BECCS at Drax in key areas to reach key audiences using a variety of media alongside other Drax agency partners.

The Challenge

Following the success of initial campaigning – driving 1,000+ sign ups across stakeholder/Humber-based public audiences – we worked with strategic agency 5654 to build the campaign further in a phased approach, continuing to drive sign ups while also engaging with those who signed up during the first phase of the campaign to further build visible support across on and offline channels.

Our main objectives were to:

• Raise awareness of the campaign across our key geographies and target audiences
• Drive engagement and engage with / mobilise people who have signed up in our key stakeholder locations, mostly London
• Drive conversions (pledges of support) and rally those who have pledged their support across the Humber, the region that will directly benefit from the outcome of Drax’s BECCS plans.

Gaining Audience Insights

Using customer insight and research tools, we derived which audiences resonated with which media to identify two key areas & audience groups to target within the campaign.

STAKEHOLDER:

• Drive engagement (likes, shares, comments, link clicks) with target stakeholders.
• Engage with stakeholders who have signed up to the BECCS newsletter (incorporating sign ups into the existing Drax stakeholder newsletter).

The Humber specifically as part of the Zero Carbon Humber partnership:

• Continue to drive sign ups to support BECCS at Drax among Humber based audience asking Humber-located users to ‘pledge their support’ for the project.
• Rally users who have already pledged their support for the project via a local focused newsletter, ‘Friends of Drax’, and give clear calls to action which support our overall aim to deliver BECCS at Drax.

To engage with these audiences, we reused the best performing content from the previous phase of the campaign as part of the ‘always-on’ segment, which featured existing core messaging, i.e., around jobs. This was complemented by new content around a series of activations, for which we outlined a range of proof points and messaging for both audiences which are most likely to cut through:

• For content targeting national political stakeholders we focused messaging on themes such as energy security, net zero and the cost-of-living crisis / affordability – drawing on the critical role of BECCS at Drax in supporting the UK to achieve its climate goals.
• For content targeting Humber-based public audiences we primarily drew upon the cost-of-living crisis / affordability as well as energy security to highlight the positive impact that BECCS can have in getting to net zero affordably and in line with UK targets.

Identifying Media Opportunities

We used audience insights to help plan the strategy to plan a media rollout with the most effective placements, making the biggest impact and be the most effective. This included OOH including billboards, bus rears, 48 sheets and key placements on strategic locations for commuter routes in Selby, Hull, Grimsby and London.

We selected a range of on and offline media to place campaign material, to help drive further support and engagement for the BECCS plans and working with a partner design agency that were tasked with designing the artwork for the campaign.

Based on our insights and research with 5654, channels were selected to utilise ad placements including social media and drive economies of scale by a joined-up on and offline approach (paid and organic content across LinkedIn & Twitter to target our Stakeholder audience, and Facebook/Instagram to target individuals in our Humber audience), online display ads via carefully selected media outlets where we knew our target audience is likely to see them such as popular news sites, OOH advertising in Westminster tube station and across billboards and transport in the Humber, and targeted email campaigns or newsletters with personalised content.

Planning a Strategic Approach

By establishing a clear overview of our audience demographics and how to reach them, we were able to plan and implement a phased strategy for media placements throughout the year which we could be confident would have big impact, whilst adhering to Drax’s campaign budget.

Our cross-channel strategic approach enabled us to align with Drax’s goals to drive mobilization/advocacy whilst simultaneously building continuous awareness of the BECCS campaign across all stakeholder and consumer regions.

The Results

The Drax team were pleased with the initial impact of the campaign and featured the news of the London and Humber takeover within their internal and external newsletters.

The Westminster takeover was seen by over 1 million people over a 2-week period, taking 4 key placements throughout the station including the main entrance Megawall, ticket gateways, escalator fins and digital adshels within the station.

We also had wide coverage within the Humber region, which was seen by over 500,000 people, covering the following areas:

• 21 x Supersides on the East Yorkshire Motor Services fleet (Hull depot)
• 7 x Supersides on the Stagecoach East Midlands fleet (Hull depot)
• 12 x Supersides on the Arriva Yorkshire Fleet (Selby depot)
• 2 x 4 sheets at Hull train station

We also secured placements and coverage in regional press in titles such as The Yorkshire Post, Grimsby and Hull Telegraph giving us over 1m impressions over the campaign period. Check out more images of the London and Humber takeover below.

Need help planning a strategic ad campaign that will be seen by the right audience, with the right message, at the right time? Get in touch with our team to find our more about our marketing services across a range of media, as well as planning, consultancy and creative services.