THE CHALLENGE: Utilities love acronyms. So it’s not surprising that energy conservation gets one: DSM (demand side management). The goal is to reduce the demand of both residential and commercial energy users. Looking to make a difference at the meter, Avista elicited the services of Coates Kokes.

THE APPROACH: Our early research revealed that many Avista customers wrongly believe they’ve either done all they can or it’s too expensive to make a difference. Worse yet, few customers knew Avista promoted energy efficiency or offered rebate incentives (so the goodwill there was to be had wasn’t being had). Like a door wide open with the heat on, it was clear what to do: increase participation, empower individuals and rally behind the idea of small actions leading to a large collective impact.

THE WORK: There was a lot to do. And to truly move the needle and change behavior, we all agreed this was a multi-year effort. We needed a handle to maintain continuity over time and across multiple approaches. We settled on “Every Little Bit” (when it comes to energy efficiency, every little bit counts). With that, our first year’s integrated campaign showed the many low and no-cost ways customers could save energy. We directed customers to our microsite, everylittlebit.com, a growing gateway to information and resources. Our second year focuses on why saving energy is so important. Year three will tackle the environmental-impact story.

THE RESULTS: Two studies were conducted—one before the campaign began and a second after our first year. It’s been a success. Believability and recall of the campaign are up. Awareness of weatherization and high-efficiency equipment incentives are up, as is participation. “Becoming more energy efficient” shows the greatest increase as a motivation for participation. Since the campaign and “House of Rebates” launched, rebate form downloads were up 18%. Because this is a multi-year campaign, stay tuned for more.