By Matt Petersen and Jamil Khan, Global Green USA

Global Green USA's (GG USA) Go Green Power Campaign is a public outreach and education campaign which seeks to promote renewable energy generation and energy efficiency as a means to fight global climate change, reduce air pollution, and create a sustainable clean energy future.

The restructuring of California's electric industry provided a unique opportunity for consumers to flip the switch on dirty power and increase consumption of clean, green, renewable energy. One year after the huge California market was opened up to competition in March 1998, that opportunity is being realized in the community of Santa Monica.

The Santa Monica campaign targets three distinct types of power consumers: municipalities, businesses, and residential customers. A combination of paid media, earned media, and grassroots organizing techniques are employed to raise awareness about renewable energy and to encourage consumers to switch from dirty power.

The Santa Monica experience serves as a model for GG USA to roll out green power campaigns in targeted communities in California and, as electricity deregulation becomes more commonplace, throughout the United States.

The Model: Santa Monica, California

The Go Green Power Campaign first targeted the City of Santa Monica resulting in:

• The first switch of a city to green power in the United States. Santa Monica switched all their city facilities — 5 megawatts — on June 1, 1999.
• The switch of prominent businesses such as Sony Music and Lucky Brand Dungaress to improve consumer confidence in green power.
• An integrated paid media campaign consisting of cable television advertising, direct mail, an interactive website, and a toll-free information line.

The most effective way to begin a green power campaign is to identify a community leader to champion your efforts. Fortunately for GG USA, we had two such "champions" in our Go Green Power Campaign Chairman, Jordan Harris of Sony Music, and Santa Monica city staff. In addition to switching Sony's facilities, Jordan helped raise early funds for the campaign and conducted outreach to other high profile businesses. The leadership of Santa Monica staff such as Environmental and Public Works Director Craig Perkins and Conservation Coordinator Susan Munves made it possible for the City to make a change.

The next step is to approach and educate city staff about the important role that local governments can play in their community in regards to green power. Their leadership is crucial for educating local residents about green power and giving them the necessary confidence in renewable energy products to make the switch.

Working with local officials must begin as early as possible. Getting buy-in of city staff, winning approval of the city council, generating an RFP for green power, and executing the switch with a new power provider takes time. Even in an environmentally trailblazing city like Santa Monica, it took nearly a year from GG USA'a first outreach in the Fall of 1998 until the City's actual switch in June of 1999.

Once the City made a decision to switch, their leadership helped make GG USA's campaign a success. The press covered green power on no less than four occasions -- when the city began considering the switch, when the council voted to switch, when the RFP was awarded to Commonwealth Energy, and when the city power actually switched. Los Angeles network television stations KABC and KCAL broadcast extensive coverage of the June 1 switch.

In addition to earned media, the City provides numerous opportunities to leverage resources through city newsletters, local workshops, and public education. Future opportunities range from inserts in garbage utility bills to serving as an advocate to other cities that are considering switching.

Prominent local businesses are another key element of the GG USA's Go Green Power Campaign. Survey research in Santa Monica showed that the reliability of green power providers was of paramount concern to consumers. GG USA chose to combat this by recruiting local businesses to switch their facilities and publicizing those switches in the press and in the campaign's paid media.

Perhaps the biggest surprise to many is that businesses want to choose green power despite cost increases because such purchases are not only good for the environment, but are aligned with their corporate mission. Public opinion research has demonstrated to companies that environmentally-friendly products and policies are the "price of admission" for most consumers. Switching to green power is one of the easiest ways in which they can green their business. Many companies are also finding that, by making themselves more energy efficient, they can use green power and save money.

A great starting point is with already-existing organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce of Businesses for Social Responsibility. The Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce showed great interest in green power as a tie-in to their Sustainable Quality Awards for environmentally-friendly business. Storefront businesses who have switched let GG USA distribute literature in their stores, put up window displays, and even conduct lectures.

The Santa Monica campaign's paid media campaign integrated visual and written communications on television, in the mailbox, and on the Internet. Funds for the paid media were made available through the California Energy Commission and the Renewable Energy Marketing Board.

In order for the paid media to succeed, the message is kept simple and consistent: It's easy to switch to green power to help the environment, your community and future generations. A contrast between dirty power and green power is made using repetitive visual cues such as sunny windmills for green power and gray smokestacks for dirty power.

Cable television is an effective and efficient economic means of providing consumers with product information. A 30-second spot was produced by Bedford Falls Productions, a noted Los Angeles film company whose credits include the hit television show "Thirty-Something" and the 1999 Academy Award winning film for Best Picture, "Shakespeare in Love." Actress Donna Mills generously donated her time to provide the voice-over.

The spot runs in from June through early July on seven different networks over the Century Cable System: A&E, CNN, Lifetime, Nick @ Nite, Discovery, VH-1, and the Food Network. All seven have viewer profiles that match campaign goals. The buy is heavily weighted to prime time, but also includes days and weekends.

In concert with the cable buy, GG USA is sending out three direct mail pieces. By coordinating three pieces of direct mail with a three week cable television buy, the Go Green Power campaign efficiently delivers its message to the key "environmental" demographic willing to make the important switch.

While cable television advertising is an efficient broadcast medium for a small geographic area like Santa Monica, direct mail is the "narrow cast" equivalent. Using public opinion polls conducted by the City of Santa Monica and lists provided by other environmental groups, GG USA is able to send three pieces of direct mail to only the people whose profile fits the person identified as likely to switch (younger, predominantly women, and mainly Democrats), conserving the precious resources of the campaign.

Both the television advertising and direct mail include action items for their audiences. GG USA's toll-free information line and website address are displayed prominently. One of the mail pieces features a tear-off card to send in for more information.

In step with the power of the Internet to reach businesses and residents GG USA's website provides consumers with detailed green energy information and allows them to access their local green energy options by simply entering their zip code. Their information is then forwarded directly to the green power provider of their choice, making the act of switching easy and convenient. These names and addresses are also entered into a database kept by GG USA. Those names are the beginning of a political constituency committed to the promotion of renewable energy.

The final way in which GG USA gets the message out to local residents and raises awareness is through grassroots organizing. We work with targeted community organizations to:

• provide speakers at organizational meetings;
• provide educational materials for distribution to their members;
• publish information about the Go Green Power Campaign (including our toll-free information line and website) in their newsletters and on websites; and
• use mailing lists from organizations when possible.

Tabling at local events has been a very successful (and fun) method for reaching people and distributing literature. GG USA has had a presence at Earth Day events, City of Santa Monca festivals, and environmental fairs. Literally thousands of brochures have been distributed this way.

The Santa Monica experience serves as a model for GG USA and the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technology to roll out green power campaigns in targeted communities in California and, as electricity deregulation becomes more commonplace, throughout the United States. Each new local campaign relies upon the coordination of paid and earned media around a clear and simple message about green power, coordination with local government and businesses, and grassroots organizing.

The goals of GG USA's Go Green Power Campaign are not limited to merely switching customers to green power. Raising awareness in these communities will further develop the green power market and create a political constituency ready to be activated for advocacy. By getting out the message about green power to reduce our dependence on fossil-fuel burning power plants, we can help create a more sustainable future with renewable energy technology.