The East Sussex Energy Partnership encouraged homeowners to install energy-saving measures such as loft and cavity-wall insulation and renewable technologies such as solar panels. Run by Climate Energy Ltd on behalf of four local authorities, the Partnership publicised the availability of government-funded grants to help pay for these installations.
My copywriting service
I was the copywriter of print advertisements, website content, a direct mail postcard, and an eight-page A5-size booklet for direct mailing. All these communications had to appeal to people who were aged over 60, or who were disabled or chronically ill.
On the booklet’s cover, directly above the image of a house in a woolly hat, a headline stated simply: ‘FREE insulation at the drop of a hat!’ Beneath this image a few more words identified the benefit of insulation and elaborated on the offer: ‘Cut your heating costs! With a council grant thousands of people qualify for free or discounted insulation.’
This was one of those copywriting tasks where less is more. In language short and plain, the eight pages explained who was eligible for free or discounted energy-saving measures; that this was a trustworthy scheme because it was council-managed and council approved; and how much money a typical household could save every year. Short photo-captions quantified the savings attainable from each of the energy-saving measures on offer. A clear call-to-action was placed at the foot of every double-page-spread and on the back cover.
Within four months of the booklet’s mailing, the East Sussex Energy Partnership had 2,700 installation jobs lined-up, with a value of £370,000. The Government Office for the South East later referred to the Partnership’s marketing campaign as an example of best practice.