In relocating to South Florida, James M. Anderer received an offer from Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Inerjy, a vertical axis wind turbine manufacturer who aimed to changed the world. The idea is that these small to medium size turbines solved most of the issues the public had with wind energy and it packed the financial sense to give medium and large businesses the option of onsite clean energy production to power their business.
The marketing challenge is to educate the public to the features and benefits of the technology and also how it avoids the pitfalls that plague the large horizontal turbines we see in wind farms. Without the option of changing the logo, we tackled creating a brand that represented innovation, fun, and sustainability.
Logo was designed by the CEO who had no interest in changing it. Instead, we went with mostly an knocked out version (white) on dark color backgrounds.
Creating the Marketing Strategy
What Inerjy is setting out to do is create an on-site renewable wind power option just like solar panels on a home or business. The customer for the turbine product, called the EcoVert, is a medium to large business based on costs. So the brand and the strategy should reflect the company’s mission and the potential customer base.
Demographic
The first objective was in concluding who the best customer would be and to target the marketing mix through ad spend and creative to that industry. Because of the large investment, the most likely customer would be an institution or business with large cash flow. Stadiums, hospitals, big box retailers, farms, casinos and other large operations would be the marketing targets.
Ad Spend
The first objective was in concluding who the best customer would be and to target the marketing mix through ad spend and creative to that industry. Because of the large investment, the most likely customer would be an institution or business with large cash flow. Stadiums, hospitals, big box retailers, farms, casinos and other large operations would be the marketing targets.
Geotargeted for Incentives
The first objective was in concluding who the best customer would be and to target the marketing mix through ad spend and creative to that industry. Because of the large investment, the most likely customer would be an institution or business with large cash flow. Stadiums, hospitals, big box retailers, farms, casinos and other large operations would be the marketing targets.
Establishing The Brand
What Inerjy is setting out to do is create an on-site renewable wind power option just like solar panels on a home or business. The customer for the turbine product, called the EcoVert, is a medium to large business based on costs. So the brand and the strategy should reflect the company’s mission and the potential customer base.
Smart Investment | For Early Adopters
Right away the brand should convey that like some electric car brands, that the purchase of an EcoVert is a smart investment and for early adopters. There is no reputation or reviews, but the product and its marketing materials. We changed the logo to white to match the technology and sought to always portray it that the numbers make sense… even when they don’t (which turned out to be the case)
Bright, Fun, Futuristic
The next tenet of the brand is to not be intimidating. The wonky logo actually helped in this regard and to compliment it, the color theme of the marketing was always bright, spacious, and when it could be… fun. This was accomplished through animation, custom illustrations, and interesting content marketing.
Balance of simple/complex information
The color palette calls for clean and the strength of the silver, but the choose of green was a challenge. For something to stand out a dark olive gradient was established at the Green Oxen green, with bright highlights emerging on new pieces to give the brand a revitalization of energy.
Videos
The EcoVert – How is it Hurricane Resistant?
Why a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine?
How will it save money?
How is the EcoVert Bird-friendly?
How Quiet is the EcoVert?
Collateral
Print & Trade Shows
The Wind Energy industry has a number of conventions where thought leaders and new ideas are introduced. It was important for Inerjy to be present at these events and to show off the technology in a clean and easy to understand way. Video, pull up banners, displays, collateral and even a 3D printed model of The EcoVert was at hand to greet show attendees.
Social Media
WEBSITE & LANDING PAGES
In the end, Inerjy and the EcoVert proved to be an idea a little too big for today’s world. The conceit that costs will continue to go down never materialized so the costs of making and installing an EcoVert was much more than the energy cost savings it produced. Still it was a great exercise in brand building and content marketing.
Search Ads / Display Banners / SEO
For the most part, a user will see the banners after visiting a landing page, or website visit so the user is somewhat familiar with the brand. In order to make a memorable impress, Google Web Designer HTML5 animations were used to garner attention. Video was converted to slides and The EcoVert came to life on display banners. SEO centered around verticals. “Wind Energy For Stadiums” and its subsequent searches for wind energy in different industries led each pages creation and content. The result was the first or second result on search.