In an effort to make solar panels more accessible and affordable for medium-income Victorians, in August 2018 the state government announced a new solar rebate program. To increase awareness and understanding of the program, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, and more specifically Solar Victoria, enlisted the expertise of Ellis Jones to run a compelling, creative and state-wide reaching campaign.

The Solar Victoria campaign aims to increase awareness, educate consumers, and improve uptake of government rebates for the installation of solar panels or solar hot water.  The campaign targets those Victorians who fall into the eligible bracket of middle-income households.

As more and more solar clads Victorian rooftops, this campaign seeks to motivate individuals who have yet to go solar, to be part of the growing trend. At the heart of our creative concept is the average Victorian suburban or regional street, in the home of a multicultural family, who like us, use energy every day, and can benefit from Victoria’s new solar rebates to cut their energy costs.

This campaign uses animation to bring to life a streetscape where solar is rapidly appearing on people’s rooftops. This unifying concept was able to be executed across varied channels. It culminated in the creation of multiple TVCs; digital pre-roll videos; out of home animated screens; radio, print and digital ads; web and UX improvements; a template for eDM content and seeded content.

This campaign was delivered in two weeks to meet the state government’s tight pre-caretaker period deadlines.

This campaign, in market for four weeks, has achieved the following:

• Doubled the number of people accessing the Solar Victoria website by applying social norming strategies across mainstream and digital media.
• More than 30,000 Victorian households have embraced Ellis Jones’s Solar Victoria campaign on behalf of the Victorian Government, reducing their power bills and assisting with the supply of energy to the electricity grid.
• Approximately 10,000 rebates have been paid to Victorian households saving them more than $21 million since the campaign began in August 2018.
• Assisted Victorians to take charge of their energy bills by installing solar panels, solar hot water and solar batteries to 770,000 homes over the next 10 years and cut carbon emissions by approximately four million tonnes.