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Innovation
 

Rate My Roof

Origin (Solar)

Issue 39 | June 2016

Agency

Clemenger BBDO Melbourne

Creative Team

Art Director Adam Barnes Copywriter James O’Sullivan Creative Chairman James McGrath Executive Creative Director Ant Keogh Creative Directors Evan Roberts Digital Creative Director Ben Keenan Digital Creative George McQueen Tom McQueen Giles Watson

Production Team

Senior Print Producer Nicholas Short Agency, Executive Producer, TV Sonia Von Bibra Senior Agency Producer, TV Karolina Bozajkovska Executive Planning Director Paul Rees-Jones Senior Digital Producer Nathan VanderByl Director Brian Aldrich, Finch Executive Producer Corey Esse Producer Kate Menzies Designer Michael Iacono DOP/Cinematographer Germain McMicking 2nd Camera Matt Toll Editor Peter Sciberras Seth Lockwood Method Flame Artist Jamie Scott, Method

Other Credits

Clients Origin Sophie Finn Natalie Davey Group Account Director Jonathan Pangu Account Director Kyle Abshoff Account Manager Bianca Shah Account Executive Rebecca Mason

Date

2015

Background

Though Australia is blessed with plenty of sun, less than 15% of Australian households use solar power for their energy needs – despite its abundance and the potential savings.

The insight was to realise that people simply could not compute how much energy they could generate and how much it would be worth – much of which depended on the footprint of their roof.

Idea

Following on from the online adventures of Ray and Evon, a couple who drive around Australia, 'stealing' people's sunshine with their own detachable solar panel (selected as a Cannes Pick on p14)

The 'Rate My Roof' app was created.

The app linked Google's My Maps Draw Shape feature with its geo-location facility and Origin's solar data. Just by drawing the shape of their roof, homeowners could calculate its footprint, its generating capacity and the potential savings.

The app could produce anecdotal data to bring the concept to life such as, 'Your roof could generate enough energy to light Melbourne Cricket Ground for three months'.

This drove word-of-mouth and social media conversations.

Results

'Rate My Roof' has helped change perceptions of solar energy, making it personally relevant and easier to switch to.

A little cheekily, the agency has claimed their idea has inspired Google to launch its own version of the same app in California, Project Sunroof.

Our Thoughts

Energy is a pretty low-interest category, compounded in the case of solar power by the difficulty consumers have in grasping concepts like kilowatt hours and generating power per square metre.

The key is finding a way to take the theory and make it personally relevant to individual households. Anything that can bring solar energy to life is going to cut through the barriers of low interest and complexity.

The Rate My Roof app has fun, charm and utility, and uses the vernacular of everyday conversation to make the subject relevant.

'Sun stealers' Ray and Evon set up Origin's proposition with their amusing online videos, but without the app, the campaign would not have had the same persuasiveness.