British Gas: Peak Save

Facing record-low consumer trust, British Gas launched a campaign partnering with Team GB and ParalympicsGB to incentivize sustainable energy use and improve brand perception. The campaign offered half-price electricity on Sundays between 11am and 4pm, leveraging higher renewable energy availability. A hero film featuring prominent athletes like Tom Daley, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, and Ellie Simmonds humorously depicted them racing to complete energy-intensive tasks within the discounted window, subverting typical sports advertising tropes. This multi-channel campaign, spanning cinema, radio, digital, social, and out-of-home advertising, successfully reached a broad audience. Results indicate significant improvements across key metrics: brand consideration (+4 points), value perception (+5 points), and trust (+3 points). Website traffic surged by 254%, and Peak Save registrations increased by 318% compared to the previous period. Furthermore, British Gas ad awareness rose by 1.5% following the campaign launch. The initiative effectively encouraged sustainable choices while simultaneously bolstering the brand's image.

Trust in the energy category was at an all time low. To win it back, British Gas needed to give the nation reasons to cheer it on, with positive ads and positive acts. They wanted to drive positive change in the industry by rewarding their customers for better, more sustainable energy use - needing a creative solution that would inspire their customers to make more sustainable choices, reducing their carbon footprint.

To deliver this important message, British Gas partnered with Team GB and ParalympicsGB to create a campaign that flipped sporting stereotypes on its head. The campaign rewarded customers for using energy outside of peak hours, including half-price electricity on Sundays when renewable sources are more readily available. Our hero film featured three high-performing and high-energy athletes: Tom Daley (OBE), Katarina Johnson-Thompson, and Ellie Simmonds (OBE). The film starts like an intense, high-performance sports advertising film. But in a dramatic and unexpected twist, they propel

themselves into a different kind of race. It’s a Sunday, and against the clock, they squeeze in as much of their weekly electricity usage as they can between 11am and 4pm, the window in which British Gas rewards its customers with half-price electricity, when renewable sources are more readily available.

Our multi-channel campaign playfully subverted sports advertising stereotypes across cinema, radio, press, digital, social, bus wraps, and high-impact OOH across the UK, designed to reach the nation at large and impact against key audiences. Inspiring behaviour change among British Gas customers and prospective customers alike, encouraging them to make more sustainable choices and save big.