Western Power is trying to rebuild confidence in its brand in the lead up to the warmer months by putting the faces of employees on a $1 million advertising campaign.
The three-month press and television campaign is a change in direction from Western Power’s power efficiency ads that were on Perth television screens in January and February.
The utility’s infamous call for reduced power use came on February 18.
The two campaigns, one for efficient air-conditioning use and the other focusing on green energy, were cancelled.
WA Business News understands the loss in media bookings cost Western Power between $40,000 and $60,000.
Featuring in the new commercials are five Western Power employees who have been recruited to spruik the reliability and capacity message: “A whole new energy at Western Power.”
According to a Western Power spokesman the theme for the ads is based on customer research that took place towards the end of June.
“The whole aim is in response to what customers have asked us, how are we going to keep the lights on and if they go out how are you going to get them back on and how soon can you do it?” he said.
The spokesman said Western Power spent an average of $3 million a year on advertising, which was a practical medium to educate its customers.
“Our customers want us to communicate openly and honestly and the only way to do that for our 840,000 customers is to have a large advertising campaign,” he said.
The spokesman said Western Power’s recent customer research showed open communication was ranked third behind reliability and capacity as priority areas.
Opposition Leader Colin Barnett has criticised the $1 million campaign as nothing more than a public relations exercise.
The ad campaign, produced by 303 Advertising, features sealing power pole tops with silicon, power generation for the coming summer, a new computer system to monitor the power grids and the utility’s emergency response procedures.
