SUCCESS STORY: GAS, NOT HOT AIR

You’re the largest natural gas marketer in the state, and the people you need as clients have never heard of you. What can you do to convince them of your size and expertise?

During the early days of energy deregulation, Proliance Energy — a joint effort of two of Indiana’s largest utilities — quickly established itself by offering purchase expertise to commercial and industrial customers. Their success at keeping a cap on what those customers would have to pay for natural gas ballooned the company into the state’s biggest. But name recognition was still minimal.

Scott Flood Writing and the Proliance staff created a direct marketing campaign by presenting the company’s size in terms that Hoosiers would understand. Ads presented the volume of gas that the company handled in easy-to-grasp visuals — such as the number of Goodyear Blimps that the volume could fill, or the number of times the inflatable RCA Dome stadium could be filled.

At a time when other gas marketers were making claims that were little more than puffed-up hot air, Proliance bulged with very convincing confidence, and continued to land more accounts.