PERC – Environmental Thought Leadership Campaign

The Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) is a nonprofit that provides leading propane safety and training programs and invests in the research and development of new propane-powered technologies.

PERC asked the Hahn Agency to develop and manage an environmental thought leadership campaign to:

• Elevate the fact that propane is a methane-free, ultra-low carbon energy source.
• Establish PERC’s CEO as a credible thought leader and industry expert.
• Position propane as an immediate clean energy replacement for high-carbon fuels.
• Engage influencers, national media, and social media users with solutions for decarbonization.

Influential Insiders

Instead of targeting a broad demographic for this campaign, Hahn’s strategy focused on a slice of the professional world interested in climate change solutions. We refer to them as “Influential Insiders” (II’s) and through a six-month survey process, narrowed the audience to include architects, energy engineers, utility managers, facility managers, infrastructure consultants, commercial developers, city managers and construction executives.

 

These professional titles are affiliated with groups like the American Architects Association, Chambers of Commerce, Congress on New Urbanism, Urban Land Institute, and others.

In developing the Influential Insiders persona, our Strategy Team found, by using narrative analysis of media articles, that II’s are solutions-oriented, want to make the world a better place through their professional work, and are interested in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide.

 

They are designers of physical spaces, structures, infrastructure, and even public policy that combine decarbonization and sustainability with aesthetically pleasing efficiency and resilient places and spaces.

Data-Driven Integrated Content

The Hahn creative, content, and web team designed, coded, and loaded a new digital newsroom with a variety of practical information and environmental science content about climate change, decarbonization and the role propane is playing today to reduce carbon emissions. To date, the team has authored more than 80 pieces of content, including a clean energy manifesto, myth buster articles, explainer videos and opinion editorials, for use in media relations and social media.

Launching a Podcast

Our team also produced and launched “Path to Zero,” a podcast about our world’s low-carbon future with the PERC CEO as its host.

Digital Campaign

The digital team planned and implemented a paid programmatic social ad campaign to lift PERC’s thought leadership content into the view of Influential Insiders. The campaign launched in June 2020 with native, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube ads driving key audiences to the new environmental digital newsroom on propane.com.

Media Relations

Much of the climate change narrative is shaped by Tier 1 media. Hahn established a national media relations strategy to engage with environmental and energy reporters through multiple touchpoints, including social media engagement, proactive pitching, rapid response communication and podcast invitations. Early successes in this space included earned placements in Forbes and the Houston Chronicle.