1. Market situation

The Belgian energy market is dominated by 5 big players who have a combined market share of almost 85%. These market share levels do not fluctuate a lot. Energy is a commodity with very little differentiation on product level and very little emotional involvement. Previous acquisition and changing brand names have shown very little impact on sales nor on loyalty.

On top of that, the level of people switching each year is limited. In 2018 only 1 in 5 Belgian households switched from energy provider. The competition to acquire this small number of customers is fierce. To ensure their claims are being heard, they spend heavily in media. Four heavyweights are responsible for three quarters of the media investment in the entire energy category. The competition's positioning is divided over mainly 2 axes: claiming green energy and providing energy efficiency solutions (smart meters, check-ups…).

Mega is a fairly new energy provider on this competitive market. They offer the same energy as the big companies but at a better price. Through group purchases, via comparative websites and by taking over the customer portfolio of local energy providers that decided to quit (such as Enovos, Belpower, Energy people, Comfort Energie, Zeno), they succeeded in growing their client base. This resulted in a market share of 4,22%.

2. Objectives

Mega's ambition is to become a top 5 player in the Belgian energy market. Therefore, they have to start closing the gap with the big 5 and broaden the gap with the rest. Mega had to look for other means of growth than group purchases, comparative websites and acquisitions since their growth curve was flattening in these channels. The only option was to grow their direct sales. The ambition as described above was as clear as it was challenging: gain market share through direct sales in a market where 5 giants have a communication budget that is tenfold the budget of Mega.

Business objectives

• Narrow the gap with the big 5
• Market share: 4,22%

Marketing objectives

• Grow direct sales on top of organic sales by 23%

Communication objectives

• Increase awareness by 10%
• Increase consideration by 5%

3. Strategy

As we find ourselves in a commodity market, energy brands try to create deeper personal relationships with their buyers. This may sound attractive in marketing cases but for a consumer this is complete bullocks. People do not have 'deeper personal relationships' with brands and certainly not with commodity brands like an energy provider. People do not care that much about their energy provider. We cannot expect them to think about much or spend time with their energy provider.

You want your energy provider to deliver gas and electricity, without ripping you off and solve problems when they occur. The less you need to think about them the better. This explains why people are very reluctant to switch (only ⅕ households). They do not want the fuzz around switching. They will switch when their actual providers screw up (too expensive, lousy service) and/or get an offer they cannot refuse.

Based on this core insight we have built a brand positioning for Mega on the following 3 principles:

• Energy is a commodity
• Price matters
• As efficiently as possible

With this first campaign of Mega:

• We responded to a grudge that consumers hold against large energy providers for a long time. The feeling of paying too much for your energy and energy providers that are screwing you over.
• We wanted to show our challenger attitude: different and not with the same fluffy marketing bla bla as our competitors. In this way we could introduce a new kid in town.
• Create sense of urgency by insisting on direct action and create a wakeup call for the sleeping client: headline 'Deal with your high energy bill'.

4. Results

Business objectives

• Narrow the gap with the big five
• Market share: 4,22% → 5,13%

Marketing objectives

• Grow direct sales on top of organic sales by 23% → 35%

Communication objectives

• Increase awareness by 10% → 20%
• Increase consideration by 5% → 9%

We didn't only steal their energy, but also their clients
We managed to grow almost 1% in market share in a market that doesn't fluctuate that much. The average trend for our competitors was a decline of 0,30% in market share.

During the campaign we didn't do any price promotions, nor did we give any rewards for joining. Also, our competition had campaigns on air as well.