The Challenge

Founded in 1912 and now the largest energy delivery company in Texas, Oncor has a history of serving the people of the Lone Star State. But with its legacy and the public’s perception of utility companies being outdated or old fashioned, Oncor needed to show it had evolved into a 21st-century innovator and technological leader. The company not only distributed reliable electricity to millions of Texans but was on a fast path to ongoing progress with a commitment to innovative solutions and services using the latest tools and methodologies. Having partnered with Oncor for more than 17 years, the company turned to Marketwave to reposition and elevate its brand, improve the customer experience and help educate consumers about its three pillars – innovation, infrastructure and community.

Solution

We took a strategic and creative approach – starting with the brand – to telling and unveiling the new Oncor story. Our team:

• Facilitated a Brandwave session with the leadership team to identify the company’s brand platform, including its vision, core competencies, brand positioning, brand personality and brand essence
• Revamped the brand identity and updated the brand guidelines including new, lifestyle- and technology-focused photography
• Redesigned and relaunched the Oncor website to reflect the company’s vision and build on the innovation brand platform, including user experience, website intercepts and in-depth interviews with customers, qualitative research, focus group testing, a Google Analytics audit, redesign, content strategy and development, usability testing, SEO and ADA compliance
• Created new key messaging and collateral for a State Fair of Texas exhibit to raise awareness of the new MyOncor mobile application – more than 2 million customers interacted with the exhibit
• Developed a brand video that showcased the new brand platform and refreshed look and feel

Results

With a new brand platform, redesigned website, more relevant collateral and a company video that highlighted its innovation, Oncor began redefining itself as an innovative energy company ready for its next century with state-of-the-art infrastructure and advanced technologies to create a safer, smarter, more reliable power grid.

Key achievements from the preliminary brand relaunch included:

• Successful usability testing – customers appreciated a more intuitive website experience
• Better bounce rate – 43 percent website user bounce rate in February 2020 compared to 75 percent in June 2018
• Increased awareness of the MyOncor application at the State Fair of Texas exhibit
• Segments of the new brand video featured at a Dallas Mavericks game at the 19,000-plus seat American Airlines Center