The annual Houston Addy Awards are right around the corner, and we at MMI are particularly excited about two radio spots we created for Direct Energy that are contending for Addy honors this year.

Both ads address a difficult messaging challenge:

“Goodbye Bill” was written to encourage consumers to switch to Direct Energy when their concern over their electric bill is likely to be on the wane. When “Goodbye Bill” hit the airwaves in Houston and Dallas, the historically hot summer of 2011 was in the rear view mirror. Knowing that many people were still smarting from several months of staggering electric bills, we sought to simultaneously remind them how burdensome a summer electric bill can be, and remind them that locking in a low price with Direct Energy now can protect them from similar distress next summer. We created a character (Bill) to represent the high summer electric bill. In the spot, he’s presented as a charmless and unwanted house guest. While he is not surprised when he is sent packing for the winter, he is most surprised to find out that he won’t be returning next year. With this ad, we took a straightforward sales message that might have been too easy for a listener to ignore, and turned it into an entertaining and memorable story.

“Noise” had an altogether different purpose. The spot was developed to represent Direct Energy’s incumbent brands (CPL and WTU) in markets where those brands were, prior to deregulation, the consistent and only electricity provider. Faced with an influx of new competitors touting a wide range of offers, Direct Energy asked us to develop a spot that positions their incumbent brands as the reliable and straightforward provider with offers that can be counted on.

Regardless of the awards these spots win, we are very proud of them. They both represent an engaging and story-driven approach to making our client’s desired message resonant and memorable.

Congratulations to our friends at Direct Energy and kudos to our creative and production team. Onward to the Addys!