ATLANTA, May 13, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When a video email campaign designed by Apogee Interactive achieves double the normal open rate for emails and a 90-plus satisfaction score for a Virginia electric cooperative, the industry wants to know more. Over 500 electric cooperative marketing, member services and communications professionals will learn the secrets of this campaign's success today at NRECA's 2015 Connect Conference in Minneapolis.
Apogee Interactive's Web Services Manager Brian Jackson will present the results of Rappahannock Rural Electric Cooperative's (REC) 40,000-member email campaign produced by Apogee last fall. The videos provided a customized, animated bill explanation for each recipient using data from the member's current electric bill. The videos garnered over 9,500 views in one billing period and showed an unprecedented open rate of 46 percent.
Andrew Packett, Public Relations Specialist for Northern Neck Electric Cooperative, will follow Jackson's remarks with the strategy and messaging foundation for its upcoming video campaign. Northern Neck Electric Cooperative, like REC, is a member-owner of Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) and the second of 11 ODEC members to roll out Apogee's personalized video messaging system. ODEC's member-owner cooperatives are located throughout Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Northern Neck EC’s focus is on promoting demand response for a “Beat the Peak” event this summer.
Apogee generates personalized videos for utility customers using its flagship energy and bill analysis software, variable-data video technology and the utility's billing system data. "It's secure, it's accurate, and the email campaign numbers show that consumers approve," Jackson said. He referenced how REC nearly doubled the average industry email open rate of 26 percent and achieved a member satisfaction rating with the quality and value of the video message exceeding 90 percent.
Apogee's customized video messages can also be accessed from consumer portals and delivered on mobile devices in addition to email delivery systems. In addition, the Apogee energy analysis software and video technology can be used to create a full menu of specific messages for individual customers who meet threshold criteria for outbound communication such as program sign-up invitations, demand-response event notification, high bill, and storm alerts, as well as customized outage messaging.
For more details, see Apogee's personalized video messaging demo and NRECA Connect 2015 conference program.
*Source: Epsilon Email Market Research Center Study 2013
Apogee Interactive Inc. (www.apogee.net) Founded in 1993, Apogee pioneered electronic applications designed to increase a utility’s customer engagement and their consumers' energy efficiency. Today, its comprehensive customer engagement platform of applications has expanded from Web-based and mobile residential and commercial energy analysis software to include personalized video messaging, outbound emails, text messaging and more. Clients include investor-owned, municipal and cooperative energy companies including American Electric Power (AEP), Con Edison (ED), PSEG (PEG), CPS, Georgia Power (GPE-A), LCEC, Avista (AVA), and SMUD.