Shell: A New Energy Future
Shell was seeking to distinguish itself in a cluttered field with major players communicating similar messages. Key targets ranged from government policy makers to digitally-savvy, energy-concerned consumers.
Their objectives:
- Tell Shell’s New Energy Future story in an accessible and high-profile way while linking to high-quality content on related topics
- Drive favorability via engagement
- Stimulate debates without monopolizing them
- Maintain visibility
- Listen to, learn from and include audiences in the conversation
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN created a weekly Energy Poll, augmented with print and online advertising, to strike up a dialogue between Shell and our influential worldwide audience.
ScientificAmerican.com users encountered a mix of pop-ups and banner advertising that invited them to answer weekly questions. A 1.5 million impression promotional campaign also drove traffic to the Energy Poll.
Poll questions, changed weekly, ranged from the effectiveness of energy legislation to biofuels and the technologies behind carbon dioxide capture. When users voted, they landed on an Energy Poll Results page containing:
- Voting results
- Shell video
- A link to Shell resources
- A spot to enroll for Weekly Energy Poll E-mail Alerts
- Links to Scientific American content for relevant background information from the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN archives
- A Comments Section for users to provide their insights and opinions and read what others have to say
Leveraging SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN’s global reach, the Poll garnered participation from around the world: the majority of voters were U.S.-based. Up to 9.9% of the users who saw the Weekly Poll (as many as 19,800 people) took the time to vote.
