Origin Energy’s executive general manager Phil Craig has decried the ‘outdated’ marketing methods within the category on launch of the energy retailer’s latest campaign that sees nine million Fantale lollies wrapped in custom content.

‘Knowledge is power’ is the message from the energy retailer in a campaign that has seen the company improve its communication lines and open up to the digital age and social media channels. The exercise is the first consumer campaign for Origin developed by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne.

“Hundred-page reports, broad-ranging websites, colourful bill messages and inserts, and beautifully-filmed television commercials are not working. There is plenty of debate about energy, but the industry has not kept up with how people consume information,” says Craig. “As a consequence, while our job is to keep the lights on, when it comes to information we’ve left our customers somewhat in the dark.”

The concept is based around an Australian tradition – the message wrapped around in a Fantales-esque manner with short and sharp electricity facts (25 topical pieces) provided to the consumer.

“We turned to the creator of the short, entertaining fact – Fantales. We saw a huge opportunity to bring a modern twist to this time-honoured Australian tradition, and we have launched 25 lollie-sized Origin Energy Tales featuring interesting and amusing stories and facts about energy,” says Craig.

The rationale behind the campaign for Clemenger BBDO Melbourne creative director Tom Martin was simple.

“We realised that people effortlessly and intuitively read the lollies and share the information – which is why they seemed like the perfect medium in style and tone to begin a national energy conversation,” he says.

This will be one of the largest distribution campaigns commenced by experiential agency Traffik, with mass distribution of Origin Energy Tales to consumers commencing on Wednesday 1 May in high-traffic consumer areas across capitals Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Adelaide.

The distribution of the Origin Energy Tales will be supported by advertising, PR, social media and a dedicated campaign website featuring live, daily tweets from users who upload photos of where they discover the product in their travels.

Origin Energy Tales will also pop up in selected coffee shops in key locations across Australia, and look out for the newly launched Origin knowledge hub which aims to become a key resource for customers.