Dandelion Energy

Digital Advertising

 
A man, woman, and their child are laughing in a white room. Both members of the couple are LatinX. There is text overlaid that says 'Find your comfort zone with geothermal heating and cooling.'

The Challenge

Dandelion Energy is revolutionizing the world of heating and cooling by making geothermal energy – which uses the consistent temperatures beneath the frostline in homeowners’ backyards to heat and cool their homes – widely accessible. Armed with government subsidies, convenience, cutting edge technology, and an indisputable environmental platform the Dandelion team has earned acclaim from CNN, Bloomberg, Fast Company, Inc., CNBC, and The New York Times as they continue to make geothermal energy accessible.

Because of the many benefits of their product and business model, Dandelion needed to focus their message and develop a dynamic ad strategy to ensure their benefits would be accepted by homeowners, rather than dismissed as “too good to be true.” Dandelion also needed to account for their most compelling attributes shifting throughout the year, and for audience shifts and viewer fatigue with past successful creative. Ad creative needed to reach potential customers, while strengthening their brand, improving recognition, conveying their mission and company values, and providing data on which benefits spoke best to consumers.

Industry
Green Energy, HVAC

Services Provided
Digital Advertising
Copywriting
Animation

Based In
New York, NY

A modern looking house with a sunset in the background.
An illustrated house, cut in a cross section with a woman and man on the couch. Half of the scene is a summer scene, with the AC on in the left side of the house and half the scene is winter with the heating on. There is a Dandelion brand geothermal unit in the basement.

The Solution

Using an ad strategy modeled on “lean startup” theory, we’ve set an elevated standard for Dandelion’s visual communication and developed a strategy to test their messaging so we can continue revolutionizing their advertising and marketing plan going forward. With striking, interactive visuals, playful-yet-substantive conceptualization, extensive A/B testing, and constantly evolving creative based on what we learn each month, we have revolutionized the impact of Dandelion’s extensive ad focus.

While our mission from the start has been to unify Dandelion’s visual communication, we have been conscious to avoid rigid and prescriptive campaign-style advertising. In partnership with Dandelion’s marketing team, we have committed to real-time optimization of ads based on constant monitoring of ad metrics and returns – including engagement rates, click-through rates, and costs per qualified lead. Driven by concrete results, we then divide our strategy between innovating new visual and conceptual ideas, and in-depth exploration of strategies that have proven successful. This close partnership allows us to evolve our strategy, take risks on big ideas, and push the limits of how we share our message to get the most out of each campaign and deliver big results.

A modern home.

Sample Campaign | Earth Day

For most people, heating and cooling is the biggest contribuor to their carbon footprint, meaning geothermal energy has more potential to reduce a homeowner's carbon emissions than virtually any other method. Because Dandelion is a leading player in this field, we took Earth Day, 2021 as an opportunity to not only celebrate this most important holiday, but to push Dandelion's aesthetic and storytelling strategy. Developing two new illustrative styles, we used subtle animation and environmental cues to add flair and strengthen our messaging for both our celebratory posts, and our April ad campaign.

An image of a home with a Dandelion geothermal unit in the basement, with a tree with pink flowers next to it.
An illustrated house, cut in a cross section with a woman and man on the couch. Half of the scene is a summer scene, with the AC on in the left side of the house and half the scene is winter with the heating on. There is a Dandelion brand geothermal unit in the basement. Headline text says '2 in 1 heating and cooling. Low maintenance, Low cost, High efficiency.'
A flat GIF illustration of the earth, with a cute face on it, spinning in space with a bouncing geothermal unit next to it. The headline text says 'happy earth day from Dandelion Geothermal'
Animated GIF of an illustrated house with a dandelion geothermal unit in the basement. The ground is shaded red, and dots are running through the geothermal ground loop turning from blue to red as they pick up heat. Headline text says 'Use the Earth to Heat and Cool your Home'
Animated GIF of a dandelion geothermal unit with dots running through the geothermal ground loop turning from blue to red as they pick up heat. There are plants in the background and a sun spinning in the sky Headline text says 'Make Every day Earth day wiht Dandelion Geothermal'
A family laughing on the couch.

Sample Campaign | AC in the Ground

Designed to illustrate both the science and accessibility of geothermal heating and cooling, the AC in the Ground campaign, unified by the headline "There's AC In The Ground. Get it in Your Home." (replaced by Heat in the Ground campaign in cooler months) was an instant and overwhelming success. Delivering high click-through rates, stellar engagement, low cost per lead, and high qualified lead counts, simple graphics and witty copywriting inspire homeowners to tap into a heating and cooling source they already own, rather than wasting their money on oil.

Following the success of the initial campaign, we tested a wide variety of factors – including new houses, illustration, animation, new angles, and more, to improve further on CTR, CPQL and engagement rates, and conduct research for future campaigns.

A blue house with a cross section of the earth showing a blue gradient below the ground.
A cross section of a home showing a functioning geothermal AC system. There is a cross section of the earth showing a blue gradient below the ground. Headline text says 'there's AC in the ground, get it in your home.'
A blue home. There is a cross section of the earth showing a blue gradient below the ground. Headline text says 'there's AC in the ground, get it in your home.'
A home with an illustrated background of a home and a functioning geothermal AC system in the basement. There is a cross section of the earth showing a blue gradient below the ground. Headline text says 'there's AC in the ground, get it in your home.'
A cross section of a home from above. Layers of earth are visible below showing a blue layer below the ground. Headline text says 'there's AC in the ground, get it in your home.'
A modern home with a line drawing of an animated functioning geothermal AC system in the basement. There is a cross section of the earth showing a blue gradient below the ground. Headline text says 'there's AC in the ground, get it in your home.'
A cross section of a modern home. There is a cross section of the earth showing a blue gradient below the ground. Headline text says 'there's AC in the ground, get it in your home.'
A GIF of a cross section of a home. A traditional AC unit fades out and a spotlight moves to show a functioning geothermal AC system in the basement. There is a cross section of the earth. Headline text says 'there's AC in the ground, get it in your home.'
A lawn from above is mown to say 'There's heat in the ground. Get it in your home.'

Sample Campaign | Environmentalism

Though geothermal technology has been available for decades, it hasn’t garnered as much environmentalist buzz as solar panels, or other green actions like planting trees or driving less. In reality, the average person can make a more vast impact on the environment with a geothermal HVAC system than with most other methods – in addition to saving on energy costs.

To drive the environmentalist message home, we developed a series of ads to illustrate the impact of a geothermal system by comparing it to more commonly understood metrics. As with all other campaigns, we used the opportunity to research both our messaging and our visual storytelling, testing a cumulative message against individual components, still shots against animation, and illustration against photography.

An animated GIF shows a car, house, and forest while headline text explains that geothermal can save more carbon than removing cars from the road, solar panels, or planting forests.
A photograph of cars in a lot with the text 'A Dandelion system saves as much CO2 as taking 27 passenger cars off the road for a year.'
A photograph of a house with solar panels with the text 'A Dandelion system saves as much CO2 as installing a 14,000 KW solar PV system.'
A photograph of a forest with the text 'A Dandelion system saves as much CO2 in its life as a 227 acre forest sequesters in one year.'
A GIF of a flat illustrated car fades revealing the text 'A Dandelion system saves as much CO2 as taking 27 passenger cars off the road for a year.'
A GIF of a flat house with solar panels fading in with the text 'A Dandelion system saves as much CO2 as installing a 14,000 KW solar PV system.'
A flat illustrated GIF of a forest fading in with the text 'An average Dandelion system saves as much CO2 as a 227 acre forest sequesters in one year.

Sample Campaign | Old Way vs. Better Way

Our first ever ad for Dandelion revolved around a simple concept: comparing the inconveniences of old heating and cooling systems to the all-in-one reliability, savings, and comfort of Dandelion. This concept quickly evolved into the Old Way vs. Better Way campaign which is, to date, one of our most successful campaigns of all time. Learning as we go, while constantly pushing boundaries, we’ve created hundreds of iterations of this concept to test new imagery, visual styles, messaging, emotional experiences, copy, and even cinematography.

Below are a small selection of the many variations on a theme that continues to deliver results to this day.

A side by side ad of an oil tank, labeled 'Heating Oil' and a Dandelion Geothermal label labeled 'Geothermal'.
A side by side ad of a window AC unit, labeled 'Traditional AC' and a Dandelion Geothermal label labeled 'Geothermal'.
A side by side ad of an oil drum, labeled 'Old Way' and a Dandelion Geothermal unit labeled 'Better way'.
A side by side ad of a pile of oil drums, labeled 'Old Way' and a cross section of the earth labeled 'Better way'.
A side by side ad of oil drums, labeled 'Old Way' and a Dandelion Geothermal unit labeled 'Better way'.
A side by side ad of a leaking oil tank, labeled 'Old Way' and an empty basement labeled 'Better way'.
A side by side ad of an ax chopping wood, labeled 'Old Way' and a Dandelion Geothermal unit with a glow around it labeled 'Better way'.
A side by side ad of a smoking fireplace GIF, labeled 'Old Way' and a Dandelion Geothermal unit labeled 'Better way'.