A demonstration of

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The balance of power

An interactive simulation engaged and educated a concerned audience in the responsibilities of energy supply and demand.

The challenge

Energy producers worldwide are facing a significant challenge as they try to balance dwindling supply and increasing demand. Our task was to develop and implement an idea that would help people to understand the difficult dynamics of energy production and demand.

Our insight

Consumers feel too distant to the source of their energy to engage with it.

Interactive participation is a highly effective way of engaging consumers. By developing an interactive educational simulation, we demonstrated the energy challenge and engaged a global audience in the key issues that face energy producers today.

Our solution

In partnership with The Economist Group, we created an interactive online game entitled Energyville. Players take responsibility for managing the energy supply for a city. They must keep the city going while balancing the impact of economic, environmental and security factors.

Having led the project development, we organized a pilot launch at an energy industry event in Barcelona. To generate interest and enthusiasm, we implemented a range of promotional activities, including giving out video iPods preloaded with the simulation. For the global launch, we arranged for simultaneous campaigns to appear in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Wired and The New Yorker, and online at key business sites such as CNN.com. Direct mail targeted 20,000 people via The Economist database, as well as 500 top Chevron executives. Employee events were hosted at Chevron’s key US offices to ensure that brand ambassadors were familiar with the simulation and the idea that lay behind it.

The results

• 400,000 players across 180 countries to date
• Web interaction targets exceeded by 80%
• 30% direct mail response