Campaign Statistics:
- 74 Pieces of Coverage
- Audience Reach: 44.1M
- Airtime: 98 Minutes
- Audience Reach: 1.27 Million
- 297 Social Shares
4media group were commissioned by Money Expert to look at the effect high fuel costs are having on people’s lives via an intergrated PR campaign. Fuel poverty affects thousands across the country every year, and our campaign looked at whether or not people in the UK can actually afford to heat their homes or whether they are fall into the fuel poverty category. The campaign consisted of research of 2,000 UK adults, conducted by our in-house research division, Atomik Research, which supplemented a broadcast day and a news generation project. The broadcast day was fronted by Jason Smith, CEO of Money Expert
The research revealed that more than 1 in 4 people (28%) admit that they are forced to live in the cold because they cannot afford to heat their homes. Those in London struggle the most, with a third of respondents (34%) struggling to afford heating. This is followed by people in the South West (33%) and North East (33%).
People also listed their most common methods for reducing utility costs. Turning down the thermostat comes in as the top habit, as well as washing clothes at a low temperature. People also unplug devices and appliances on standby, and go as far as investing in double glazing, roof insulation and draught-proofing their homes to protect themselves from the cold.
Council tax comes in as the biggest sting to the wallet per month, with 44% of people surveyed saying that this is their biggest expense of the month. But electricity leads the way as most expensive utility with a massive 56%.
And when it comes to knowledge about the constantly shifting laws around energy prices, people living in the South East and East Midlands have the lowest awareness of the new price cap on energy tariffs. 47% of respondents in the South East and 47% in the East Midlands said that they hadn’t heard about it. Finding a more competitive tariff is by far the biggest motivator for switching, according to respondents, with 82% of responses. On average, people feel they had saved £301 through switching providers.
The campaign achieved widespread coverage, with 74 items of coverage across broadcast, print and online media. Broadcast highlights included Sky News Radio, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster, LBC, BBC Radio Scotland, Talk Radio, Jazz and many more. The campaign also landed coverage on The Daily Express online, MSN, The Daily Star Online, Daily Star in print, and a host of regional online publications.