Energy efficiency has an accessibility problem. The programs exist. The rebates are real. The savings are significant. But the language utilities use to describe them, technical jargon wrapped in regulatory framing, makes most customers tune out before they ever reach the sign-up page. Zoe was created to solve that problem. Launched in 2021 as a character-driven creative platform, Zoe is the calm, confident friend who happens to know everything about your home's energy use. She doesn't lecture. She translates. She meets customers where they are, in conversational language that makes energy efficiency feel like common sense rather than homework. For Atlantic City Electric, the Zoe 2.0 campaign objective was to deploy this character across paid media, email nurture, video, and a purpose-built microsite to do three things: make New Jersey residents aware that ACE energy efficiency programs exist, drive them to a guided digital experience that felt human rather than transactional, and convert that engagement into real program participation. Every tactic pointed toward the same outcome: getting families into programs that lower their bills and reduce their carbon footprint.
Zoe 2.0 was built as a fully integrated campaign that gave a single character ownership of every customer touchpoint, from first impression to program enrollment. At the top of the funnel, YouTube video drove awareness at scale. A Zoe-voiced pre-roll spot for ACE's Whole Home Energy Assessment (WHEA) program led with the question most homeowners actually have: "What happens during one of these?" Rather than answering with a spec sheet, Zoe walked viewers through the experience in her signature conversational tone, reducing the intimidation factor that prevents sign-ups. Mid-funnel, email nurture sequences extended Zoe's voice into the inbox. Each email was crafted to feel like a note from a knowledgeable neighbor, not a utility blast. The copy guided customers through program details, eligibility, and scheduling without ever lapsing into the corporate register that tanks open rates. The Zoe microsite served as the campaign's conversion hub. Unlike a traditional program landing page with dense copy and buried CTAs, the microsite was designed as a guided conversation. Customers explored rebates, assessments, and tips through Zoe's lens, with session duration and new-user metrics used to measure genuine engagement over vanity traffic. Paid search, paid social, and bill inserts rounded out the channel mix. Each tactic fed traffic back to the microsite, creating a closed loop where awareness converted to action. The character-driven approach was the strategic differentiator. In a category where every utility defaults to the same stock photography and bullet-pointed benefit lists, Zoe gave ACE a recognizable, ownable voice that customers remembered across touchpoints. She made the complex feel simple, and that simplicity drove conversions.
ACE's WHEA YouTube video achieved a 64.50% view rate across 5,368,584 views, with 9,516 clicks and a 0.10% CTR, performance that held audience attention well beyond utility industry norms. Across all digital channels, the campaign generated 49,159 microsite sessions, 352,015 total clicks, and a 1.77% CTR. Those sessions translated into 3,192 qualified leads and 2,798 program conversions, real families enrolling in programs that reduce energy consumption and lower monthly bills. The ACE microsite recorded 5,070 sessions with an average duration of 1:52 and 2,861 new users. Traffic sources spanned paid search, bill inserts, and Facebook, proving the integrated approach reached customers through multiple pathways rather than depending on a single channel. What these numbers represent: nearly 3,000 households in New Jersey now participating in energy efficiency programs they might never have discovered without a character who made the whole thing feel approachable. That's reduced energy waste, lower carbon output, and families keeping more of their money. Zoe didn't just drive clicks. She drove change.