MacLaren wins PowerStream (original) (raw)

MacLaren McCann has added another company to its portfolio of energy brands, having won energy supplier PowerStream’s business following a formal review.

The assignment will be focused on helping PowerStream reach its energy conservation targets by convincing its current customers in Ontario to cut back on their usage.

PowerStream is jointly owned by the municipalities of Barrie, Markham and Vaughan, serving residents there and in nearby communities including Alliston, Aurora, Beeton, Bradford West Gwillimbury, Penetanguishene, Richmond Hill, Thornton and Tottenham. Through a partnership with the town of Collingwood, the company also serves residents of Collingwood, Creemore and Thornbury. It currently has more than 375,000 residential and business customers, making it one of the larger power suppliers in Ontario (available numbers put Hydro One at 1.3 million customers and Toronto Hydro Electric System at 690,000 customers).

MacLaren McCann’s other energy clients include TransCanada, Suncor and Imperial Oil between Calgary and Toronto. The agency also recently worked on a campaign for New Brunswick Power, helping to develop the Reduce and Shift Demand program and creating the Smart Habits sub-brand to educate customers about the benefits of shifting their energy usage off peak hours.

That project was a deciding factor in the win, as the agency looks to help PowerStream change consumer behaviour related to their energy usage in a time when the sector is focused on conservation.

“I think it’s about smart, selective growth,” says David Leonard, CEO at MacLaren McCann. “Instead of pitching everything that moves, we’re looking at where we have category expertise and how we can leverage that in different verticals.”

Since Leonard joined MacLaren in the spring, the agency has also won the business for the Tourism Partnership of Niagara, along with adding Darren Clarke as CCO and Mary Chambers as chief strategy officer.

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