How this clever Growth Energy campaign boosted biofuel adoption

Unleaded 88 is a gasoline blended with 15% ethanol that is not only better for car engines—higher-octanes help boost efficiency and horsepower—but it burns cleaner and greener than standard gasoline, reducing environmental toxins while providing consumers average savings of up to 10-30 cents per gallon. Since 2011, this higher blend has been approved for use in vehicles model year 2001 and newer—that’s more than 96% of cars on the road today—and is available at over 3,700 gas stations across 33 states.

Despite the rational arguments in its favor, the functional benefits of biofuel need to resonate emotionally if consumers are to adopt it, as we know that fuel is a low interest and transactional decision for most drivers. Given longstanding and concerted efforts to obscure facts around more environmentally-friendly fuel alternatives by vested interests in the energy sector, there is confusion around the product even among those who are aware of it. At the same time, consumers often struggle to find impactful but low-barrier lifestyle choices that help reduce carbon footprints: buying an expensive new electric vehicle isn't immediately accessible to everyone.

So to increase awareness, understanding, and consideration for biofuel, Growth Energy would need to educate drivers on the benefits of planet-friendly Unleaded 88. Research indicated that consumers typically purchase fuel based on price or convenience, with opportunity and willingness to shift purchase if they felt a clear benefit in doing so—Growth Energy needed to reach these people and help them understand why Unleaded 88 is a cleaner and more cost-effective fuel if it was to start changing mindless habits.

We identified a new audience to focus our campaign efforts on—moms and millennials—key consumer segments shown to be most willing to make a fuel change for the planet and their family. Moms and millennials became our focus because of their media habits, life stages (including having children and driving more), and their growing desire to make the world a better place for future generations. Specific market targeting was also important as Unleaded 88 is not yet available in every state and is sold primarily through independent retail partners in Midwest, Central, and East Coast locations.

We took these target consumers and target markets for biofuel and got to work...

Social listening and qualitative research revealed that our targets felt overwhelmed when it came to messages guilting them into doing more to save the planet. They were eager to play their part but would be more receptive to change if it was convenient, easy to adopt, and not overly expensive or time consuming. Instead of guilt and shame tactics, our strategy would be to empower moms and millennials to make an informed and simple change that would meet their “easy and affordable” requirements. To pull this off, we focused on reaching drivers before they headed to the gas station to fill up.

Through a paid, owned, and social content strategy, we replaced confusion and guilt with unexpected levity and humor to disrupt the category, educate consumers, and shine a light on how simple and affordable it is to do more to help the environment. We let drivers know that by changing their gas pump decisions, "Nature Will Thank You". And each creative execution had a single call to action that led viewers to our second creative building block—GetBiofuel.com.

Pivoting from an original full-funnel approach, we prioritized high-reach media channels relevant to the geographic market locations and retail media partners like fuel price app, GasBuddy. Having found increased success and engagement with Meta, TikTok, and influencers due to media consumption habits of our audience, investment was weighted accordingly while still ensuring support from programmatic, search, and at-pump advertising.

The result? “Nature Will Thank You” became Get Biofuel’s most effective campaign to date, and one of the most impactful efforts in the biofuel industry.

The campaign introduced 2.3MM drivers to Unleaded 88 and educated them on the benefits of switching to biofuel at the pump. Drivers in key markets drove 2% in the first year, and an 8% increase in biofuel sales once the campaign creative launched in July 2024, demonstrating exponential potential for consumer demand.

With more than one million drivers visiting Get Biofuel's educational website, and a 12% increase in product awareness in target audiences, the campaign effectively created demand for a green product that most drivers had never considered.

And in addition to business and brand impact, our campaign correlates to a potential 1.2% overall reduction of CO2 emissions in target markets in 2024, based on average fuel consumption, emissions per gallon of fuel burned, and Unleaded 88's CO2 savings of approximately 15%.

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