Powershop launches new interactive kids book co-written by home energy use via whiteGREY

To inspire families to use energy more sustainably, Powershop – Australia’s greenest power company – has launched a kids book with a difference, conceived and developed by whiteGREY. The interactive story responds to energy consumption via smart meter data. The more sustainable a household’s energy usage is, the better the story becomes.

The book asks kids and parents to help a character called Goldie (a climate vulnerable Green and Golden Bell Frog) prepare for her Pond Party. By helping Goldie invite her friends, catch party food, decorate, and make party music, they learn about the impact of climate on species and ecosystems, and receive valuable tips on home energy usage.

When they return to the story the next day, the book uses their household’s smart meter data to determine whether or not they have been more sustainable with their energy usage. If they’ve improved, so too does the book’s scenes and outcome. If not, the book becomes a bit less fun.

In a time when social isolation is leading to more power usage at home, it’s hoped that the book can serve as an engaging tool to help shape more sustainable household energy behaviours – a crucial goal for Powershop on its ongoing mission to make our energy consumption ‘Power you can be proud of’ (the brand platform launched by whiteGREY in 2019). It can be accessed at pondparty.powershop.com.au, and while the full experience of an energy connected story is for Powershop customers, any Australian family interested in learning more can still access the book.

Says Michelle Grigg, marketing manager, Powershop: “Pond Party is a fun way for families to talk about climate change and the steps they can take to lessen their impact on the environment. Whilst we’re dealing with the ongoing effects of the bushfires and now COVID-19, a digital book specifically designed to be read at home, is an educational and entertaining tool for both customers and non-customers alike.”

Sats Juan Garcia, national head of technology, whiteGREY: “I’m proud that we have been able to create a digital experience that will help change behaviour. Using modern tech and an interactive approach to the narrative, we feel that we’ve built something that is as engaging as it is smart. By working together with Powershop’s team to develop a service layer that allows account usage and attributes to be extracted and interpreted for external use, it opens new ground for an energy provider to make meaningful use of its data.”

Says Joe Hill and Garret Fitzgerald, executive creative directors, whiteGREY: “By combining live data and storytelling, Pond Party connects households to the challenges of climate change in a constructive, inspiring way – empowering families to take climate action by making small changes to their daily lives.”

As Powershop’s lead strategic, creative and digital agency, whiteGREY was responsible for the concept, strategy, CX and UX design, technical development and supporting comms. To bring the book to life, whiteGREY implemented a serverless approach for the infrastructure using the AWS stack and ReactJS and Lottie for all the frontend and animations. This highly scalable and nimble approach allowed the different teams to work seamlessly across multiple geographic locations, as well as closely with Powershop’s own tech team to access Powershop’s data and platforms.

Pond Party is supported by a digital campaign across display, social channels and influencer activity, plus PR. Visit pondparty.powershop.com.au

Powershop powers more than 160,000 homes and businesses across Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and South East Queensland. Powershop is Australia’s only electricity and gas retailer to be certified 100% carbon neutral by the Australian Government and is Australia’s greenest power company.

Client
The Powershop Team.

Agency – whiteGREY
Senior Digital Producer – Neville Gotla
Digital Producer – Mylene Czorny
Lead Front-end Developer – Luke Olyslagers
Lead Back-end Developer – Nick Thomson
Front-end Developer – Frantanius Sinulingga
Back-end Developer – Blasius Cosa
UX – Gardenia Gonzales
Designer – Gemma Lodi
Creative team – Ben Mann & Nic Molyneux
Head of Strategy – Nathan Rogers
Group Account Director – Alice Tschuchnigg
Senior Account Director – Kate Donnelly
CEO – Lee Simpson
National Managing Director – Katie Firth
National Head of Technology – Juan Garcia
ECD’s – Joe Hill & Garret Fitzgerald

Production & Media
Sound – Bang Bang Studios
Illustration – All illustrations by Mel Matthews, represented by the Jacky Winter Group.
Media – Media 33