Frank Energy & Motion Sickness find success by embracing ‘boring’

Frank Energy’s ‘Same Energy, Probably Cheaper’ platform developed with Motion Sickness won Excellence in New Brand Development and Excellence in Utilities/Communications Marketing Strategy at the YouTube NZ Marketing Awards 2024, and a Gold Award for Telcos and Utilities at the 2024 Effie Awards Aotearoa. We spoke to the brains behind the campaign.


Energy is vital for modern life, but consumers aren’t very enthused about it. According to research by The Shelton Group, the average person spends 6 minutes per year thinking about their utility company.

Why would we be excited? The energy powering our ovens, phone chargers and (for some of us) our cars is not only invisible, but works the same regardless of which company we purchase it from. 

When Frank Energy (formerly Energy Online) chose Motion Sickness to be the creative force behind its brand relaunch, the agency embraced the dull nature of electricity. 

“When we received the RFP, our internal response was initially, ‘Electricity can be pretty boring.’ But that was also the opportunity. There was room to differentiate in the category,” says Sam Stuchbury, Executive Creative Director at Motion Sickness. 

“Most other electricity advertising was fairly vanilla. And although no one really wants to think about power, most tried to play in a deeply emotional ‘being a part of your family’ territory. We saw a gap in the market to be different and distinctive. We found that distinctiveness in simplicity and being ‘straight up’ – that’s really how Frank was born.”


TV ads showing amusing experiments with ‘expensive’ power and “Probably Cheaper” Frank Energy drove sign-ups “like advertising in the 80s”.

Keeping it simple

The relaunch campaign in 2022 highlighted Frank Energy’s straight-up approach and introduced the company’s mascot, a green asterisk, a not-so-subtle jab at its competitors’ perceived complexity.

Motion Sickness took it up a level in 2023 with ‘Same Energy, Probably Cheaper’, featuring ‘experiments’ in a lab with identical appliances, comparing ‘expensive power’ to Frank Energy. 

From making toast to a horrifying back-shaving comparison, the experiment results were the same. Meanwhile, Frank Energy’s results were spectacular.

After growing its customer base by 7% in the year post-launch, Frank Energy grew a further 17% in year two off the back of ‘Same Energy, Probably Cheaper’. It also cut its churn rate down to 16%, in an industry where churn of 20-30% is common.

Michael Wood, Head of Brand and Marketing at Frank Energy, says customer research was a major driver of the company’s branding direction.

“We conducted focus groups, and the message was loud and clear that some of the DNA of Energy Online was still really relevant,” he says. “Power’s not exciting, so keep it simple, keep it fairly priced and get out of the way so people can get on with more interesting things in their lives.”

Price takes centre stage

While its brand relaunch campaign sold its simple, no-contract offering, the arrival of the cost of living crisis saw Frank Energy pivot to focus more on price.

The industry complexity Frank likes to poke fun at can make price comparisons a minefield, so the initial idea – ‘Same Power, Just Cheaper’ – switched to ‘Probably’ after discussion with the legal team.

“Normally there’s a percentage of people in the market who are value seekers, but when mortgages went from 2% to 7%, suddenly even those in Herne Bay were taking a strong interest in their power bill,” Wood says.

Stuchbury says the TV-heavy campaign was also a good example of the power of traditional media.

“As an advertising agency in 2024, you hear a lot of conversations around ‘TV is dying and needing to find new ways to use media,’ but this was a campaign where, whenever you ran that TV ad, the new signups went bananas. It was like advertising in the 80s,” he says.

“It’s a successful commentary on finding clear space in a crowded category, but also on the need to make advertising that’s certain to get attention. Frank’s DNA has a unique self-awareness and quirk, and that has delivered a lot of cut-through. Testing power against power to prove it’s all the same may seem ‘stupid,’ but you’ll probably remember it.”

Collaborative approach

With its marketing team consisting of a whopping two people, Frank Energy relies heavily on the support and expertise of Motion Sickness.

“With Frank, we have bigger brand projects that keep us busy for four or five months, but equally, we have an always-on collaboration within content, social, and sponsorships – like our partnership with the Warriors or Frank’s TikTok. That work is more about the personality of the brand, not selling power,” Stuchbury says. 

“It doesn’t ask anything of you other than to wonder why that person is wearing a giant green asterisk suit, and why you’re laughing at it.”

Wood says Frank Energy has one of the biggest TikTok followings of any energy company in the world, and credits Motion Sickness’ work for them going viral.

“That’s one reason Motion Sickness was our preferred partner. I’m not 20-something or on TikTok or Instagram a whole lot, so we wanted an agency who really live and breathe that world,” he says. “I’m constantly getting concepts presented for TikTok that I struggle with… that’s probably a sign of good creative.” 

motionsickness.co.nz


This was first published in the 2024 December-January NZ Marketing Magazine issue. Subscribe here.

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