Low Income Oversight Board Update on Ethnic Outreach
Low Income Oversight Board Update on Ethnic Outreach July 10, 2012 © 2011 The Gas Company. All copyright and trademark rights reserved.
Review: Framework for Ethnic Outreach Establish multi-lingual and large-font materials as “the norm” for Southern California Gas Company collateral. Use ethnic-targeted and ethnic-owned advertising to assist in Southern California Gas Company’s Customer Assistance Outreach: • • As a stand-alone tactic To complement other tactics 2
Review of First Quarter Ethnic Media to Reinforce Grass Roots Events • The Abilities Expo, LA Convention Center (March 30 – April 1) • 600 “visitors” to our booth • “Visitor” means the person stopped, acknowledging being a So. Cal. Gas customer; we spoke directly about our assistance programs. • Our attendance at the event was advertised before the event in local-owned media, The Los Angeles Sentinel. 3
Sample Newspaper Ad: The Energy of Community 4
Large Font Brochures: Vision & Language Customer Assistance information in - • English/Spanish • Chinese • Korean • Tagalog • Vietnamese In addition. . . • Braille • And our Customer Assistance DVD is available in the above languages and in closed captioning and American Sign Language (ASL). 5
Over the summer… • So. Cal. Gas will inform its customers of the CARE program with an annual bill insert. • The insert is scheduled to go to about 2. 9 million residential customers not on CARE. • Customers can mail back the postage-paid application to enroll in CARE. 6
To Strengthen the Bill Insert. . . • A print campaign to reinforce the bill insert and encourage customers to read the insert: • Ethnic-Targeted, Ethnic-Owned Print Media: ~$75, 000: • • • Hispanic: 43% African American: 41% Asian 16% (Additional efforts similar to this ethnic-targeted and ethnic-owned media will be used for ESAP Outreach in the fall. ) 7
Partial List of Publications • • • El Aviso (Spanish) LA Watts Times (African-American) LA Sentinel (African-American) California Journal for Filipino Americans Asian Journal Additional ethnic-owned, ethnic-target advertising will be made during July and August. 8
Online Advertising During July (and possibly into August) Radio Campesina will provide Spanish-language spots encouraging customers to read the July bill insert and enroll in CARE if eligible. • $10, 000 committed. • • Planning to increase this buy. Directed towards Rural areas in the service territory, especially Tulare and Kern. 9
Online Advertising Based on research findings, there is a potential lowincome audience who are • • • Spanish speaking Internet savvy Young, renters Therefore, So. Cal. Gas will launch an online campaign in July promoting the CARE program • • • $60, 000 Spanish language 50% of the $60, 000 is ethnic-owned. 10
Partnerships with Ethnic Owned Print, Online and TV Companies In 2012, So. Cal. Gas partnered with several ethnic-owned print and online companies to complement promotion of Customer Assistance Programs. • Hispanic Lifestyle, an independently produced television program and companion website that highlights the positive contributions of the Latino Community. • Los Kitos, an ethnic owned Hispanic company that produces edu-comic books for children in Spanish language. • Imprenta Communications Group – grassroot community efforts to target underserved, low-income Hispanic and Asian communities in Orange County.
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