Water companies find cash beats environmental concerns

13 July 2009 – Five leading water companies have found that a small financial incentive has proved to be a key driver in getting customers to sign up to a new service enabling them to view and manage their bills online. In fact the number of customers signing up as a result of a promotion offering a chance to win £500 was increased by a factor of 72 during a three-month period.

Northumbrian Water, Essex & Suffolk Water, Sutton & East Surrey Water (SESW), Anglian Water and Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water all took advantage of the promotion that was organised by OneVu which offers a new way of managing bills securely at your online bank and through OneVu’s own branded service, www.onevuonline.co.uk. The service saves time and hassle and also brings a number of environmental benefits through a reduction in paper bills and postage.

Flyers outlining details of the promotional offer were sent out with water bills, and in one case as an article in a customer magazine. A microsite was also developed to provide consumers with more detail and to drive them to the service.

The number of bill activations was highly encouraging, outstripping those of other billers not using the promotion by a factor of 72. In total the promotion achieved a 0.8% take up meaning the cost of activated customer acquisition was calculated at just £1.25 per user.

Miles Quitmann, Managing Director at OneVu, explains “We have always felt that environmental concerns would be a key motivator for signing up to this service and it continues to be an important influencer. However last year we undertook some customer research and found that monetary incentives or discounts ranked as the top driver for consumers. In the current economic climate consumers are increasingly savvy and they understand that organisations can make considerable savings by eliminating paper bills. The research showed that they feel some of these savings should be passed on to them rather than just the shareholders. The response to this promotion has been phenomenal and also proves that the bill can be an efficient, targeted marketing tool.”

The OneVu service is branded ‘Bill Manager’ at Lloyds TSB and ‘Bill management’ at RBS and NatWest and offers consumers a consolidated view of all their bills and statements whilst online ‘at the bank’. Customers who are with a different bank or don’t bank online can also access the service at www.onevuonline.co.uk.

For further information please contact:

Judith Thompson, The Weston Partnership,
Tel: 01403 891 514
07850 316 324
judith@westonpartnership.co.uk