Button Up Vermont is an initiative led by Efficiency Vermont to help people find resources, tools, and tips for weatherizing their homes for winter. Do you walk around in cold weather with your jacket unbuttoned? Of course not. So, why would you effectively do the same thing to your home by not weatherizing? (If you answered “yes” to the first question, please remember to button your jacket or you’ll catch a cold…maybe. We don’t actually know if that’s true—we’re not doctors). We took on the task of helping to boost the project’s branding and marketing with the goal of encouraging real Vermonters to make change. The first step was to overhaul the identity with new branding including a new logo, top line messaging, and a deep-dive style guide.
We like interactive design. So, we developed the idea of a customizable weatherization checklist that could offer new ideas for people looking to improve their home’s performance. Everybody likes a good list, right? We spread the concept across the website, social media campaigns, and in-person with physical checklists available at hardware stores around the state for customers to take home. Other ways of reaching the public included some of the classics: newspaper ads, radio spots, event posters, and good ol’ Facebook (thanks, Zuck).
At the core of the Button Up initiative is community. The culmination of the campaign was “Button Up Day,” a single day of action where local hardware stores, community centers, and other organizations held events that encouraged the public to weatherize by providing information, demonstrations, rebates, and incentives. Of course, we can’t forget to mention our community of Button Up partners who helped to organize, support, and lead the initiative including Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Capstone Community Action, the Energy Action Network, Efficiency Vermont, Burlington Electric Department, Vermont Energy & Climate Action Network, Green Mountain Power, and Tamarack Media—a “Dream Team” that rivals the ‘92 Olympics U.S. men’s b-ball crew.
Year: 2016-17
Client: Efficiency Vermont
Project: Button Up Vermont
Services: Brand Identity, Marketing Strategy, Print Advertising, Social Media Management
Collaborators: Tammarck Media, Brendan McInerney, Monika Rivard, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Capstone Community Action, the Energy Action Network, Efficiency Vermont, Burlington Electric Department, Vermont Energy & Climate Action Network, Green Mountain Power