Northwest shoppers purchased more than 1.1 million compact florescent lamps (CFLs) as of October 31, during the fall Change a Light promotion. The promotion ran through December 15 and final sales figures soon will be available. However, in order to achieve the promotional goal of 2.6 million CFLs, Fred Meyer locations will extend the promotion until Feb. 28, 2008.

“The time between Christmas and the end of February is ideal for selling CFLs. We look forward to building on the success of the fall promotion, which was by far the most successful CFL promotion we have ever had,” said Terry Zimmerman, electrical buyer for Fred Meyer.

Fred Meyer already leads all retailers in sales. It initially received an allocation of more than 500,000 bulbs and as of the last week of November, had sold 95 percent of them.

The Change a Light promotion has proven to be a terrific way for utilities to get conservation rate credits, according to Megan McCabe, with contractor Fluid Market Strategies, Portland. “It’s also proven to support their customers in becoming more energy efficient. The region wide efforts by utilities running advertisements and creating bill inserts have been a great tool for them to reach customers who are not active on the Internet.”

Fifty-four utilities participated in the promotion with 19 retail chains, representing 1,035 stores in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. A robust marketing campaign continued to generate consumer awareness about the utility discounted CFL products available at local retailers.

Avista Utilities in Spokane saw increased sales of CFLs over last year. "We anticipate the number of promotional CFLs sold this year at participating retail locations will double,” said Camille Martin, Avista Utilities. “At Avista, we're committed to helping customers reduce their energy usage and to providing programs that support their energy efficiency efforts. Change a Light is a great example of a program that gets effective energy efficiency results."

The program distributed a public relations media kit, promoting Change a Light to 100 media outlets in the region. Print ads ran in 40 newspapers beginning September 10 and continued every other week through the week of November 12. Internet ads appeared on 21 Web sites across the region from September 3 through November 30. Five radio stations aired the Change a Light public service announcement.

The program also launched the Change a Light page on the Web site that included a searchable retailer database, Change a Light pledge form and CFL educational information. “Hits” on the Web site increased by a whopping 406 percent.

To help move product, McCabe said Fluid Market Strategies hired 12 promotional merchandising representatives who made more than 2,200 store visits. The merchandising team verified product, maintained product displays, ensured promotional materials were properly displayed and reported retailer specific information and requests.

“The fall Change a Light program did a fantastic job of making CFLs extremely affordable and convenient for consumers to purchase,” said Jill Reynolds, program specialist with Ecos Consulting, Portland. “Although the Pacific Northwest has high per capita CFL usage, the program’s success proved there is still a tremendous opportunity for consumer outreach.”