Project Background
In Ontario, the OEB oversees the province`s electricity and natural gas sectors through effective, fair and transparent regulation. An important part of delivery on its mandate and mission is to communicate with consumers and industry stakeholders to ensure that they are informed and have the opportunity to engage with regularly when it comes to energy matters that affect them.
OEB has already embarked on a journey to become a consumer-centric regulator with such initiatives as the industry performance scorecards, creation of a bill calculator on the website, community outreach and consumer feedback mechanisms, to name a few.
More recently, the organization has begun brand repositioning and is preparing to increase its profile among the public through communications campaigns designed to better connect consumers with the OEB and strengthen their understanding of its role as a loyal watchdog looking out for their needs in a complex sector. As this campaign gains momentum, the need to communicate across a variety of channels to generate content and also to be prepared to both respond to as well as proactively reach out to our target audiences will grow. The OEB therefore seeks to engage external vendors with expertise that can support the OEB’s Public Affairs team and round out the range of tools available to the OEB in its communications and marketing activities.
Objectives
Brand
- Increase public perceptions and awareness of the OEB brand positioning as an independent regulator, consumer protection agency, setting and enforcing standards, and as an enabler for long-term integrity of the system
- Improve energy literacy among Ontario’s energy consumers
- Build awareness, understanding of and participation in the OEB’s consumer engagement activities as well as knowledge of consumer rights and protections
Public Affairs Team
- Create a surge capacity for the PA Team who need additional expertise from time to time that is not available on staff
- Engage a pre-qualified vendor or vendors with expertise that complements and supports the PA team to create media training programs
Full details are provided in the RFP document which is available only through MERX at www.merx.com or 1-800-964-6379, MERX reference number 0000068386.
