In the video, a serious young man is perched on a diner stool, working on his laptop, as all hell breaks loose around him. The sounds are sharp: sizzling eggs, the staccato tap of a spoon on a coffee mug, angry energy pundits debating on TV, angry climate demonstrators marching outside.

“We hear the noise,” says a woman’s voice. “It can feel overwhelming.”

Fortunately, the video informs us, the millions of problem-solvers working in natural gas have made the U.S. a world leader in reducing emission rates.

“We hear the noise,” the young man repeats at the close. “But we’re focused on action.”

The 30-second spot is part of a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign that the American Petroleum Institute (API) hopes will “provide balance to the energy debate as Congress returns and the presidential primary continues,” said Ben Marter, the group’s communications director, in announcing the launch.

To date, the industry’s message about its success in reducing emissions has not succeeded with the general public, leading executives said at the recent Gastech Exhibition & Conference in Houston.

“I’m not sure that the world community would share the views [about natural gas] that we have unilaterally and I think we need to make sure that we can challenge ourselves,” said Peter Coleman, CEO and managing director of Australia-based Woodside Petroleum Ltd. “We think we’ve got the superior product. We’ve got to prove and demonstrate to the marketplace, though, that it is in fact what we [all] need.”

And if the industry can’t do that?

“We run the risk of being demonized like that other fossil fuel out there called coal,” he said.

Shift In Tone

Two ads, “Noise” (above) and “We’re On It” will go into rotation on broadcast and cable news, digital, radio, airports and outdoor billboards in Washington and New York, Marter said. They will be coupled with reports and digital content highlighting the industry’s leadership in reducing emissions, he said, and provide a contrast with proposals that would impact the economic and environmental benefits that come from natural gas and oil. 

What might be striking to those in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry is the switch in identification: it is now the natural gas and oil industry—the cleaner fuel goes first.

The tone is also a departure from the “Power Past Impossible” theme from the previous generation of advertising. The “Impossible” ads relied on vivid imagery and conveyed how hydrocarbons have myriad uses, not just as fuels.

We're On It

The new “We’re On It” ad implies the diversity in the oil and gas work force, but the reliance on “talking heads” may diminish its message. Click to view the ad.

“There is a clear shift in the tone of API’s advertising campaigns,” Raji Srinivasan, associate dean for diversity and inclusion and marketing professor at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, told HartEnergy.com. “The earlier ‘Power Past Impossible’ campaigns are aggressive in tone, assume a strong leadership stance which communicates the importance of oil and natural gas in powering life and technologies. The new ‘We’re On It’ campaign is softer in tone, has a partnership stance which emphasizes the fact that API gets consumers’ concerns and the various problems that may exist with traditional fossil fuels.”

Which campaign works better? Leslie Friedman, an award-winning Houston-based marketing professional, preferred the earlier ads.

“(‘We’re On It’) only had talking heads saying, ‘we’re working on it,’ but didn’t show how,” Friedman told HartEnergy.com. “I think visuals are better for telling the story.”

Friedman’s perspective was echoed by Katie Feifer, a former Leo Burnett Worldwide executive who has spent 40 years as an advertising and communications consultant for numerous Fortune 500 companies and other clients.

“It does seem like “We’re On It” is less distinctive executionally and less likely to break through clutter and get noticed than “Power Past Impossible,” with its bright, bold colors, music and arresting visuals,” Feifer told HartEnergy.com. “Many ads feature talking heads—there’s nothing visually distinctive in ‘We’re On It.’”

Does The Message Get Across?

Srinivasan liked both campaigns in terms of visual and audio execution being consistent with their messaging. She did not perceive a specific target audience for the “Impossible” ads but saw a celebratory campaign extolling the accomplishments of oil and natural gas. “We’re On It,” she said, appears to be burnishing the image of member companies of API with consumers who, presumably, will provide feedback to and possibly influence members of Congress on issues such as energy regulations.

“The ‘We’re On It’ campaign … is softer in execution with everyday people from very diverse backgrounds (the very people who may be concerned about the eco-footprint of traditional fossil fuel) talking about how they are working (presumably at the member companies of API) to address the concerns,” Srinivasan said. “So, the new ‘We’re On It’ campaign is empathetic and caring.”

Feifer agreed.

“’We’re On It’ is sober, aiming for honesty and authenticity, with people talking directly to camera/viewers,” she said. “It is almost apologetic, but very earnest and down to earth.”

Power Past Impossible

API’s old “Oil: Power Past Impossible” featured bold visuals in its messaging about the importance of the industry’s products in everyday life. Click to view the ad.

However, the visuals are lacking in comparison with “Power Past Impossible.”

“Turn the sound off and watch the ads from each campaign,” Feifer said. “The ads that draw you in, that communicate most clearly visually, that lead you to feel, and then think, are the ones from ‘Power Past Impossible.’ We know that effective communication starts with getting the viewer to feel, because emotion is the foundation of persuasion.”

Show And Tell

But if API has chosen to the forego flashy visuals of “Power Past Impossible” in favor of the earnest voices of “We’re On It,” then the new ads must show viewers what they need to be convinced. Friedman is not alone in questioning whether that has been accomplished.

“Fossil fuel industries face scrutiny from consumers and regulators because of the growing concern about climate and global warming,” Srinivasan said. “It appears that companies in this industry are well-aware of these challenges.”

Repetitive advertising of “We’re On It” may help soften consumers’ attitudes toward traditional fossil fuel firms, but the campaign does not back up its lower emissions claims with data showing what the industry is doing to mitigate the environmental costs of using fossil fuels, she said.

Moving at the speed

In its “Moving At The Speed Of Natural Gas And Oil” ad, part of the “Powering Past Impossible” campaign, API stresses the value of oil and gas to the future. Click to view the ad.

Srinivasan suggested the use of graphics to show how much greenhouse gas emissions were cut.

“Without providing evidence, it is possible that information-rich consumers, e.g., millennials, may be resistant to these persuasion efforts and may seem them as cheap talk,” she said.

“Power Past Impossible,” Feifer noted, directed viewers to find out more by emphasizing a website in the final seconds of the ad.

“In contrast, the final frames of ‘We’re On It’ show the website URL in small type,” she said. “The super is, ‘We’re On It.’ And the actor says ‘we hear the noise, but we’re focused on action.’ None of which invite the viewer to go to the website to learn more.”

A Matter Of Trust

Top global energy executives, including Bob Dudley of BP Plc and Ben van Veurden of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, met with a group of teenagers and young professionals on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York on Sept. 23. They encountered anger and distrust of the industry.

Aware of that lack of trust, API may have pursued a more humble approach with its new campaign.

State of American Energy

API’s “State of American Energy 2018” ad touts the industry’s advances in technology and unwillingness to accept the conventional definition of “impossible.” Click to view the ad.

“It is clearly a less engaging and distinctive campaign,” Feifer said. “However, it may be exactly what API ought to do to address the needs it has today, which may be different than the needs it had when the previous campaign ran.”

But it won’t succeed in changing minds on its own, Srinivasan said.

“It must be backed by actions that address the perceived costs of fossil fuels, e.g., green fuels, cleaner fuels, which I presume are being undertaken, and these actions must be highlighted to consumers,” she said. “This is a complex problem and one that can be addressed using a multi-pronged approach (product and marketing actions, communications) over time.