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The Alliance has launched the second year of the Drive $marter Challenge (D$C), a public awareness campaign designed to help consumers reduce their gasoline bills through simple driving and vehicle maintenance tips.
The price of fuel may have dropped by $1.09 over last year, but curtailing daily expenses remains a priority for consumers squeezed by the economic crisis. For the Alliance, this challenge presents an opportunity to promote energy efficiency as the most cost-effective solution to saving money, energy and emissions.
Enter the Drive $marter Challenge, last year's successful fuel-efficiency campaign that helped thousands of consumers trim their gas budgets.
When first launched in May 2008, the D$C utilized consumer market research to carry the fuel efficiency message through a variety of media formats and outlets. This included approximately 2 million tip cards distributed nationally; four radio public service announcements aired on 762 radio stations; 622 billboards posted; and over 7,631 newspaper, magazine, radio, and television story placements. Last year, over 118,383 consumers discovered fuel efficiency tips on the D$C website and committed to saving $24.15 million dollars in gas expenses, 7.34 million gallons of gasoline and 82 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
This year, the Alliance has joined the following 13 partners who have committed their time, expertise and resources to promoting the valuable messages of the campaign:
American Petroleum Institute
American Public Transportation Association
Car Care Council
Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory
ExxonMobil
League of American Bicyclists
NASCAR
National Association of Counties
National Association of State Energy Officials
National Independent Auto Dealers Association
National Fuel Funds Network
National Low Income Energy Consortium
Rubber Manufacturers Association’s Be Tire Smart.
With insight and participation from our partners, we anticipate another successful year as we raise consumer awareness about fuel efficiency and influence a positive change in the economy, health of the environment and our national energy security. This May, for example, API's Chief Economist and Directory of Policy John Felmy joined Alliance President Kateri Callahan in a D$C radio media tour that reached listeners nationwide with the campaign's fuel efficiency message – just in time for Memorial Day, the start of the summer driving season.
If you’d like more information on becoming a campaign partner or would like to discuss outreach opportunities, please email Senior Director of Consumer Campaigns Rozanne Weissman (rweissman@ase.org).
www.drivesmarterchallenge.org
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