Off Peak

December 2001

Please Pass the Potatoes

 

Dynegy is hungry for your attention.

Dynegy's Chuck Watson never had much of an appetite for seeing his company's name in lights.

Those who needed to do business with Dynegy, formerly Natural Gas Clearinghouse, knew how to reach the company. That was good enough to build a Fortune 100 company. And it didn't matter if the general public continued to think of Dynegy as an over-the-counter cold medicine, or a balm for indigestion.

Over the past couple of years, though, there's been some unwanted attention. A few regulators, especially in California, learned that the company was one of those Texas-based energy marketers, gone west to rake in the profits. Often times, the West Coast regulators and legislators would mispronounce the company's name, calling it "Dynergy".

In a strategic shift, Dynegy hired Houston-based Fellers Marketing and Advertising to expand the company's brand awareness. They chose to launch a national advertising campaign that, at the very least, would teach the proper pronunciation of the company's name. The campaign started out in print and on billboards in the Houston area. But the big push came in October. That's when Dynegy co-sponsored the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship tournament in Houston.