The Dutch energy landscape is dominated by complexity and unpredictability, with most suppliers charging fees when consumers feed excess solar electricity generated by their environmentally conscious solar panels back into the grid. The system creates a feeling of powerlessness forcing consumers to navigate fluctuating prices and confusing contract terms. Energy supplier Zonneplan offers a different approach: no feed-in fees.
A new campaign for Dutch energy supplier Zonneplan that takes an unconventional approach to energy marketing, using absurdist humour and visual drama to highlight the chaos of the Netherlands’ volatile energy market.
Created by ACE Amsterdam and directed by Angelo Cerisara through HAMLET, ‘Good Plan, Zonneplan’ uses a distinct visual style and humour in a category that typically relies on serious messaging.
Drawing on the contrast between chaos and clarity, a slightly over-the-top presenter interrupts a series of absurd, unhinged scenes that visualize the stress and unpredictability plaguing energy consumers: wild price fluctuations, widespread confusion, and a pervasive sense of helplessness. These exaggerated “Bad Plan” moments represent the old energy paradigm.
The presenter then confidently introduces Zonneplan’s alternative: an integrated system allowing consumers to generate, store, and use their own energy through solar panels, home batteries, and smart chargers – restoring calm, control, and common sense to household energy management.
Koen de Boer, creative at ACE said: “Energy ads often like to paint an overly optimistic and wholesome picture. But that’s not how consumers actually feel. We aimed to do justice to their true emotions, with just a touch of drama, a glimmer of sweat and a barefoot guy on a hovering solar panel.”
Angelo Cerisara, director, HAMLET added: “Think about hell and then a person walks in with a cup of tea. That’s our presenter riding a solar panel barefoot.
We made it very Dutch with clichéd dressing but subtle enough that you only notice if you look twice. There are cows everywhere and the woman is hugging a large piece of cheese. It’s the most classical TV advertising setup: a family and a vendor selling something. We just made adjustments to that, we changed everything but the formula. That’s why it feels so odd yet very familiar.”
The campaign is running online on TV, digital and social channels throughout The Netherlands.
