A bold mission demands a bold campaign

Client: Cree

Cree, a leading manufacturer of LED lighting, brought Shelton Group on board in 2009 to help accomplish a bold mission for the day: to make incandescent and fluorescent lighting obsolete. As a competitor of industry titans like GE, Sylvania and Philips, Cree wanted to build a brand based on performance and leadership that would appeal to business decision makers. The new brand and B2B supporting campaign, “Lighting the LED Revolution,” heralded Cree’s LED technology as a game-changer … and the campaign was a game changer for Cree’s lead generation.

Client Challenge

Boost brand awareness and generate leads by addressing B2B specifiers’ reluctance to buy a brand they don’t yet deem tried and true.

Shelton Strategy

Prove Cree LEDs ready for primetime by visually contrasting LEDs against the prison-like dimness of standard office lighting … and call for specifiers to rise up against that norm of wasteful, unattractive lighting.

Critical Tactics

  • Video
  • Print collateral
  • Tradeshow presence

The Payoff

The campaign’s reveal at LightFair, a premier trade event, secured Cree 25% more qualified leads than the previous year, as well as a prominent article in The New York Times’ green section. Recall of campaign advertising was high: of those who buy or specify LEDs, 68% recalled seeing our trade journal ad, and 45% recalled reading it.

The best part? The campaign lined up with Cree’s release of several new products, and together, these efforts helped Cree grow its revenue from LED products 51% over the prior year – compared to growth of just 19% the year before.