Challenge

July of 2008, in the midst of one of the hardest fought presidential elections in history, oil prices hit a record high of $147 a barrel. With the United States reliant on imports to meet nearly 70% of demand for oil, the economic impact to the country projected to hit $700 billion on the year.

Groups on the left and right clambered for relief from prices at the pump calling for piecemeal actions ranging from drilling off the coasts and in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, cutting federal gas taxes and enacting windfall profits taxes on oil companies.

Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens reacted differently. With a lifetime of experience in the oil and gas industry, he understood that the problem wasn't one of small proportions and demanded a plan that intelligently used domestic resources to tackle the problem of transportation fueling without creating energy shortfalls in other portions of the economy.

Seeing the crisis of dependency as both the central crisis threatening America's future and also the greatest opportunity for bold action, Pickens wanted to launch a national campaign to raise awareness of the oil crisis. Armed with a plan to harness renewable wind power and American natural gas, Pickens set out to generate support for his plan, push the matter of a creating real national energy strategy to the forefront of the presidential race and force the federal government to take action in the first 100 days of the next administration. He reached out to Gogerty Marriott to develop the message and the strategy that could get the job done.

Approach

To face the dual challenge of shifting the scope of national debate and build a grassroots army capable of flexing significant political muscle, we developed a national advertising plan to pair with online grassroots organizing and earned media outreach.

Knowing that message would drive every component of the campaign, Gogerty Marriot conducted extensive public opinion research to identify the way to change the discussion of energy policy in the country. Despite strong public sentiment in favor of domestic oil drilling, the issue wasn't closed in people's minds there was a thirst for leadership that understood the scope and dynamics of the problem and could rise above the minutiae to create a plan for self-sufficiency.

Seeing the void of level-headed expertise, we designed a communications plan to position Pickens as the unquestioned expert on the subject while dispelling any suspicion of his motives. Laying out new information in a provocative, but factual manner, we began the national television campaign with an ad narrated entirely by T. Boone Pickens. In his earnest Texas draw, he laid out the staggering scope and effects of oil dependency and told the American people: I've been an oil man my whole life, but this is one emergency we can't drill our way out of, and the Pickens Plan was launched.

Result

Public and media response to Pickens was immediate and overwhelming. The grassroots army of supporters outstripped the original goal of 1 million, swelling to 1.4 million by election day 4 months after the campaign launched.

T. Boone Pickens became a fixture in the national energy debate and was invited to meet privately with both presidential nominees. After meeting with Pickens, both Senators Obama and McCain committed in their nomination acceptance speeches that they would take action to end America's dependence on foreign oil.

Energy legislation including all elements of the Pickens Plan has been drafted and Senator Byron Dorgan has promised to introduce the first portion of the plan as soon as the 111th Congress convenes.