As one of the largest energy providers in the Mid-Atlantic, PHI (Pepco Holdings, Inc.) serves millions of customers across Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. Keeping the lights on is just part of their mission—delivering reliable, accessible customer service is also just as critical.
Let’s be real—nobody wakes up excited to call their utility company.
If you’re on the phone with them, chances are, something’s gone wrong. Maybe the power’s out, maybe the bill is confusing, maybe you just need to update your service. Either way, no one enjoys navigating phone menus, waiting on hold, or explaining the same issue to three different representatives. And yet, for years, PHI’s customers kept calling.
PHI invested in online self-service tools that should have helped reduce these calls. Features like My Account, Pay My Bill, Outage Reporting, Moving Services, and Assistance Finder were built to make life easier. But as adoption lagged, customers weren’t using them as much as they could and call volume remained high.
Things weren’t exactly seamless, either. Each tool was managed by a different provider, which meant siloed data, bureaucratic headaches, and an uphill battle in making real improvements.
So, PHI turned to Doer/Maker with a simple but critical mission: get more people using My Account and other digital tools, reduce customer service strain, and make these online solutions work for the people they were designed for.
Changing the Conversation
We built a multi-channel campaign designed to meet customers where they already are—digitally. Our focus was on education and awareness. People weren’t avoiding online tools because they didn’t want to use them; they just didn’t know how much easier they could make their lives. We set out to change that.
Objectives:
Drive enrollments and usage for My Account and other PHI digital tools.
Educate customers about self-service options to reduce overall call volume.
Optimize campaign timing to align with peak service needs.
Use data insights to refine messaging and improve targeting.
Execution:
Digital Ads (Social Media, Google Display Network)
Print Materials to reinforce messaging
Organic Social Content for ongoing engagement
Instead of overwhelming customers with everything at once, we rolled out the campaign in strategic phases. My Account took center stage for the first two months, followed by Pay My Bill & Outages in alternating waves. Moving Services & Assistance Finder were introduced when they were most relevant, ensuring each tool received focused attention at the right time.
Results and Trends
By creating customer-centric messaging, we shifted perceptions—these weren’t just “corporate tools,” they were practical solutions that made life easier. And customers responded. While full campaign results will continue to unfold through 2025, early indicators are promising:
Increased awareness and enrollment in My Account and related tools.
Lower call volume, reducing strain on PHI’s customer service teams.
Improved click-through rates and engagement metrics across digital channels.
Key Learnings
Clarity Drives Adoption. Customers don’t resist change—they resist confusion. The clearer we made the benefits, the more users engaged.
Staggered Campaigns Work. Aligning messaging with peak service times maximized impact.
Data Will Keep Refining Strategy. Continued analysis of customer behavior will allow us to further optimize for long-term adoption and engagement.
The Last Word
This campaign wasn’t just about reducing phone calls—it was about creating a better experience for PHI customers while making internal processes more efficient. And that’s a win-win.
PHI knew what they wanted—fewer calls, more solutions. We made sure their customers knew how to find those solutions on their own. But in the process, we made MyAccount more than just a tool–it became a way to turn information into action, problems into solutions, and customers into advocates.