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I: Tell me a little bit about yourself. Where are you from?

What area of Houston do you live in?

A: I'm Mexican, I work in-- excuse me, I live in Harris

County.

I: Okay, and how many years have you been living here in
Texas?

A: About 15 years now. I've never moved out of state, I've

always-- even though I don't like the weather very much, but
well, here I am.

I: Well, yes. I see you have curly hair like mine, so-- but
it's nice, I like it. And do you live with your family? Do you
live alone?

A: Yes, I live with my two children and my husband.

I: Oh, okay. Well. Thank you Aurora for sharing a little bit
about yourself to get to know you, and now I want to get into
this morning's topic, okay? The first thing I want to ask you
is who is your current electricity provider?

A: TXU Energy.
I: TXU Energy, sorry. How long have you been with TXU?

A: I'm going on five years with them now.

I: Okay, five years. Tell me what your experience has been

like, I mean, what has your experience been like with this
company that has motivated you to stay with them for five
years?

A: Well, the truth is that they have always offered me a very

good-- like a right of-- they pay for my electricity, they
offer me promotions like "the electricity is free tonight." It
depends, they give me a lot of options for me to choose my
plan myself. I've never had a problem with them, that's why I
decided to stay.

I: Okay, and what about customer service, how has your

experience been with them?

A: Very good, actually. I have never had a problem. The truth

is that I communicate very little with the customer service
since now everything is done through the app, so they also
have a chat where you can use it 24 hours a day and they
answer you.

I: Okay. Do you use the TXU app?

A: Yes.
I: Yes? Is it easy or hard? I mean, how do you use that app?

A: Very easy, it even has little pictures, everything is very

simple. You can see your dashboard, you can see what you spent
in previous months, it tells you what you spend the most on,
whether on electricity, appliances, or many other things. So
the truth is that I have felt very comfortable and I don't--

I: Okay, so it also defines what you spend? If you are

spending it on electricity or appliances and it also gives you
information about your daily consumption? Does it also give
you that kind of information?

A: Actually I have always checked on monthly consumption. I

don't really do it in daily consumption, I do it in monthly
consumption. But yes, for example, it shows me in percentages
how much I am spending, it even gives it to me in colors, so I
really understand it very well.

I: Okay, in percentages what you are spending and it gives it

to you in colors and it gives it to you as you are looking at
it monthly, okay.

A: Yes, they give me a graph.

I: Okay, it gives you a graph. One question. I don't think

you've ever had the Reliance company, have you?

A: I've never had it.

I: Okay. What do you know about it? When I say Reliance, what
comes to mind?

A: Actually, in Houston, the stadium came to mind first.

I: Stadium, right? Okay, that's what we want to know, what

connects people with Reliance. Anything else? I don't know
what impression, maybe it's what kind of company Reliance is.

A: Well, I don't really imagine it as a light company.

I: Why don't you imagine it as a light company?

A: I don't know; the name doesn't connect me with a light

company.

I: Okay. So have you seen any advertising lately from

Reliance?

A: Not really.

I: No? Okay, that's fine, no problem. So now we're going to

start with another part that we're going to spend most of our
time on. I'm going to show you some ideas for some
commercials. I want to emphasize the word "ideas" because they
are really ideas, they are not 100% developed commercials. I
don't even have all the images to show you, I have mostly a
narrative that is telling how the idea is going to develop.
And I only have two images, one that shows you the beginning
and the other image shows you the end of that narrated idea.

So I don't want you to focus so much on the fact that there

are no images or that the image is not 100% in color, or maybe
the quality of the video, or the voices, because everything
will change completely when the commercial itself is made. The
most important thing is to listen to the idea, which is an
idea that would be good to develop completely in a commercial.
Am I making myself understood? I know you have your pencil and
paper, if you want to write down anything that catches your
attention because later I will ask you questions: "What caught
your attention? What did you like? What didn't you like? What
did you understand? What didn't you understand?" I will ask
you all of that.

Give me a little bit, I'm going to make sure I have the first
video ready to show you. Okay, I got it. Okay, I got it,
sorry. You're the first one this morning so I'm still working
on it. Okay, here it is. I'm going to be playing just for a
little bit to make sure you hear the sound. Do you hear the
sound of the narrator? Okay, so I’ll play it from the
beginning.

[Commercial #1]

I: Well, I'm going to play it a second time. The same one but
for you to hear it a second time.

[Commercial #1]

I: Okay, you saw the first one right? The first thing I want
to do is I want you to basically give it like a rating from
one to five, where one is you didn't like it at all and five
is you liked it quite a bit. But it can be any number between
one and five, it can be two, three, four, whatever you want.
What would you give to this particular one, to the idea?

A: In what I heard I give it five. It explains everything in a

short time and gives you options. I would give it a five.

I: Okay. Tell me about exactly what he is communicating to

you, what he is giving you.

A: Well, it gives you options to choose your electricity plan,

it gives you offers in a short time, it gives you the
flexibility of the different plans they have in a short time,
and obviously as a customer it calls your attention to, okay,
I can save on weekends, on free nights or on two days a week.

I: Two days a week, okay. And what else did you like to give
it a five? What do you think about the way they are telling it
to you?

A: I'm struck by the solar power without panels.

I: Okay, why does that catch your attention?

A: Well, because obviously now everything is about the

environment, so we want to use panels and save energy.

I: What do you think is the main message of this idea? What

are they trying to tell or communicate to the client?
A: That, protecting the environment with solar panels.

I: Is there anything else they are trying to communicate about

the whole message of this idea?

A: Well, it gives you the option to choose your plan,

"energize your way", I mean, choose your plan and go the way
of your economy, seeing what works best for you.

I: Okay, the option to choose your plan. And you heard that
phrase "energize your way", how do you interpret it, "energize
your way"?

A: Well, I'm going to pay what I want to pay.

I: Okay. Anything else you liked or didn't like? Either

positively or negatively.

A: No, I like it, I really like it. It was a short but

concrete message.

I: Okay. Anything that was maybe confusing?

A: A little bit about the briefcase, but the rest of it later

he explains it. I don't know, when he does the spray thing,
that he indicates the eight in a laser because he indicates
the days that you can save. But I didn't understand a little
bit when he is standing in the shadow and he sees himself with
the tuxedo, then the briefcase.

I: What do you think his role was? What was the story about?
Because they did it in a way that was kind of different from
other commercials, but what was the story about?

A: Well, reflecting his shadow, I mean, obviously because

there was a place with light, always focusing on solar energy.

I: Did you understand or not that he was like an agent, like a

kind of agent? Did you understand that or not?

A: A little bit, I mean, I was really struck by the clothing,

the shadow and the briefcase.

I: Okay, because remember I only have two images to show you,

but it would develop quite a few images for you to understand
that it is being carried out as an agent. But you understood
only a little bit, that's what I'm understanding. Okay, well,
all right, I'm going to show you, talking about 100% solar
energy. Let's talk a little bit more about it. The 100% solar
energy, when the advertisement says this, what does it mean to
you? What does it mean? What are you going to receive?

A: Well, I don't know, maybe more discount.

I: Okay, why more discount?

A: Well, because they are going to take advantage of all the
energy from the sun.

I: Okay. Now, how do you think customers receive 100% solar

energy, especially without panels? How do you imagine that
would work?

A: Actually that really caught my attention but I really have

no idea how they would do it without panels.

I: Okay, all right. Now, based on the information-- you say a

discount, but with this plan they are offering 100% solar
energy in this ad you say you would pay something additional
or not?

A: No, on the contrary, that's why I have more options in plan

to pay a little less.

I: Okay. You have more options in plan to pay a little less,

including 100% solar energy, is what I understand.

A: Exactly.

I: Okay, well. Some companies offer what you call "100%

renewable energy", that's what they call it in English. In
Spanish it translates to "100% energía renovable." I don't
know if you've heard the terminology of renewable energy.
A: No.

I: You haven't heard it. If I say 100% renewable energy, what

comes to your mind?

A: Something new.

I: Something new? Okay. Anything else when you think of the

word "renewable" "renewable energy"? Anything else that comes
to mind?

A: Well, something that you can reuse.

I: Okay, something you can reuse. What do you prefer to hear,

100% solar energy or 100% renewable energy?

A: 100% solar energy.

I: Why? Why do you prefer that term?

A: I understand it easier. Renewable I can interpret it in

many ways and solar energy is directly.

I: Okay. Now, what do you think the ad needs to do to help you

understand or for you to get more information about how 100%
solar energy works without panels?
A: Maybe with a picture I can figure out how they would use
it.

I: Okay. Anything else they can put in the ad so you can learn
more about solar without panels?

A: Well, obviously with a sun.

I: Okay. It would be nice if they put a website where you can

go to find out more information, or doesn't that help you with
a website?

A: Obviously, we are all very technological now, learning how

to use these new modalities. It would be very helpful.

I: Okay, so if they put a page there where you can go to find

out more about it, would you do it or not?

A: Yes, I would.

I: And why do you think you would? Why would you go to that
page to find out how solar energy works without panels?

A: Well, obviously if I'm going to make a switch I need to

understand what I'm switching to. And I need to obviously see
how it works, if it's not going to fail me, if I'm not going
to have problems, if it's going to be a sure thing.

I: Okay, now, in terms of-- I don't know if you heard during

the announcement something about an app, I don't know if you
heard.

A: Yes.

I: Yes? And what do you remember about the app?

A: That it was like what I was telling you, that it would show
you like a graph, your discounts, it would explain to you what
your savings actually were. So yes, obviously the more you as
a customer see that you are saving, obviously it makes you a
stable customer.

I: Okay. So here I'm going to show you more or less an example

of what the app would look like on a phone. I'm going to read
to you the following: "Customers on a 'choose your free
electricity' plan also have access to the Reliance app. There
they can see what percentage of their electricity is free, as
well as information about their consumption and their solar
impact. In this example, the customer will be able to see
information about their plan with free nights. Truly free
nights is the example being given here." What do you like or
dislike about what you're seeing here in the app in this
image?

A: No, I actually like it fine.

I: Okay. Tell me a little bit about what you see, what do you
think is good?

A: Well, I am very impressed by the projected cost, I mean,

what I could save on a monthly basis. And obviously that is
being reflected because what you are giving me in consumption
is daily, right?

I: Yes, well, here it does, here it gives it to you on a daily

basis, I mean, how do you interpret it?

A: Yes, I mean, it is giving me what I am saving per day and

obviously multiplying the 2.93 by my 30 months is obviously
where it gives me the projected cost, so I understand it well.

I: Okay. Does this impact your interest in what the ad is

offering you? I mean, knowing that this app is also going to
go with what the ad is offering you, I don't know if it calls
your attention more or less, or even if it calls you to
consider one of those plans.

A: I am more interested because I see a total amount, so I can

have a budget of what I can save monthly. That's more
appealing to me.

I: It gives you a total amount and helps you with a budget, it

helps you to program your expenses, that's what I understand.
Okay, so this is the part that catches your attention the
most. Anything else that could help you or be different, or
better? Especially since you use the TXU app, I don't know if
there is anything else that can be done better or different
compared to what you use.

A: No, I think it is a simple but understandable app.

I: Okay, simple but understandable. Well, then let's stop

sharing there. Now, about the armadillo, have you seen it
before or not?

A: No.

I: Okay. What do you think about the armadillo? If you were to

describe what kind of personality the armadillo has, how would
you describe it? If it were like a person, you would say "this
armadillo has the personality of--"

A: Someone strong.

I: Someone strong, okay. Why strong?

A: Because of his way of-- how I see him, like an agent. I

imagine someone who imposes on you when you see him. Someone
strong, imposing, like teaching you-- how do I explain it?
Like "I'm here to stay, I'm here to show you what I have," you
know what I mean? Like someone, not bad, but with a strong
personality.

I: Okay, with a strong personality who is there to show you

what he has. I don't know, do you see him in a positive or
negative way?
A: Positive.

I: Why positive?

A: Well, because of what he is teaching you, obviously he is

mentioning free energy, so by telling you free energy he is
already attracting you.

I: Okay. What do you think his role is for Reliance? What do

you think his role is?

A: The carrier.

I: What do you mean with the carrier? Sorry.

A: The carrier, well, he has the energy, I don't know.

I: Okay, all right. So let's go on to the next one, let me

open it up. So let's go on to the next one. Can you see the
screen?

A: Yes.

I: Same as the other one, I'm going to play it twice, okay?

Commercial #2

I: Well, the same one, I'm going to play it a second time.

Commercial #2

I: Well, you saw the second one. I don't want you to compare
it with the previous one, just evaluate this one individually.
So, with this one you just saw, what rating would you give it
from one to five? One is you don't like it at all, five you
like it quite a bit and it can be two, three and four. What
number would you give this one in particular?

A: I want to give it a five because I even felt relaxed

watching it, because it's like the day-to-day life of doing
two things at the same time, having information, checking at
the same time.

I: Okay. And why did you feel relaxed? Tell me a little bit
about that.

A: Because it mentions watching soccer, brushing your teeth,

at the same time checking your information, opening the window
and seeing the information that maybe you needed, the sun.
It's a little bit more explicit, a little bit easier. I felt
relaxed from the moment in the-- their soccer shirt, the way
it's on the floor.

I: Do you relate to what you're seeing?

A: Yes.

I: Or what you're listening to, mostly, you relate to it. Why

do you relate to it?

A: I relate to it because I told you at the beginning that I

related Reliance's name to a stadium, so obviously here he's
talking about soccer. Automatically when I see the Reliance
logo, I see the stadium logo, the sport. I connect a little
bit more.

I: Okay. What do you think is the main message of this idea?

What are they trying to communicate with this idea?

A: The same, the savings.

I: And how does it communicate energy savings?

A: Well, by making use of sunlight.

I: Okay, making use of sunlight. Any other way they are

letting you know that you can save?

A: By doing things from your cell phone, doing more of your

daily life without worrying so much about things like that.
I: Okay. In that one also did you understand or not if they
are giving you bidding options?

A: Uh-huh.

I: Okay. Was there anything that was unclear, that was maybe a
little confusing?

A: No.

I: Anything else that stood out to you? Either in some

positive or negative way.

A: Positive. It makes me mention about something with bright

light, using an electric brush, making use of my cell phone at
the same time, thinking about my light, checking without
wasting my time. That gives me a positive impact.

I: Okay, you can do all that without wasting your time and you
are using all those devices at the same time. Anything else
about this one?

A: Well, now I can afford to use more electricity without

worrying so much about my energy.
I: Okay. Well, then I'm going to show you the third and last
one, you know how it works. Here it is, this is the last one,
I'm going to play it.

Commercial #3

I: Okay, I'm going to play it for you a second time.

Commercial #3

I: Okay, that's the last one. Same thing, try to evaluate it

individually and then let's compare. What number would you
give from one to five to this particular one?

A: I didn't like it. I give it a one.

I: A one. Why didn't you like it?

A: I feel like if you're auditory and you're not watching,

obviously you wouldn't have noticed the color of the bread
related to the plans they're offering you. I feel like for
this you would need to be watching it very well for it to give
you the message that you want to hear.

I: Well, as you know, I don't have the charts, but I want to

evaluate this based on the idea, the idea itself, whether it's
an idea worth developing further.
A: It confuses me a little bit, they mention to you a lot of
times "sweeten your life" "make your life sweeter." I feel
like it focuses me more on something about food.

I: Okay, well. These phrases kind of are focusing you more on

some food. What else maybe was confusing or wasn't clear?

A: It wasn't clear what solar energy was because it didn't

tell me much about the circle that everybody now uses to shoot
some video. It doesn't tell me anything.

I: It doesn't tell you anything. What do you think they were

trying to say? Although maybe they didn't get it right, what
do you think they were trying to do with this idea? What was
the purpose? Even though it didn't play out completely well,
what do you think the purpose of this idea was?

A: Well, to make your life lighter, without worrying the same,

but it doesn't transport me.

I: Okay, and about the loaves, did you interpret them in any
way or not?

A: I interpreted them, yes, by the color.

I: And what did you interpret by the color? What does it mean?
A: Not so much the figure, it was just the color because
obviously I was looking at the color of the plans below. But
it didn't tell me much.

I: Okay, so what did those colors mean?

A: The plans that I was looking at below, I mean, the blue

beads were the first of-- the weekends.

I: Okay, so each color of bread you were relating it to each

of the plans below. That's what I want, even if you didn't
like it, at least to know what you understood or what you
think they were trying to do with that idea that maybe didn't
come across well, but what you imagine they were trying to do
with this idea. Anything else?

A: Yes, maybe if they differentiate it in colors it obviously

makes it more striking to what you are reading. But yes, in
this case it doesn’t.

I: Okay, don't worry. Well, then I'm going to show you the
three you just saw, okay? These are the three. The first one
was this one here, the one up here of the people. The second
one here was of soccer, and here is the third one, this is the
last one you just saw. Of all these three I'd like to know
which one was easiest for you to understand. "Choose your free
electricity" which one makes it easier for you to understand
that you can choose your free electricity?

A: The second one.

I: The second one, the soccer one, why did that one gives you
the idea of "choose your electricity for free"? Why was it the
easiest one? Now we are comparing it.

A: Because of the image of him looking happy. Relaxed, happy.

I: But remember that in all these I don't have many images to

show you, but the idea remains that you remember, what makes
it easier for you to understand that you can choose your free
electricity? I don't know if from what they were telling you
you remember what made it easier for you to understand that
you had those choices.

A: Yes, the second one was the one that made it clearer to me
the plans that I could choose with the most explicit things.

I: Okay. Now, of all of these, it may be the same one or it

may be a different one, but which one of these would motivate
you to call Reliance or visit their website for more
information? It could be the same one you just told me or
another one that's going to motivate you more to find out more
about what Reliance is offering.

A: The second one.

I: The second one. And why the second one? When you tell me
you get things more explicit, can you give me an example of
what that is?
A: It became easier for me, they mention you the name of the
company, it mentions the plans, immediately when you see a sun
it's telling you it's solar energy. Obviously they would do it
with more details, but yes, the second one gave me the
information I needed the easiest.

I: Okay. Now, does this publicity somehow change your

perception of Reliance? Because I know you had told me that
you don't see Reliance as an electric company. I don't know if
it changes your opinion or not about the company now.

A: It does change because now I obviously relate to it a

little bit more. It does change.

I: Okay, do you relate it a little more to electricity, is

that what you mean? Or to something else?

A: Well, obviously with everything, with what I had in my

head, when I listened to Reliance with the logo on the t-
shirt, with energy. I do relate it more.

I: And you were telling me that with the logo on the t-shirt
because I don't know if you relate it to the stadium, I think
that's what you mentioned before, or do you mean something
else with the logo on the t-shirt?

A: Yes, I relate it to the stadium and obviously seeing the

logo on the t-shirt transports me a little bit more. Then it
takes me to the stadium, the stadium is called "Energy", so
now I'm going more with--
I: Okay. Now I'm going to show you some words. Those are some
words that I have, maybe you can pick three to four words
here. What do you think the ad is communicating? Especially
the one that you liked the most. What are the words that you
think this ad is communicating? If you were to pick three to
four words.

A: Economic.

I: Economic, okay. Two or three more, what would they be?

A: Innovative.

I: Innovative, okay.

A: And reliable.

I: And reliable, okay. Why does the ad communicate “economic”

to you?

A: Because it is giving me different plans.

I: Okay, and why does it communicate “innovative”?

A: Because it is talking about solar energy.

I: And why is it communicating “reliable”? Why is it
communicating “reliable”?

A: Because obviously it's a company that has been around for

many years and is trying to bring in something new to keep
customers happy.

I: Okay. Putting in something new, why does that make it

reliable? Because it's a long-standing company? I want to
understand exactly what makes it reliable.

A: Because it is now innovating with panel-less solar energy.

I: Okay. Anything else that makes Reliance a reliable company

based on this announcement?

A: No, that's it.

[00:49:36]