Solar power company Sunrun has partnered with the Los Angeles Dodgers in order to educate Dodger Stadium visitors about solar power.
“We’re excited to expand our portfolio of professional sports partnerships by serving as an official residential solar company of the National League West champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers,” explained Michael Grasso, Sunrun’s chief marketing officer. “We look forward to showing more families in Los Angeles and across the country that they can power their homes with cleaner, cheaper electricity generated by a customized home solar system from Sunrun.”
The Dodgers are one of the more iconic teams in Major League Baseball, so getting to partner with them is quite a coup for Sunrun. The arrangement is scheduled to run through the 2017 baseball season, and with Dodger Stadium’s seating capacity rated at 56,000, Sunrun should get quite a bit of exposure.
Taking your product or service to a target audience is often an effective marketing strategy. Of course, Sunrun is promoting its own offerings, but it is also raising awareness about solar power in general, which is more affordable than it has ever been. It is possible that the average “person on the street” is unaware of this fact, and still believes solar power is unaffordable. Sunrun and the other solar power companies are faced with educating consumers and business owners about solar power’s benefits and affordability. The LA Dodgers organization doesn’t have to help, but chose to do so. This speaks to an open-mindedness and a community awareness.
Solar power is actually cost-competitive with traditional forms of energy, in some cases. Utilities are even investing in solar power, and their motivation is mainly economic, not mostly environmental.
Sunrun worked out a similar partnership with Westfield Malls this year, as well. The company is based in San Francisco, so it will be interesting to see if it can strike similar partnerships with Bay Area professional sports teams such as the Giants, Oakland As or Golden State Warriors.
Sunrun was founded in 2007 and has several thousands employees.
