by Ed Kramer (Author), Margaret Henkel (Editor)
It was the mid-1990's, and Ronald Regan had just deregulated the electric industry. I was bored.
With deregulation, TVA, (Tennessee Valley Authority), which had once monopolized the generation and distribution of electricity, suddenly found
itself on an alien playing field, rife with looming competition and in need of a real marketing manager, no, an entire marketing department. Now they had to woo their 160+ power distributors and directly-served industrial customers in a seven state area, or lose their business. In dire need of a marketing manager, they hired me.
One early campaign idea I came up with was "You need it, We got it," and my second brainstorm, "Where else can you go?" was catchy and to the point, but fell on deaf ears. Obviously, there was no longer any room for silly campaigns.
I created "Eddie Current, the Ambassador of POWER," who was a big success, and set off to sell, sell, sell on their clearly stated mission.
But in my during windshield time covering the vast TVA territory, my mind wandered as it is often prone to do. This is how the "What is Electricity" story came to be.