How we got The Solar People on the roof

A look behind the scenes of our new campaign

If you've caught our ads lately, you might have noticed something a bit unusual. Our people aren't just working on the roof. They're up there soaking up the sun on the panels, like it's the most normal thing in the world!

We've had a few questions about it, so we thought we’d share how it all came together.

It started with our people…

Before anyone wrote a script, the creative team spent time with Harrisons Solar business owners around the country, getting under the hood of how we actually work. They kept landing on the same simple truth: it's the people that make the difference. The person who comes round, explains things properly, and is there when you need them.

That's what The Solar People is all about. It's a simpler way of describing who we are.

The joke that stuck

The idea itself started as a bit tongue and cheek. Our people stick around for the life of your system, so why not go one step further and just live up there on the panels, for the life of the roof?

Everyone laughed. Then the more we talked about it, the more it made sense. It's a slightly silly picture of something we genuinely do.

For the characters, we wanted people our own team and customers would recognise when dealing with us. There's a little exaggeration for the sake of a laugh, but the traits are real. 

There’s Craig, a manifestation of our local business owners and our promise of value. He’s astute, honest and genuine. A lovable labrador that listens hard, aims to please and gets super excited by customer satisfaction and savings. He is also partial to sunburn.

Our customer care team, often the voice of Harrisons, is represented by Blossom.  She’s warm, unflappable and makes everything feel fine. Blossom represents our promise of service; helping our customers along the way no matter the issue.

Anita is the technical whizz. She is measured, pragmatic and no-nonsense.  She thinks in facts, units and data; some people wonder whether she counts electrons rather than sheep to fall asleep. Anita represents our expertise and our promise of quality service and products.

Finally there is Hemi. He’s a man of few words because each word matters. The person you want on your roof precisely because he has already been on almost as many as Santa. He represents ease and our promise of quality workmanship. 

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Tested, then all in

There were plenty of other ideas on the table, and a stack of scripts. Some went a lot further than what you see on screen, and a few have been saved for later. We tested them with real Kiwis before filming anything, and The Solar People came out well ahead. People even started adding their own ideas in the feedback: "it'd be funny if they did this next." From that point on, everyone was all in.

Giving solar some personality

Let's be honest: a solar panel on its own isn't much to look at. So we wanted every campaign to carry a bit of personality, and a bit of the love our people have for what they do.
The test was simple: If you could tell it apart from just another shot of panels on a roof, we'd done our job.

The crew behind it

The brief was to keep it bold, human and simple - good people in a slightly odd spot, playing it completely straight. That's harder than it looks, so a big thank you to our creative partners at ABEL and the team at FINCH, photographer Troy Goodall and Design Dairy. It's been a real partnership, and we're proud of what we made together.

No customers' roofs were harmed

In case you were wondering - nobody was up on a real customer's roof! We built a mock roof at Alexandra Park, about the height of a kid's slide, and filmed under controlled conditions with strict health and safety procedures the whole way through. Our panels are tough, but we'd still rather you admired them from the ground.

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More to come

The ads are only half the story. The real Solar People are the Harrisons Solar business owners and install teams in towns right around the country, doing the job properly, one roof at a time.

There's plenty more to come, so keep an eye on the roof.

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