Overview

As power outages surged across the U.S. in 2023 and 2024 — from wildfires in California to grid failures in Texas — consumer interest for home backup power solutions grew, yet most solutions remained expensive and complex.

BioLite, well-known for its off-grid energy innovations in emerging markets, identified a gap: a need for an affordable, modular system that anyone could easily install in the small recesses of a kitchen or home office. The result was Backup — a sleek new class of home batteries that install in under 30 minutes, fit behind a fridge, scales from 1.5 to 10.5 kWh, and brings energy resilience within reach of the everyday household.

Through a phased rollout across Kickstarter, earned media, influencer programs, and a high-profile CES 2025 debut, BioLite captured widespread consumer interest, industry attention, and early commercial momentum.

Objectives + Tactics

• Pioneer a new home energy category > Introduce scalable, super-slim batteries for modern homes
• Educate the market > Raise awareness about energy insecurity and household resilience
• Generate early adoption > Use Kickstarter to validate demand and secure funding
• Establish brand authority > Position BioLite as a credible player in U.S. home energy
• Win media + industry recognition > Breakthrough at CES 2025 and continue momentum beyond

Strategic Planning

Category Creation
The BioLite team identified clear whitespace in the crowded backup battery landscape: no one was offering a beautiful, scalable, install-it-yourself, always-on home backup power. Where the present state of the market leaned into bulky specs and contractor installs, BioLite led with emotional storytelling around family safety and “home resilience.”

Messaging Strategy

The comms team designed layered messaging across press, video, and influencer content. Core themes included:

• Grid instability and the new normal of power outages for the American family
  
• Design-forward storytelling (thin, scalable, beautiful)
  
• Ease of use
• Affordabilty
  

Phase 1: Kickstarter Launch (September 18, 2024)

To validate market demand and build DTC momentum, BioLite launched Backup on Kickstarter, paired with a tightly choreographed media and influencer strategy.

On September 18, 2024, BioLite launched Backup on Kickstarter. The goal was twofold: generate early demand and build a narrative engine. Within 48 hours, the campaign was fully funded. Within a month, it had raised over $1.2 million from 2,387 backers.

• Backers: 2,387
• Total Raised: $1.21M
• Time to Fund: Under 48 hours
• Preorders in Week 1: 198+

Validation from the Press

With a PR strategy led by Purple Orange, the campaign earned over 27.7 million media impressions and standout placements in Fast Company, The Verge, and Electrek. More than 15 feature stories helped fuel a flood of organic traffic and early preorders. The messaging focused on everyday resilience, not doomsday scenarios — a tone that resonated with families, renters, and design-conscious buyers.

Top Headlines Included:

• Fast Company: “This sleek, low-cost battery keeps your power on if the grid goes down”
• The Verge: “A smarter home battery you can install yourself”

Kickstarter Launch PR Support

• Earned Media Impressions: 27.7M+
• Feature Placements: 15+
• Referral Impact: 198+ preorders driven via press
• Influencers Put a Face to the Functionality

Influencer & UGC Support

To push the story beyond earned media, BioLite activated its first full-scale influencer program. The Purple Orange team led a focused influencer campaign with three creators focused on 1. Home Preparedness, 2. DIY, and 3. Tech — producing behind-the-scenes content from the BioLite HQ and real-world demos in the home. The program extended BioLite’s messaging well beyond its core customer base, tapping into new audiences primed for home innovation and energy security. The campaign ultimately reached 198,000 people, drove 228,000 video views, and achieved a 4.1% engagement rate.

Execution Highlights

• Partnered with 3 mid-tier creators (DIY, tech, home preparedness)
• Filmed a behind-the-scenes tour at BioLite HQ
• Emphasized installation ease and family-centric use cases

With limited samples and the inabilty to test in person, we brought testing and trust to hundreds of thousands of target customers. Viewers saw parents install the product in real-time, watched as it powered a fridge during a simulated outage, and heard authentic stories of what energy resilience looks like in the modern household.

Phase 2: CES 2025 Launch

The campaign culminated with a high-visibility debut at CES 2025, positioning Backup as a breakthrough innovation in smart home energy. Then came the industry stage: CES 2025, where BioLite debuted Backup to the tech world — and the tech world took notice.

Backup was named a CES Innovation Award Honoree, recognized for its slim design, modular engineering, and intuitive setup. It earned “Best of CES” honors from USA Today, Engadget, Popular Science, and CNN Underscored, with runner-up accolades from CNET, ZDNet, and Mashable.

“The rare emergency product you’d actually want to display” (Engadget)

“A smart, self-installed system for families and renters” (Popular Science)

“Perfect for climate-conscious living” (CNN Underscored)

The campaign generated over 572 million impressions and drove 198+ preorders during show week. More than 60 press leads were captured directly at the booth — a clear sign that the product had moved from early adopter buzz to mainstream relevance.

Industry Recognition

• 2025 CES Innovation Award
• Best of CES — USA TODAY
• Best of CES — Engadget
• Best of CES — Popular Science
• Best of CES — CNN Underscored
• Runner-up Best of CES — CNET
• Runner-up Best of CES — ZDNet
• Runner-up Best of CES — Mashable
• Runner-up Best of CES — PCMag
• Runner-up Best of CES — Lifehacker

CES Media Outcomes

Conclusion

The launch of Backup by BioLite was more than a successful campaign — it was the introduction of a new class of home energy. With a clear vision, category-first strategy, and coordinated execution across media, creators, and industry channels, BioLite proved that innovation isn’t just about power — it’s about putting that power where people need it most.

BioLite’s launch of Backup proved that home battery systems don’t have to be intimidating, unaffordable, or hidden in a garage. With the right design and the right story, resilience can become a feature of everyday life — not a luxury.

“We didn’t just launch a product,” the BioLite team noted. “We launched a new way to think about home energy.”