utility | Charging the Energy Brand

At CHARGE 2016, Tomaz Oresic, Chairman of the board at Elektro Maribor, presented on the current outlook of the electricity supply value chain is going through major changes, with new players entering the market, shift of perception of electricity as a basic commodity and how the customer is increasingly being put at the very centre. These disruptive trends are changing the old electric utility business model with the result of an increasing number of utilities starting to pay more attention to branding.

Tomaz points out that utilities have been marketing an almost invisible product to an undefined customer with top-down communication strategies. These engagement strategies have often failed since the electricity suppliers have not walked the talk and due to mismatched communication.

Dr. Friðrik Larsen (FL), of LarsEn Energy Branding and KC Boyce (KCB) of Market Strategies International sat down for a chat on Energy Branding and marketing efforts of utilities. This is an excerpt, the article originally appeared on the Market Strategies International Blog. Both Friðrik and KC will be delivering keynote addresses at CHARGE Energy Branding Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland next September.

(KCB) In the US, we’ve identified six factors that drive consumers’ brand trust: customer focus, company reputation & advocacy, communication effectiveness, reliable quality, environmental performance and community outreach. How does this compare to what you see elsewhere in the world?

(FL) These factors are similar to my own qualitative research findings done throughout Europe, both in areas with a long history of liberalized energy markets as well as newly or soon-to-be deregulated eastern European markets. What differs between countries is what consumers expect from the utilities and consumers’ varied understanding of the underlying concepts. For example, consumers in Iceland are used to hydropower and consider nuclear to be a dirty energy source. However, Eastern European countries—that only know dirty coal (in terms of everything in the country being covered in a layer of ash)—consider nuclear to be a green source of energy.

(KCB) What can utilities do to improve their company’s reputation among consumers?

Utilities need a more brand-minded, customer-centric strategy. That can prove to be difficult, especially for bigger utilities, but it’s very important to be honest and credible in communications. For instance, oftentimes a utility tries to make connections to certain imagery in the consumers’ mind, but the consumer is given no choice to understand why that utility should be connected to that imagery.

Here‘s an example: Before rebranding in 2008, British Gas was losing 40,000 electricity customers each month. This old behemoth identified its strengths in the consumers‘ minds as well as its faults inside the organization. After a 2009 rebranding, British Gas saw lower churn rates among existing customers and was attracting new customers. The brand became more resilient towards bad PR as well. This was the result of increased customer affinity, positive perception and improved attitudes towards the brand. It is a really interesting market, and I find it fascinating to watch that energy branding ecosystem develop, with established players trying to evolve and newcomers trying new approaches to become dominant.

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This is an excerpt, For the full article see the original post on the MSI blog