“Are Your Gas Appliances Killing You?” That’s the way I began a piece of marketing collateral I wrote, well, back in the waning years of the 20th century. Back then, I worked in marketing for an electric utility, Salt River Project, and we were having our lunch eaten by a natural gas utility, Southwest Gas, in the new-home construction market. … Read More
Shortly after I launched Egan Energy Communications, I had the good fortune to work with a business coach. When I asked her how I could find prospective clients, a perennial concern of all businesses, she replied, “If you want to see Zebras, you need to go where the Zebras are.” Her wise advice has shaped our approach to utility marketing: … Read More
Every now and then I get a call from a client, a colleague or a prospective client about how to effectively communicate with the general public about a highly technical topic — nuclear power, price increases, advanced digital meters, strengthening the grid, and so on. Think About Your Audience Regardless of the specific topic, my recommendation is generally the same. … Read More
Raise your hand if you think your utility marketing efforts are misguided. Yeah, that’s what I thought. But rather than call out your utility’s marketing team, a less-confrontational approach might be to consider third-party research. That’s what today’s post is all about. You’re not saying it, I am. For years and years, corporate checkbooks have played an outsized role in … Read More
Almost every utility has a good story to tell, but too few consistently tell it well. Good news, whether it’s about cleaning up the environment or improving the quality of life in a community, is typically smothered under industry jargon or a legalistic avalanche of words. But people are busy. Less is more. For utilities especially, brevity is Job 1. … Read More
It’s not easy to talk about electric or gas service. Unlike consumer goods such as cars, homes or food, consumers can’t interact directly with electric or gas service: They can’t store it, they can’t give some of it to their friends, and it doesn’t really come in different colors. That’s why many utilities end up discussing their service in terms … Read More
Whatever utility communicators are selling these days, it doesn’t look like customers are buying. And we expect the problem will get worse before it gets better. A lot of utility communication plans are tied to rate cases, and utilities are filing a lot of rate cases these days. It looks like 100 or more rate cases will be filed across … Read More
