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Recent Posts by David Wigder
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Interview with Adam Capage, Director, Utility Partnerships, 3Degrees With the #1 renewable energy program in the US, the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) must be doing something right. In fact, despite a formidable price hurdle, CPAU has managed to sign up over 20% of Palo Alto residents for clean energy, and is not finished yet. Notably, when CPAU decided to aggressively market renewable energy to its customers, it decided to reach beyond traditional utility circles to engage the right marketing partner. For that, CPAU turned to 3Degrees to educate consumers and convert them to clean energy. Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with Adam Capage, Director of Utility Partnerships at 3Degrees. We spoke of the challenges that marketers face when
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Interview with Tom Auzenne, Assistant Director, City of Palo Alto Utilities Electrical power generation accounts for 40% of total annual greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the US. Such a high concentration of GHGs is due to our reliance on highly polluting fossil fuels, especially domestic coal. Yet, while the popular press focuses on the recent growth in renewable energy, it still provides only 2% of our total electrical needs today. Until recently, many arguments have been made for why adoption of clean energy remains slow. Certainty, price ranks as the #1 barrier to broader adoption. Other factors include reliability concerns and lack of education about the technologies. Interestingly, Palo Alto, California has bucked this trend. Over the course of
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Marketing green can be a challenge for even the most seasoned professional. There are many reasons for this of course: consumer beliefs are still evolving; demand is not well established; and even where it is, purchase behavior tends to be inconsistent (e.g., the same consumer buys the hybrid and the SUV). For green marketers to be successful, they must effectively and efficiently target their audience when and where consumers are most receptive to green messaging. For marketers, this is no easy task. While green content sites or periodicals may seem like a natural fit, advertisers must remember that consumers come in all shades of green. As such, focused periodicals may only reach “deep greens” which today represent only a fraction of the total population
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While creating and sharing user-generated content is an effective way to facilitate consumer engagement and viral marketing, it is not the only approach that marketers can take. Professionally produced original content is another proven way. Increasingly, agencies or production studios create and seed content on behalf of their clients for consumers to view and share online. One such shop is Free Range Studios which has produced several original videos that have generated significant buzz and viral impact in the green space. Calling its approach “socially conscious viral entertainment”, Free Range tries to “distill a complicated message into a fun or moving short story” while engaging its viewers by allowing them “to write the end of that story by taking action or
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Tapping social media to engage consumers as well as facilitate viral marketing has the potential to generate significant results for marketers. Not only can this drive greater brand impact but it can significantly increase reach to a receptive audience at little, if any, incremental cost. Today, more and more marketers are trying to launch campaigns that have the twin goals of increasing consumer engagement and viral marketing impact. For many marketers, it often appears that achieving these goals is more a matter of art. Yet, platforms such as Brickfish are emerging that are rapidly turning such an approach into a science. Brickfish is an online marketing platform that rewards participants for engaging with brands. The idea is quite simple:
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Managing Environmental Risk by Looking through the Rear-view Mirror
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A recent survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit identified both the top influencers of – and benefits derived from - corporate environmental risk management (CERM) programs. Two things are curious about these survey results. First, customers and investors rank relatively low in influence (fourth and seventh, respectively) despite the fact that “better corporate reputation” among these groups ranks as the primary benefit for launching CERM in the first place.
Second, “regulators” and “government” exert significant influence – second only to “executive management” – on companies to initiate CERM programs; in terms of benefits, however, “improved relations with regulators” ranks only eighth.
Risk Manager Responses from Recent Survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit
The high level influence of regulators and government suggests that corporations consider regulatory compliance as the primary measure of CERM success.This focus is understandable given the stiff fines imposed for non-compliance.
Moreover, it also suggests that corporations believe that regulatory compliance is the way to improve its reputation with customers and investors. Yet, while compliance is arguably important with customers and investors, it is simply the place to start.
When it comes to customer and investor groups, focusing solely on regulatory compliance is like driving a car by looking through the rear-view mirror. Quite simply, regulations do not necessarily reflect current consumer and investor expectations regarding corporate actions toward the environment; instead, they reflect those held in the past when the regulations were passed.
This is an important distinction because consumer and investor expectations regarding corporate environmental responsibility continuously evolve. As such, it is likely that current expectations have far surpassed current regulations in place today. Take climate change, for example. There is a growing consensus that carbon must be regulated, yet no binding limits yet exist in the US.
There are other cases where customers or investors actively challenge management’s environmental policies. For example, led by members of the Rockefeller family, ExxonMobil shareholders have made it clear that they believe that when it comes to climate change, compliance with existing regulations is not enough for this oil giant.
As such, corporations that primarily focus on regulatory compliance are likely falling short when it comes to improving their reputation with consumers and investors. Instead, management should try to better understand current customer and investor expectations toward the environment, and how these sentiments evolve with time. This will require corporations to take action that go beyond current regulatory mandates. It will also require recognition that customers and investors hold greater “influence” on CERM decisions than what is commonly realized today.
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