The Pantone Color Institute has just released a new shade of purple in honor of the late music icon Prince.

Prince was and always will be a music icon, but what made the world's foremost color authority want to honor him?

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation

Casey is a Brand Manager for KSV.  With years of experience in sustainability consulting, Casey brings outside expertise to KSV's marketing practices.  

 

Andrew Winston is a sustainability rock star.

He is a consultant, author, speaker, and strategist, and the list goes on. His books Green to Gold and The Big Pivot are must-reads for anyone interested in the private sector’s role in addressing issues like climate change, resource constraints, and the role of business in society.

We had a chance to sit down with Andrew and talk energy, and the results were fascinating if not a little frightening.

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation

Don’t believe us? Watch this video, which incidentally already has 3.3 million views and over 24,000 likes thanks to a social share from Star Trek legend George Takei and a serious turn from Saturday Night Live Weekend Update alum Cecily Strong:

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation

We have a lot to say when it comes to disruption in the energy industry. 

And our focus thus far has been on companies like Drift and Dandelion, lean organizations that are looking to reimagine the supply chain, focus on customer-centricity, and disrupt the utility and ESCO business model. 

But what if utilities and ESCOs could be the disruptors rather than the disrupted?

Now that's a shift in the whole "disruption" conversation. Suddenly, a challenge becomes an opportunity. 

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation

Disruption in the energy space is akin to winter in the land of Westeros: We all know it's coming at some point, but no one knows when and not a soul can predict exactly what it will bring. And most of the time when we hear (or write) about disruption, it's related to supply and delivery, much like our last week's EnergyWire post on Dandelion.

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation

Blockbuster went bankrupt in 2010, brought down in part by a business they didn’t even consider a competitor but rather a "very small, niche business." That "small" and "niche" business took less than ten years to disrupt Blockbuster's business model, shift consumer expectations, and eliminate the need for physical infrastructure. And now, that little company, Netflix, is worth an estimated $70B.

Aging business models, ever-shifting consumer expectations, reliant on physical infrastructure...sound familiar to anyone?  

Well, have you heard of Dandelion? They’re just a very small, niche business....that got its start at Google’s Alphabet...

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation

What do the boogieman and energy marketing have in common?

The unknown. 

Uncertainty about what lurks (or doesn’t lurk) around every corner (or under every bed) is the reason that young children run to their parents’ room at 1:00am.

It’s why moms and dads crawl under beds with flashlights to prove there are no such things as monsters.

The same uncertainty that creates a fear of monsters in children can also affect decision makers at businesses large and small.

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation

Just this week, Volvo became the world's first major automaker committing to an all "electrified" lineup of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and electric vehicles. 

 

When? Beginning with models introduced in 2019. Just 18 short months from now. 

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation

Jell-O and energy marketing.

What can we, as energy marketers, learn from this infamous dessert?

You may have heard this story before.

But we thought the best stories deserve retelling and that reminding ourselves of the virtues of great content marketing would be a sweet way to kickoff the holiday weekend.

So here it goes:

At the turn of the 20^th century, a little product named Jell-O was launched. And despite a marketing campaign that touted all the product’s attributes (something we see often in energy product marketing): “No cook-book necessary!”, “No baking!”, “Simply add boiling water!” the new product never achieved anything above lackluster sales.

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation

Last week we wrote about a small player making a big break that got some attention.

This week we're focused on some names you might be slightly more familiar with.

When Amazon announced that it would acquire Whole Foods last week, the business world snapped to attention.

Both Whole Foods' and Amazon's stock prices went up.

But what does the e-commerce giant that has totally changed the way we shop mean for an industry that has been relatively the same for years?

Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation