Reykjavik, Iceland — The world’s best energy brands were announced this evening as part of the CHARGE Energy Branding conference – the only event in the world dedicated to branding and communication for the energy sector.
Brands in eight categories were awarded from an initial shortlist from a global panel of experts in energy, marketing, branding and communication at the CHARGE Energy Branding conference in Iceland.
The winners for 2019 World’s Best Energy Brands are:
Established Brand: Contact Energy (New Zealand)
Challenger Brand: Powershop (New Zealand)
Green Brand: EWS Schönau (Germany)
Transmission brand: Elering (Estonia)Fluvio
Distribution brand: Fluvius (Belgium)
Product & Innovation brand: Powerledger (Australia)
B2B Brand: Haven Power (United Kingdom)
Organisation Brand: Enel Foundation (Italy)
Each brand won their respected category after being shortlisted by an international panel of professionals working in and around the energy sector. Shortlisted brands turned in a case study according to criteria that is specific to the energy space and the case studies were rated by the panel. In addition to the case-study, retail brands were rated by their customers.
What the panel had to say about the winners?
Contact Energy: Has an interesting value proposition with a strong belief in what they stand for. They believe it is all about building their people and they come first. An authentic brand that lives its commitment. It’s customer-targeted products and a digital customer experience innovations are considered to be truly differentiating in a crowded landscape. Customer-centric with a strong market position.
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Powershop: A unique brand that brings a creative appeal to customers. It has a very 2019 approach to its customers, delivery and services. A top performer in all of the criteria – and one panellist put it that it has “Very cute and effective marketing and promotions. Their brand and imaging permeates across the company and beyond.”
EWS Schönau: Power rebels, what to say – power with spirit – excellent story. A real green story, provide strong intangible power with spirit and are an example of focus, consistency and unique authenticity. A brand which has customers with an emotional connection to the brand.
Elering: Well defined segments, contributes to sustainable development by creating and matching their infrastructure with the environment. Differentiated and extends into the digital/smart infrastructure space visually and experientially – really living their design.
Fluvius: A very cohesive and well thought out brand. Approachable with strong presence and clear communication through all parts of the brand experience. Folksy and friendly.
Powerledger: Gives power to the people with creatives ways of engaging with its community. It has a clear product offering and clear segments and makes optimal use of all social and digital marketing tools.
Haven Power: Has a large potential – it is well thought through with an easy to use brand promise, a clear value proposition. And it is highly aware that it’s hard to differentiate without a strong brand. Its submission shows beautiful work with explaining the brand and its value proposition.
Enel Foundation: A clear brand that defines who/what they are – a thought leader with a clear target audience and awareness of who they serve. It has strong differentiation, it has a very ‘future’ feel to it and new ways of thinking about electricity which is effective whilst being relevant and approachable today.
Dr. Fridrik Larsen, founder of CHARGE Energy Branding: “We decided to expand the categories this year to eight and once again I was surprised by the quality of submissions and to see how many passioned brand builders there are out there in the energy sector. It was also interesting to see how customers rated their retailers and seeing more emotional bonds being formed with energy brands. We had submissions from almost every corner of the world so we can truly say that these are the World’s Best Energy Brands.”
Measuring energy brands
All participating brands from the shortlist had to turn in a case study based on criteria that is specific to the energy space. The submissions were evaluated by a panel of people that work in and around the energy sector as well as people in academia and experts and professionals in branding, marketing and communications. The retail energy brands were evaluated by their submissions as well as customer feedback that was caught with the EBBI tool that has been developed specially to measure energy brands, based on academic research on how customers perceive brands in the sector.
About the Charge Energy Branding Conference
The annual CHARGE Energy Branding Conference is the world’s first knowledge and networking platform on energy branding. As an international event strategically located between North America and Europe, CHARGE aims at leading the global conversation on communications in the energy and utilities sectors while drawing attention to issues of sustainability, innovation, and the consumer-centric experience. The conference is a hub for decision-making, networking and researching about energy branding as an emerging field.
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