Here at Blumilk, our central aim is to better connect our clients to their customers and audiences via effective marketing and communication services. We know we’re doing our job right when our clients are expanding their customer base, being chosen for awards, and establishing their authority within their sector or field.
It can be daunting for companies large and small to choose an agency to deliver a project, strategy, or campaign. It takes time from both sides to find the most effective fit and to develop a working relationship so that we can better understand a client’s needs and requirements.
Here at Blumilk, we have 20 years experience providing marketing and communication services for clients across multiple sectors on both a regional (e.g. Northern Power Grid and Alnwick Gardens) and a national level (e.g. various NHS trusts and CCW). Here are some examples of what we have recently produced:
Central to this track record is that we have a very collaborative approach for all our projects and campaigns, preferring to create a collaborative bond with our clients, rather than simply consulting them. We do this by taking the time to get fully understand their business needs, challenges, and opportunities from conception to completion, and have found that this yields the best results.
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new clients (you know who you are!) and to acknowledge and appreciate our existing clients who we have been constantly building a long-lasting relationship with. We are proud of the work we produce and we are more excited than ever to see what the future holds, and to see how we can find gaps to evolve and innovate.
Would your business benefit from creative and digital business solutions to help you better grasp your opportunities? Don’t hesitate to drop us an email or get in touch with us here to find out more about how we will help you excel!
Whether you started 12 months or 120 years ago, from the day your organisation started, you have grown into something you and your team can be genuinely proud of.
Marketing for the utility sector can be a daunting experience, but if you look after your clients, evolve with your marketplace and stay ahead of the game, you’ll reap the rewards for years to come.
That being said, if your organisation is going to reach the dizzying heights that you once envisioned, there’s an area where the utility sector often takes its foot off the gas – looking after the brand.
We know how it works all too well. You’re so busy growing your organisation that before you know it, your brand is left behind.
Suddenly your brand identity doesn’t reflect who you are, and it’s not making the right impression or connection with your target audience.
You make excuses for your lack of visual communications. You make excuses for your website. You make excuses for your dog-eared brochure that hasn’t seen a graphic designer for what seems like a decade. Excuses, excuses, excuses.
Your utility business is brilliant – it’s time to allow it to shine.
For anyone, attracting new customers can be difficult, particularly during much more challenging times. Everyone has a competitor vying for a bigger bite of the cherry, so it’s more important than ever to take the time to take a long hard look at your brand and ensure it’s in the best possible shape ever.
What is a brand?
Of course, the word brand means different things to different folks. Still, Blumilk likes to describe it as your most valuable asset. Your brand identity makes you immediately identifiable to your chosen market. More importantly, it differentiates you from your competition and leaves a memorable impression on anyone who comes into contact with it.
We’re not just talking about your logo either. We’re talking about your tone of voice, your image styling, the way you’re perceived by staff and customers, and all of your visual assets including your website, brochures, social media graphics etc.
Getting your brand identity right is critical. Whether you’re starting from scratch or re-branding an established business, you must ensure your brand keeps up with you and revolutionises as your utility business grows.
Brand consistency
When we think about your brand and its identity, it’s so incredibly important that you keep it all consistent.
Best practice of brand consistency is to ensure that your entire organisation is all on the same page.
Leading brand consistency software experts, Brandkeeper, say: ‘For all companies, building a successful brand can sometimes take years of hard work to establish and even longer to maintain that reputation.
One social post, web page or even an email can change how your brand is perceived and therefore, to save running the risk of creating damage, everyone should be working from a robust house style set of assets.’
Think every element to your brand identity, as mentioned above. Don’t deviate, ensure everyone uses the correct visual assets, including logos, colour palettes and tone, and your messaging and the way you manage relationships.
Blumilk have worked with several industries but will use our utilities portfolio to demonstrate how we can bring all of the above together concisely and thoroughly stress-free.
Marketing for the Utility Sector
Take Western Power Distribution. WPD are the electricity distribution network operator for the Midlands, South West and Wales. They deliver to over 7.9 million customers over a 55,500 square kilometres service area, and they employ over 6,500 staff.
This marketing for the utility sector relationship began in December 2019 when Blumilk successfully tendered to look at the creation of a consistent and coherent brand for the entire organisation.
Following a consultative period, we highlighted that WPD could benefit from a brand consistency overhaul, and this was completed on-time, on-budget, and to the delight of our client.
Twelve months on, Blumilk are now the only agency of choice that works with WPD, and we manage all of their branding, campaign and general day-to-day design work.
Regulated by Ofgem (the Office of the Gas and Electricity Markets), WPD is proud to have been awarded the Government’s Charter Mark, now known as the Customer Service Excellence award.
We are an extension of the comms team, and they are not just clients but friends. We also now work directly with other business areas such as safety, innovation, connections etc.
What your brand says about you
Who you are and what you stand for will be evident from your brand. Your brand is what you stand for and shows who you are as a business.
And as necessary as it is that you come across in the right light to your clients, it’s equally as important how you are seen through the eyes of your staff.
Likewise, with our relationship with Affinity Water. Through a series of intelligent and thought-provoking projects, AW has maintained and enhanced its customer-centric brand – putting their customer at the heart of everything they do.
Not only do we assist AW to meet all of their regulatory obligations, from their Finance Annual Report and Strategic Direction Statement but they can validate their commitment to being environmentally focussed, innovative and community-driven, with a sense of place and purpose, too.
Some exciting projects in-line with AW’s values and beliefs include their ‘Save 10 a Day’ campaign, internal brand-building with campaigns and initiatives to digitise processes and customer service efficiencies, a series of animations in which AW were able to bring their brand and key messages to the forefront of education together with a multi-channel approach to Drought Awareness campaigns that successfully maintained their brand consistency across all platforms.
SUMMARY
Don’t leave your brand behind. If you want your business to grow and for you to meet your commercial, environmental and regulatory commitments, your brand needs to grow with you.
Blumilkare experts at marketing for the utility sector and can work with you to tell your brand’s story in a way that will bring you to the forefront of your market and in front of your target audiences.
The process is stress and pressure-free, and we’re on hand to start the conversation just as soon as you are.
Get in touch with us now here and we’ll send you a copy of our most current Marketing For The Utility Sector Brochure.
Happy Guy Fawkes Day!
Usually, Blumilk are huge fans of getting into the Autumnal spirit at this time of the year.
Whether we’re huddled around a fire pit with our bobble hats and oversized scarves or drinking our hot chocolates covered in marshmallows – we always seem to mark the foiled plan to burn down the Houses of Parliament with a bit of a bang.
But this year, it’s all going to be a little different. There may be no organised firework or bonfire displays to light up the skies, no meeting with friends at your local to warm up over your favourite tipple however we hope you can still mark the occasion at home with a piece of homemade Parkin (this lockdown’s banana bread?), snuggled up on the sofa in front of the fire.
Similar to every year, firefighters have begun to speak out to reinforce the dangers around bonfires and fireworks and with less of the organised fun, it’s predicted that people will turn to celebrate at home.
As you know, any kind of firework display, either home or organised, comes with its own set of risks and Blumilk have been working with one of our clients, Western Power Distribution, which covers the Midlands, the South West of England and South Wales, on a Guy Fawkes safety campaign.
Safety experts at Western Power Distribution are urging anyone who is planning bonfire celebrations at home to keep fireworks and bonfires away from power lines and substations – and always to plan their event in daylight to make sure they stay well away from electrical hazards.
WPD Health and Safety Adviser Eddie Cochrane said: “Bonfire night celebrations will be on a much smaller scale this year because of coronavirus restrictions but that doesn’t mean the safety message is any different.
“It is vital that people are aware of the dangers posed by electrical equipment when they’re planning bonfires and fireworks. On a windy night, flames and sparks can easily be blown onto overhead power lines and may cause power cuts or electrical surges.”
Blumilk created an eye-catching campaign that has been pushed out across social media for the week before 5th November.
You can see more work we have done in the utilities sector here.
Whatever you do to celebrate this year, stay safe!
