By golly, it’s been a windy and bitterly cold week in the North East of England but thankfully, Blumilk’s Client Director, Lauren St Hilaire was toasty warm over the water in Gateshead thanks to a scheme from the government’s Hy4Heat Innovation Programme.
The UK’s first hydrogen-fuelled home
Located in Low Thornely, Gateshead, this incredible project, affectionately named ‘Hy Grove’ has seen two residential semi-detached homes being fuelled exclusively by Hydrogen; from boilers to hobs, cookers to fires, all of which release no carbon emissions whatsoever.
1 Hy Grove is the first hydrogen fuelled home and offers a glimpse into a zero-carbon home of the future demonstrating the potential to aid the Government in its ambitions to eliminate the UK’s contribution to climate change by 2050.
The project secured a £250k grant from the Government’s Hy4Heat Innovation Programme and is being run by gas company Northern Gas Networks and Cadent Gas, who have both also invested £250k of funding each respectively.
Chief Executive Officer of Northern Gas Networks, Mark Horsely, said: ‘We’re delighted to be working with NEIS and Cadent on this unique demonstration, which gives energy customers a first glimpse at hydrogen technology in the home.
‘Just like natural gas, hydrogen can heat homes in exactly the same way, meaning minimal change for customers in terms of how they use gas for heating or cooking.
‘The houses bring to life the potential of this green gas for keeping UK homes warm while minimising the impact on the environment.’
Chief Executive Officer of Cadent Gas, Steve Fraser, said: ‘We are proud to be part of this project where we will be able to show customers what their future gas appliances look like. A familiar sight to them, with one difference, they will be powered by hydrogen.
‘These projects are so important to demonstrate a decarbonised energy solution in homes now.’
This project forms the basis of a much larger scheme set out in the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan which also includes some exciting plans to establish a Hydrogen Neighbourhood and possibly even a Hydrogen-powered town before this decade is out.
Unlike natural gas which currently powers more than 23 million homes in the UK and is responsible for more than 30% of the UK’s carbon emissions, hydrogen uses no carbon at the point of use with the only by-product being water.
Not only is this a massively positive step for our environment, but the scheme is also set to create more than 8000 jobs nationwide by 2030, with that figure rising to 100,000 by 2050.
Energy Minister, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said: ‘From running a hot bath and cooking our evening meals to turning on the heating, most of us use natural gas every day. However, to tackle climate change, we need to find alternatives to fossil fuels and move towards making clean energy the norm.
‘While these new houses in Gateshead will look like any other, they will showcase how low carbon hydrogen can transform the way we power our homes and offer a glimpse of what the future holds as we build back greener.’
To say Lauren and Kim were impressed is an understatement with the race to net zero firmly on Blumilk’s agenda and also that of each of their clients they support with their decarbonisation plans every day.
To find out more on how Blumilk can assist you in the Race to Zero, get in touch with us today at info@blumilk.com.
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.
