Social marketing has been used for decades to promote a variety of causes, including health care, safety, recycling, and anti-littering. What can the energy industry learn from the experiences of others? Through a series of short examples and case studies, the core issues of social marketing will be presented in concrete terms. We’ll discuss topics such as how to choose a target audience, select a behavior to change, identify barriers, design a campaign, and deliver marketing.

Bill Smith, Senior Social Scientist, Emeritus, AED

Since the first E Source social marketing conference in 2008, more programs have emerged, and those that existed have expanded. We’ll take the audience on a quick tour of the programs that are making the greatest impacts, are new and innovative, and have unique aspects that we think can help you create a better program back at your company. SmartPower, Project Porchlight, BC Hydro, Change a Light, America’s Greenest Campus, and other programs will be highlighted.

Bill LeBlanc, Senior Advisor, E Source
Jan Harris, Consultant, Navigant/Summit Blue

“We’re from the government, and we’re here to help.” The Energy Star brand has become ubiquitous in the energy field, having expanded from humble beginnings in rating computers and other products to a broad effort encompassing branding, marketing, channel development, appliance efficiency targets, comprehensive home efficiency, the best in energy-efficient commercial buildings, and more. But underlying all of Energy Star is an approach to change the behavior of customers, trade allies, and the entire energy end-use value chain. This in-depth case study will describe how utilities can understand and take full advantage of what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has to offer, as well as some innovative approaches to targeting, branding, and segmentation.

Maria Vargas, Director, Strategic Partnerships, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

A few states and utilities have taken the leap and are using behavior-change marketing as a foundation for their energy-efficiency, demand-response, and renewable energy programs. Starting with in-depth market research is a key step in ensuring that your marketing efforts are focused appropriately and have the highest chance for success. We’ll look at a case in California where market research using ethnographic studies watched how energy was actually used in homes—not just how people reported how they use it. The research then informed the design, branding, and marketing strategy of the California utility’s program. Our speakers will walk you through all of the key elements of this comprehensive marketing project.

Hunter Marshall, Director, Strategy, Interbrand

Xcel Energy has been active in developing its corporate brand, using strong market research as a base.  The utility has discovered that customers' values are changing and reflect different positions than they did just a few years ago.  Xcel is creating a rich combination of brand attributes that focus on environmental stewardship, trust and reliability, and corporate citizenship. In this session, you will hear about the steps in the development of the brand platform and elements of its execution.

Stacy Ingram, Brand and Advertising Director, Xcel Energy

In-home energy-use displays are proliferating in the marketplace and they are promising to be a big driver of energy-use reduction. But do customers understand the data? Do the devices actually save energy? Which forms of displays seem to work best? What’s the connection to smart grid? In addition, some utilities are pushing individualized energy-use information out to customers and using the power of social norms to compare their customers’ energy use to that of their peers. We’ll present the latest information on these endeavors to help you provide actionable information to your customers.

Lynn Stein, Senior Advisor, E Source

One of the common questions that management, as well as regulators, ask is “How do you measure the savings from behavior-change programs?” In this session, we’ll discuss the key methods used to measure and verify savings for information-based programs and look deep into a West Coast case study to show how the methods work in practice.

Anne Dougherty, Manager, Opinion Dynamics Corp.

Using the day’s sessions as a jumping-off point, we’ll engage our panel of experts with difficult questions regarding segmentation, targeting, messaging, measurement, and a host of other issues that dive into the heart of social marketing efforts. What’s working and what isn’t? How can we get management and regulators to buy into behavior change? How do we keep politics out of the campaigns? What will really motivate different customer groups? How can we reward success?

Bill Smith, Senior Social Scientist, Emeritus, AED
Anne Dougherty, Manager, Opinion Dynamics Corp.
Maria Vargas, Director, Strategic Partnerships, US Environmental Protection Agency

Join us in the Pi Bar for drinks and appetizers.

Become the social media expert for your organization and get a solid social media foundation during this session. We’ll define social media within the context of Web 2.0, explain why social media represents a logical evolution of the web (how did we end up with Facebook and Twitter anyway?), and consequently, point out why all of this isn’t a fad. We’ll then discuss how your utility’s relationship with, and uses of, social media will be similar and different from non-utilities. Our speakers will explain the implications of social media on your utility communications, public relations, marketing, and customer care. To pull it all together, we’ll put the E Source utility social media strategy development process under a microscope and break it down for you—and this is just the first session!

Matthew Burks, Senior Manager, Mass-Market Services, E Source
Craig Cussimanio, Corporate Relations, Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
Stephen Lackey, Energy Conservation and Communications Specialist, Dominion

There are a lot of social media experts talking about “strategy” right now, but few understand the unique legal, cultural, and regulatory challenges that utilities face as public-facing entities under constant scrutiny. In this session, we’ll examine the many factors that will influence your social media strategy, including listening, setting appropriate goals and metrics, writing social media policy, protecting data privacy, and making your social media case to management. We’ll provide you with a clear roadmap that you can take back to your organization and use to jumpstart or enhance your social media planning.

James Clark, Cofounder & Managing Partner, Room 214
Dan Kolbet, Communications Manager, Avista Utilities
Michael Crowley, Corporate Communications, Qwest

Theory is nice, but the real learning comes from the front lines! This session will focus on highly relevant and informative case studies from social media experts from across the country. We’ll gain real-world insight on the issues, decisions, and potential pitfalls that you may run into along the way. Learn from those who made the case for social media, pulled the teams together, built and implemented the strategies, and got the job done. You’ll hear from leaders from inside and outside of the utility industry; learn how they developed, presented, executed, and monitored their social media plans; and most importantly, find out what they learned in the process.

Kelley Ryan,Customer Programs Department Leader, Arizona Public Service
Eric Isaacson, Colorado Springs Utilities
Matthew Burks, Senior Manager, Mass-Market Services, E Source
Stacy Ingram, Brand and Advertising Director, Xcel Energy

The final session will be focused on turning the day’s intelligence into action. We’ll sit down together and collectively discuss what we’ve learned, examine remaining questions, and work through industry and/or organization-specific concerns. Our social media presenters and other industry experts will join us at the table to answer specific questions about the issues most important to you such as metrics, staffing, dealing with internal resistance, and what we actually know about the “unknowns.” We’ll also discuss the creation of the Utility Social Media Working Group, which will provide a forum for ongoing support and knowledge sharing.

Kelley Ryan,Customer Programs Department Leader, Arizona Public Service
Stephen Lackey, Energy Conservation - Communications Specialist, Dominion
Margaret Fogarty, Qwest Communications
James Clark, Cofounder & Managing Partner, Room 214
Eric Isaacson, Lead Communications Specialist, Colorado Springs Utilities
Matthew Burks, Senior Manager, Mass-Market Services, E Source