T H E G E O T H E R M A L N E W S P A P E R , T H AT B R I N G S Y O U C A R E F U L LY S E L E C T E D N E W S F R O M T H I N K G E O E N E R G Y. C O M
Edition 01/ Fall 2017
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Branding Geothermal Positioning and promoting – the role of marketing and communication in the geothermal sector While many other renewable energy sectors, such as solar and wind, have seen burgeoning growth in the past decade, geothermal energy has experienced consistent, but slow progress. Geothermal energy is often excluded from the discussion of progress towards more renewable sources of energy. Without a unified voice and clear framework for progress, geothermal may be experience less support in a world striving to attain more renewable energy. It is clear, that the geothermal energy industry must position itself, regionally and internationally, to better promote and enhance the sector. Critical to the success of many products and industries today is the role of marketing, branding and communications. With a unified voice representing geothermal we can better promote geothermal energy within the national and international discussion on energy issues. Patrick Hanson of GeoEnergy Marketing and Alexander Richter of ThinkGeoEnergy wrote an article addressing these concerns for the GRC Annual Meeting 2017. In the article, the authors emphasize the role of branding and creating a message that will resonate. Here are a few key takeaway points raised by the authors: Unique value proposition - Geothermal energy can be utilized for power generation, in direct use for heating, in residential and industrial applications, as well as for cooling. Challenges faced – There continues to be a lack of alignment of companies with buyers and an ever-changing political landscape and budgets. There are knowledge gaps, limited to no strategic marketing, challenging stakeholder engagements, development and financing challenges, as well as a lack of understanding of the opportunities provided by geothermal energy.
Meeting – IRENA Global Geothermal Alliance, Florence (Photo: IRENA)
Picture: Jigokudani Monkey Park, Japan (Clint Koehler, CC)
Fragmented sector - The geothermal industry is very fragmented with only a few large companies, and many medium to smaller sized companies that are sparsely represented by various national and international organizations, mostly due to limited funding. With budgetary constraints, there are limits to research or adequate marketing, that would be required to help bundle efforts towards campaigns promoting geothermal energy to politicians and the public globally for wider acceptance and support.
geothermal industry. What is our collective, unifying message? Something the global geothermal associations have struggled to pin down and collaborate on. As we take a step forward in the unified promotion of our industry – we should collaborate internationally on a concise message. An “elevator pitch” value proposition that promotes, educates and excites the public about geothermal. To do this, collaboration must include the core associations (IGA, GRC, GEA, EGEC, among others), industry leaders and policy champions.”
Important role of branding - A brand is more than a logo, catch phrase, or clever product packaging. A fully articulated brand holds a lot of power, when deployed across all areas of the business. Therefore, companies need to shape their integrated marketing communications and sales efforts around their brand even with a small staff and budget. A brand is like a person, committed to adding value to people’s lives and operating with a set of guiding principles. Ask why does the company’s brand exists and what are they trying to accomplish?”
Perhaps most importantly, this unified message must resonate with the public, governments, and those implementing renewable energy policy. There are myriad ways to do this, while perhaps the most effective and prevalent method currently is a strong social media presence. The geothermal industry needs to step up, collaborate on a theme, develop promotional social awareness campaigns, using tagging techniques, and encourage wide support of each other’s media campaigns on all existing platforms.
Hanson and Richter make it clear; “For us as an industry, the lack of brand clarity is most prevalent to the
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Turkey - new member of the 1 GW Geothermal Country Club (Photo: Ormat)
GC Invest Geothermal – a new event on financing geothermal (Photo: ThinkGeoEnergy)