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What are best in class examples of an Energy/Solar launch campaign?
Successfully launching a new solar energy company is no easy task, but we have discovered five marketing campaigns which successfully launched into new markets: Trina Solar, Cherry Energy Solutions, Kedma Solar, Evo Energy, and SFE Solar Energy. Below you will find a deep dive of each of these campaigns and their results.
Methodology
In order to determine best in class examples of marketing campaigns launched in the solar energy industry, my colleagues and I first attempted to identify any pre-compiled lists of outstanding marketing campaigns, but we could not determine any pre-determined rankings for solar energy product launches. We then sought to determine which components of a successful campaign would allow a product launch to be considered "best in class" in this industry. Our preliminary findings, which will be discussed in greater detail below, indicated that successful solar energy product launches focus on strong branding rather than unsubstantiated claims about individual products. Utilizing this information, we developed a framework for determining the best in class solar energy launches, focusing on components of strong branding, including a robust online presence, social media marketing, keyword dominance and search engine optimization, and compelling website and logo design. We focused on providing global examples for solar energy launches for this brief, and while the solar energy industry is substantial, we identified as many best in class campaigns as possible within the two to three hour time frame for a typical Wonder request. You will find a more detailed analysis of each campaign identified below.
STRONG BRANDING, CAUTIOUS CLAIMS
The energy industry is tightly regulated, especially in the US since the passage of the Frank-Dodd Act. Consequently, many energy companies are wary about embracing traditional content marketing, lest they be accused of "attempts to manipulate energy prices," and those that do are very careful to avoid making "unsubstantiated claims" about their products or services. Even general marketing advice in this sector focuses on strong branding rather than pushing specific claims; for one example, see the Captains of Industry report, "Branding & Marketing For Renewable Energy Companies." As a result, a constant thread in the below campaigns is that they focused primarily on branding the companies in question and developing a strong online presence rather than advancing technical claims about their products.
With that observation in mind, here are five marketing campaigns from around the world which successfully launched solar energy companies into new markets:
TRINA SOLAR
In the face of a lukewarm European launch and a general downturn of the industry, Trina Solar needed an effective launch of their American campaign. Their campaign involve four key strategies:
1) Trina Solar positioned solar panels as part of a complete solution, highlighting panel performance and ease-of-installation. They also featured a new service to help commercial customers with their panel installations.
2) They targeted and briefed a core group of key opinion leaders among industry reporters to break the story, and then built on that initial media momentum.
4) Finally, they created a pre-packaged video to highlight the ease of installation and teamed with Tiger Comm to develop a splash page and collateral.
As a result, Trina Solar featured in "21 stories in customer-facing trade publications, including: Renewable Energy Focus, Clean Energy Authority, Power Engineering, PV Tech, Solar Builder and Solar Industry magazine" and saw a 10% rise in their stock the day after launch.
CHERRY ENERGY
Cherry Energy Solutions, operating out of Melbourne, Australia, offers solar and LED lighting solutions to commercial clients. They partnered with Web Alive to manage their search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search campaign, developing a list of valuable and high volume competitive keywords for this niche market. In addition, they created a compelling and informative website. As a result of this successful launch online, "Cherry Energy Solutions has become the top ranked Solar and LED lighting supplier for ‘Melbourne’ based keywords and gets clicks from over 130 different search terms." Cherry now sports 175 commercial solar projects and another 8,200 residential solar projects which between them have generated over 15 million kWh. In fact, Cherry Energy has become something of a household name in Australia's solar energy market, particularly in creating "bulk buy" solutions for local communities.
KEDMA SOLAR
Kedma needed a campaign strategy to target ecologically conscious homeowners in Israel. It partnered with Sababa to create a modern brand identity. Sababa engaged in a six month "discovery exercise" to better understand Kedma's existing and potential customer base, resulting in a new logo and the brand slogan, "Save money, Save energy, Save the world." Kedma's website was redesigned with a modern, "flat" design which would avoid the use of stock images. Sababa also launched a social media campaign which focused on conversions for Kedma with a call to action while also promoting the solar energy industry in general and sharing positive articles which would attract Kedma's target audience. As a result, in just the first year of its existence Kedma became a prominent member of Israel's community of solar energy companies, being featured alongside long-established companies like Solel and Zenith Solar.
EVO ENERGY
Though already established in the consumer solar energy market, Evo Energy had switched gears and needed to relaunch itself in the commercial market. They partnered with Fifteen Design to re-design their site to better appeal to commercial clients while still leveraging their existing awards, client testimonials, and case studies. However, recognizing that they needed a more powerful boost to really stand out against established competition, they initiated the "Green Mile" campaign: Evo Energy pledged to plant a tree for every 5 kWh worth of solar panels installed, with a goal of planting 805 trees, the number which could be planted over the course of 1 linear mile. As a result, Evo Energy won the "Installer of the Year" award from Solar UK as well as other positive press.
SFE SOLAR ENERGY
This Delaware-based company wanted to launch successfully to homeowners in a highly-competitive market. SFE partnered with Jackson Wynne to create its corporate branding and marketing. They started with designing a simple and straightforward circular logo which invokes both the sun and a modern power button. This logo was often, though not universally, set in a green background to emphasize the company's green approach to energy. As a result of both strong branding and successful efforts to develop strong strategic partnerships, the company generated revenue of nearly $293,000 in just the latter months of 2016 (the year of its launch) and has partnered with established players such as Hanwha, Ironridge, LG, Locus Energy, and Quick Mount PV.
CONCLUSION
While successful marketing in the solar energy sector can be difficult and burdened by heavy regulation, Trina Solar, Cherry Energy Solutions, Kedma Solar, Evo Energy, and SFE Solar Energy provide excellent examples of launch campaigns done right. A strong online presence, including dominance in keywords specific to this niche, is of course critical, but successfully branding one's company in such a way as to target the intended customer base, whether residential or commercial, is of equal importance if one is to stand out against the considerable number of competitors in this field. Successful launches do this through a combination of logo design, site design, social media marketing, and green promotions (as in the excellent "Green Mile" campaign).