Environmentalism is a growing concern of mine, and contributed to my decision to become a vegetarian when I was seventeen. I have been considering a move into the green economy for several years, and participated in MIT’s Clean Energy Kick off (business plan competition) in 2006 to familiarize myself with this space.
It was a welcome opportunity therefore, when I freelanced for Sustainable Energy Solutions (SES) in 2007-08. When I was first approached, SES had only a single-page website and an outdated logo. Though they had a wealth of knowledge and could certainly be considered experts in the fields of Energy Auditing, Metering and Co-generation, few resources had been dedicated to marketing.
They needed a brand. More than that, they needed a comprehensive go-to-market strategy.
What began as an effort to expand their website soon became an extreme company makeover. I brought in a graphic designer, and together with the company’s President and Operations Manager we strategized, queried, learned and articulated Sustainable Energy’s strengths.
Their main accomplishment had been an ongoing project in Africa, which provided photovoltaic-generated electrical power to rural missions, hospitals and schools. Clearly, SES had a high degree of technical capability. They also displayed enormous flexibility. But would the message about the impoverished in Africa resonate with their target customers back home in Massachusetts (hospitals, schools, restaurants, health clubs)?
Their long-term vision is mastery of the emerging Energy Management Information Systems (EMIS) market, which dovetails with carbon capture. We needed to articulate their present capabilities in a way that supported their ultimate objectives, and did so by discerning two key demographics; the financial decision makers for whom policy and cost are the main factors, and the facilities personnel who are intimately involved at a technical level but might not be the business decision makers.
To reach these divergent groups with meaningful language and examples, we generated a series of white papers and case studies. These overlap, but generally lean toward a technical or financial/environmental message.
INCREASING ENERGY COSTS Commercial, average electricity prices in cents per kilowatt hour from 1970 – 2007
Along with a sharp, intuitive website, my team delivered a comprehensive brand portfolio that included new stationary, business cards, brochures and presentation templates. We were intimately involved in authoring and editing these materials, and maintain a close advisory relationship with the principal and founder.
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“Kai developed several related marketing projects for Sustainable Energy Solutions, over a couple of years beginning with brainstorming during 2006 and resulting in a marketing focus, sales materials, web site and advice on developing corporate focus. These are non-trivial marketing inputs for SES since the core business shifted to a new business model using different core skills.
Efficiencies gained stemmed from Kai’s choice of contractors, his understanding of our purposes (he “gets it”), and his ability to articulate pros and cons of decision points as we encountered them. His judgment is sound and has worked. Naturally, we’d be happy to work with Kai again.”
Cameron Carey
President, Sustainable Energy Solutions
