The Three Most Important Brand Traits for Utilities

Utilities are beginning to position their brands on a wide range of traits to shape customer perceptions and establish strong brand identities. New logos are illustrating dedication to innovation, new slogans voice the value proposition of the utility, and communications are heating up on environmental stewardship. Carefully crafted brand identities can help create a positive brand perception for customers, making positioning a powerful tool. Which positioning traits have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction? How can incorporating these traits into brand identity help advance customer support for future initiatives?

J.D. Power has researched utility brand traits as part of our residential utility studies since 2016. The research shows that utilities that position their branding around the traits customers care about most can create a strong foundation for higher customer satisfaction. The studies also reveal that three specific brand traits highly correlate to customer satisfaction (in fact, every utility award winner of the last several years has rated strongly on these three traits). These traits are: Affordable, Innovative, and Customer Focused.

The brand positioning matrix below shows how positioning the utility as Affordable, Innovative, and Customer Focused produces the greatest impact on our Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) scoring.

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J.D. Power analysis also shows that utilities perform strongly on Environmentally Responsible, Proactive and Flexible. These traits relate to strong middle tier impacts on CSI. The least impactful are Trust, Friendly and Reputation – although all traits have a positive impact on customer satisfaction.

New Brand Identities are Emerging

Over the last few years, many utilities have begun repositioning their brand identities. As illustrated in the chart below, utilities now have stronger perceptions on being Flexible and Customer Focused. This indicates effective brand repositioning for the industry as Customer Focus is one of the traits that has the biggest impact on overall CSI scoring.

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Customer satisfaction has grown by 35 points since 2016 as utilities have focused their brand messaging on what is most important to the customer.

The utility industry has even more room to increase CSI scoring by focusing on Affordability, which has not advanced as much as the other traits. Some examples of large segment utilities that have increased CSI by focusing on Affordability are:

• SRP posted the highest Overall CSI score in the industry in 2021 (806) while also registering an 11% increase on the Affordable trait rating since 2016
• FPL posted the 2^nd highest CSI score with a 4% increase in Affordable rating
• Georgia Power posted the 3^rd highest CSI with a 2% increase in Affordable rating
• PPL has increased 66 points on CSI behind a 9% increase on Affordable trait rating
• MidAmerican Energy increased 51 points on CSI behind a 4% increase in Affordable rating
• Duke Energy Carolinas increased CSI by 79 points behind a 10% increase on being Affordable

By successfully incorporating Affordability among their dominant brand traits, these utilities have built industry leading customer satisfaction and are among the highest ranking brands in our studies.

Multiple Traits – Maximum Customer Satisfaction

While it is easy to think of a utility company in singular terms, the truth is all brand identities are complex and relate to more than one trait among consumers. The goal of effective utility brand management should be to maximize the impact of its positioning. The following chart illustrates how the top three brand traits can be combined to provide even greater customer satisfaction.

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Large utility brands that have done the most effective job of positioning themselves on a combined top three brand traits basis are: Georgia Power, SRP, FPL, MidAmerican Energy, Alabama Power and Tampa Electric. Again, these utilities are ranked among the best in overall satisfaction.

Strategic Considerations

• Understand customer expectations for your brand before developing a brand identity plan
• Don’t think of your brand in singular terms; instead, focus on several important traits that reflect your future vision
• Since most utilities rate highly on Trust and Good Reputation, ensure you are focusing on other traits like Affordable, Innovative, and Customer Focused as differentiators for your brand
• Many utilities have made progress in positioning themselves as strong Environmental, Proactive and Flexible brands
• Incorporating Affordable, Innovation and Customer Focus traits into brand perceptions will provide significant customer satisfaction and CSI ranking benefits
• Our analysis indicates that increased awareness of energy efficiency and innovation efforts relate to stronger Affordability ratings
• Higher awareness and satisfaction can lead to greater overall customer support
• Review brand collateral, such as logos and slogans, to ensure it is aligned with the brand identity you are developing for your company

How are you positioning your utility’s brand identity to achieve higher customer satisfaction and improved customer perceptions? Please reach out to me anytime to learn more.

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