Starting New Conversations x STORMBRANDS Energy Transitions

Part one of our Energy Transition Series.

The world’s energy market is in a state of transition. COVID-19 has accelerated it: the International Energy Agency expects global electricity demand to fall by 5% in 2020, the largest decline since the Great Depression and eight times the reduction in 2009. During this phase, renewables have increased their market share significantly at the expense of all other sources of electricity, including coal, gas and nuclear power.

However, energy was already changing before the pandemic. For decades now fossil fuels have confounded the expert predictions of their imminent demise. New discoveries, new technologies, and consumer acceptance of higher prices have all sustained them, but their future looks less certain: McKinsey forecasts oil and coal declining from 2030 and gas from 2035.

That’s not all. This global picture masks stark difference in consumption between the West (the Americas, Europe, and Eurasia) where, apart from natural gas, fossil fuel demand is already declining, and the East (Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East) where demand for coal, oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels continues to surge. As COVID-19 dents Eastern manufacturing capacity and Western consumer demand, we’re seeing a shift in the equation – the question is how permanent that will be.

For the major brands in this space the greater question – indeed the greatest issue they face – is how to transition to a more sustainable future, and, crucially, how can they bring consumers with them on that journey?

Ovo Energy HQ in Bristol

Elsewhere in the sector, there is further transition promoting further questions. A host of innovative and ambitious start-ups promises radical disruption. Look at Oxford PV. This spin-out from the research of University of Oxford Professor of Physics Henry Snaith, was founded in 2010, and produces perovskite-based solar technology – a more efficient form of solar energy than that using only silicon. It has received significant investment from Equinor, Legal and General Capital, Chinese turbine manufacturer Goldwind and engineering company Meyer Burger.

There are many thousands more worldwide. They have the technology, and many have gained investment for production. The question they typically face is how to engage and inspire people in such highly technical solutions. Demand is transitioning in their direction, but it will be the players who communicate emotional benefits most effectively who will reap the rewards.

Then there are all the consumer-facing organisations. The likes of Ovo Energy, founded in 2009 and already operating globally with revenues in excess of £1bn, or Bulb, named the fastest-growing private company in 2018 and 2019 by the online investment platform Syndicate Room. Or look at home energy management player like Google’s Nest, or Upside Energy, a company that helps people make smart choices about their energy use by using AI to orchestrate the energy stored in their devices.

WeTalks by us, here at StormBrands

Amidst so much change, there is one clear constant: now, more than ever before, energy needs to reach beyond traditional audiences. It needs to start conversations, forge connections and become relevant if it is to communicate its messages of innovation and sustainability.

This is a challenge for individual companies, whether they are big oil companies aiming for continued relevance, renewable innovators explaining complex technologies, or start-ups looking to build connections with individual consumers.

Encouragingly, we are already seeing a growing number of organisations look to reshape their brands and visual identities in an attempt to open up and make these new connections. Look at the work the World Energy Council has done with its recently launched We Talks, an open-access digital-content platform where inspirational leaders from all walks of life, sectors and regions of the world are invited to engage in conversations about energy transition and what it means for humanity

It is a project we are proud to be part of, and it has inspired us to try to make our contribution to the conversation. In our StormBrands Energy Transitions series, we will be bringing a range of voices together to look at how all this change is affecting the different parts of this sector and how brands can best respond, and we’ll also be highlighting some of the organisations that already leading the way.

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