Branding Update
February 8, 2017

Fake News

It's debatable whether the internet was designed to enable the free flow of truthful and useful information, but it's safe to say that this should be our desire. However, it's very clear that the internet has increased the power of divisive speech, hyperbole, and false information. Debating the internet's benefits and drawbacks will continue for quite some time, maybe for as long as humans exist. So, we won't tackle the broader question here, but we should respond to the rise of "fake news."

The Lure of Fabricated Facts - It's very difficult for well-researched information to compete with fiction, because fiction can always be fabricated to be more eye catching, more polarizing, and more effective in playing on our fears and advancing a specific agenda. And what may even be more disturbing is that some people are applying the term fake news to information simply because it doesn't align with their own beliefs or ideologies. In other words, if I don't agree, it must be false. This behavior is troubling independent of a person's ideological or political leanings.

Utilities Combating Erroneous Information - Utilities have been dealing with inaccurate information for quite some time, often presented by gadflies and opponents during public-policy meetings. Unfortunately, the squeaky wheels affect policy decisions more often than utility managers like to admit. During our work with utilities on branding, we have learned that part of the problem is how difficult it is for utilities to get people's attention and create transparency.

The Transparency Gap - Even though utilities provide quite a bit of information, and utility managers make every effort to ensure their facts are correct, it is still difficult and time consuming for people to evaluate the utility's decisions and accomplishments. This means that most people, including elected officials and influential community leaders, have not formulated an accurate opinion of the utility's performance. This state-of-affairs allows faulty facts and ideologies to gain traction. Furthermore, recent trends related to fake news may embolden those who have no interest in facts and wish only to advance preconceived notions about the effectiveness and efficiency of public agencies.

Creating Unassailable Content - Although branding is often categorized as spin, great brands provide compelling value to their customers. And the branding tactics being advanced by Resource Trends and the Utility Branding Network are designed to reduce confusion and increase transparency. The foundation for these tactics is providing superior customer service, and realizing that customers are also shareholders and investors in the utility's resources and infrastructure. Treating audiences like shareholders involves communicating the utility's standards, producing compelling arguments for investment, and creating content that makes it easy for community leaders to be informed. Although no information is completely indisputable, we undeniably live in world where it makes sense to do a better job of being factual, clear, and compelling.

Branding Update
December 15, 2016

Year-End Reflections

At the end of the year it helps to reflect on learning and accomplishments, and 2016 was a banner year for both.

The Central Role of Standards -We continue to witness the power of standards in helping utilities enhance planning, deliver compelling value, and increase transparency. We learned to fully appreciate that the essence of a brand is its standards, which define and operationalize the product's value or service experience. And if you want employees to be empowered and embrace the brand, emphasize standards in your internal dialogue and decision-making processes.

An Unbalanced Dialogue - From the beginning, the utility-branding objective has been to secure appropriate investment in resources and infrastructure. We always understood that investment decisions occur in a political environment. What has become increasingly clear is that most utilities engage in an unbalanced dialogue during the approval process for rate increases or major investments. This is because most community leaders, let alone the public, are not plugged-in to the utility's activities, decisions, and accomplishments. This means that the dialogue about rates and investment occurs between a small group of people, typically the utility's staff, policy makers, and members of the public who choose to be engaged. The people who do show up deserve to be heard, but their interests should not be given undue consideration. Unfortunately, absent more community leaders being involved, the squeaky wheels often influence policy.

Reaching the Influential Public - Several utilities are balancing the dialogue by launching communication programs designed to build relationships with community leaders. These programs make it easy to be informed (requiring only 2-3 minutes per month of their time). The marquee content featured in these information briefs does not attempt to "dumb down" technical information, but treats the audience like investors and shareholders. A great example is the DSRSDtoday program being implemented by Dublin San Ramon Services District.

Compelling Arguments for Investment - The Utility Branding Network tool "Making a Compelling Argument for Investment" continues to be well received. The tool is being used for investment proposals in Board Packets, describing major objectives in strategic plans, and for leading a dialogue with the public about investments in resources and infrastructure. Click here to view the tool.

General Manager Forums and Workshops - Helping utility GM's engage in the branding process has been a long-time goal of the Utility Branding Network, and 2016 was a banner year for progress. We held two GM Forums in Southern California and one in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Branding Network also held its first workshop in the Bay Area for staff and managers, sponsored by Santa Clara Valley Water District (held at their Silicon Valley Water Purification Center).

Thanks to those utilities who are supporting the Utility Branding Network, and thanks again to the National Water Research Institute (NWRI) for sponsoring the Network. I look forward to even greater progress and learning in 2017.

Have a Happy Holiday Season!

John Ruetten - Resource Trends, Inc.

Branding Update
September 26, 2016 

Supply Reliability Standards 

Water-supply reliability is essential for a strong economy and quality of life. Consequently, our tolerance for sustained water shortages should be extremely low. Framing reliability in terms of risk tolerance helps us reinforce that water-supply planning is a risk-management problem. There are several important topics to consider when communicating about reliability. These topics include defining clear standards, the role that climate change plays in the dialogue, and in some regions whether we are reaching "drought fatigue" with the public. This Branding Update addresses supply-reliability standards.

Adopting a Very Specific Standard - If we are going to have a meaningful discussion about reliability, and increase our chances of securing appropriate investment in water resources, then we need to describe reliability. One way to do this is to adopt a specific reliability standard, for example water restrictions occurring in no more than one in ten years. In this context, we are defining restrictions as requiring the customer to go beyond water efficiency. Being this explicit does not imply that we can precisely calculate what is required to meet this standard. However, it can enhance our thinking about the efficacy of a standard, needed investments, and compliance. For example, we can argue that the public would view allowing water restrictions every 3-5 years as substandard, whereas restrictions occurring in one out of every 20 years is overkill (and too costly). Hence, we can almost intuitively hone in on the ten-year standard. 

The Value of Being Clear - Having a specific standard in place enhances our ability to evaluate potential investments, and assess the probability that we will succeed or fail. For example, a utility's recommended supply investments might be very different if the standard allowed restrictions every third year, instead of every tenth year. And given a ten-year standard, we can unambiguously state that restrictions occurring every 4 or 5 years is a failure. It's hard to ascertain today what water utilities consider to be a reliability failure. Are we already experiencing failure? Are we actually leading a public dialogue that defines success and addresses the risks in a meaningful way? And how long will we be able to blame drought for what appears to be increasing water restrictions?

The Power of Standards - As we have discussed in previous Branding Updates, communicating specific standards is a powerful way to describe value, state a problem, and increase our chances of securing needed investment.

Branding Update
July 14. 2016 

Utility Branding Network

Hope you all had a great 4th of July holiday. Many of you may know that several years ago we formed the Utility Branding Network (UBN). The purpose of the UBN is to advance best practices in utility branding, provide a vehicle for member utilities to share progress and case studies, and ultimately increase investment in water resources and infrastructure. The Utility Branding Network is sponsored by the National Water Research Institute (NWRI). 

General Manager Forums - In addition to our bi-annual workshops for staff and managers, we recently held our first official GM Forum. These meetings allow water and wastewater GM's to come together and discuss progress on utility branding, and topics of their own choosing. GM's from 7 leading utilities in Southern California attended this inaugural meeting, and discussion topics included rate-increase communications, the influence of customers on policy decisions, how policy makers perceive their roles in representing the public, and the benefits of a formal strategic plan.

Upcoming Events - Our next GM forum will be held in the San Francisco bay area on August 2, and the next Branding Network Workshop will be held at Orange County Water District on August 22.

Making a Compelling Argument for Investment - This recently released UBN tool outlines the structure for making a compelling argument for investment, and explains the logic behind this structure. To receive a copy of the tool, or learn more about the Branding Network, contact John Ruetten.

Branding Update
April 13, 2016

The Power of Standards

They Define the Brand - In previous Branding Updates, we have discussed the role of standards in defining and communicating value, being transparent, and building a strong brand. In fact, standards are the essence of a brand, whether they specify product features or aspects of the service experience. However, it is easy to overlook the benefits that focusing on standards can bring to an organization. 

They Affect Culture - Standards affect culture if they are used to articulate desired employee behaviors, for example caring about the customer, being collaborative, or proactively solving problems.

They Empower and Unify Employees - When standards are clear and widely communicated, employees are empowered to make good decisions on their own. In this vein, standards of reliability and quality can be a unifying force for employees, providing the foundation for every conversation about future plans, activities, and decisions. Whenever there is confusion or a debate, reviewing the relevant standards is always clarifying. Employees should be proud of the standards that govern the quality of service delivered to customers.

Try this Exercise: Think of a brand that you like and then try defining the features of the product, or characteristics of the service, that make you a loyal customer. You will find that you are describing standards. And then ask yourself how important it would be for employees to be very aware of these standards and how they affect the brand's success.

Branding Update

March 8, 2016

Transparency in Salaries and Compensation

Utility managers often grapple with being transparent about salaries and compensation. Transparency in public agencies is mandatory because they are typically monopolies and chartered with protecting the public interest. But crafting a successful approach to transparency in the area of compensation requires a clear understanding of what influences people’s thinking about utilities and public-employees.

The Relevant Issues

Customer Choice and Competition – In most cases, utility customers cannot choose another service provider, so they clearly deserve to know whether the utility is well run and the public interest is being served. This no-choice circumstance is married to the idea that utilities have “no competitors,” which for some means that they are less efficient. Whether competition actually leads to greater efficiency is debatable, but it probably doesn’t matter. The inefficient government bias is actively reinforced in politics and the media.

The Brand of Public Employees – Lack of competition and the inefficiency brand can lead to perceptions that public employees are less qualified, less motivated, or underperform those who work in the private sector. This undeniably affects opinions about compensation.

The Efficiency Enigma and Investment – Despite the need for utilities to be efficient and build a reputation for efficiency, the efficiency issue is actually a red herring when contemplating the need to invest in water resources and infrastructure. The potential to increase efficiency, even in an “inefficient” organization, may only be a 10% opportunity. The real question is whether inefficiency is used as an excuse to oppose rate increases, leading to under-investment. Since reliable water services are essential for a strong economy and quality of life, system failures or resource shortages can cost the community many times more than the entire operating budget of the utility. This means that policy makers should be less focused on efficiency and more concerned about the liabilities that arise from under-investment. The people of Flint Michigan are experiencing these liabilities today.

Appropriate Investment Begins with the Employees – In order to adequately serve the public interest, utilities must invest in a management team and employees that are highly qualified and well trained, especially in the areas of planning, technology, and finances. People may believe that a utility general manager making $250,000 per year is overpaid. However, even skeptics might think differently when they realize that the performance of the utility affects the viability of hundreds of companies which employ thousands of people.  Clearly, dollars invested in water utilities are highly leveraged dollars.

A Strategy

Be Very Transparent – Utilities should make it very easy for people to get access to information on salaries and compensation. But this transparency should be enhanced by providing a meaningful context for evaluating this compensation.

Create a Compensation Strategy Brief – An ongoing effort to build a strong brand with policy makers and the influential public certainly helps to alleviate concerns about employee compensation. More specifically, the utility can create a brief that outlines the thinking behind the utility’s compensation strategy. This brief should highlight the utility’s fundamental role in maintaining the local environment, quality of life, and economy. It should also communicate key workforce standards, the commitment to sound planning and efficient operations, and the need for compensation that will attract and retain quality employees.

Don’t Be Apologetic – Utilities need strong leaders who are committed to protecting the public interest, securing investment, and delivering high standards of service. If challenged, emphasize your workforce standards and stand behind your compensation strategy. 

Branding Update February 9, 2016 Actually Connecting with Key Audiences Previous Branding Updates have proposed that the objective of utility branding is to protect the public's interest by securing appropriate investment in resources and infrastructure. No one wants to endure the consequences of low trust and under-investment, namely reduced reliability and degraded service. The primary audiences for ensuring that appropriate investment occurs are policy makers and those in a position to influence policy decisions. We have referred to this latter group as the influential public, and also discussed the high-quality information required to attract and keep their attention. Delivering Marquee Content, Building Relationships - A great example of making it easy for the influential public to have their "finger on the pulse" of the utility is being implemented by Dublin San Ramon Services District (DSRSD), located in Dublin, California. Their DSRSD Today program delivers very brief articles, 3-4 times per month, to their Board of Directors, elected officials, and other community leaders. These stories meet specific content and formatting standards. For example, they take less than a minute to read, and headlines typically connect an action or investment with a beneficial result. In general, DSRSD Today installments focus on return-on-investment, efficiency, financial management, and important policy decisions. These topics are relevant to customers and the community, and effective in building a strong utility brand. Recent installments of DSRSD Today are posted at  http://www.dsrsd.com/open-gov/library/dsrsdtoday Increasing Transparency - By spending less than 5 minutes per month reading DSRSD Today articles, community leaders find out what they need to know about the utility's activities, decisions, and performance. Furthermore, policy makers know who is paying attention and what information they have received. These efforts significantly increase transparency, which is not only appropriate, but in itself a great way to build trust and a strong brand.

Branding Update

November 2, 2015

The “Brand” of Branding

Perceptions of branding abound.  Many believe that branding is developing a logo or slogan, and for others it’s just spin.  Add to this the ways utility managers and policy makers often categorize branding, declaring that it’s “nice but not necessary,” or even “not appropriate or beneath” public agencies. 

Reality Strikes - But the simple fact is that utilities and their staffs are being branded.  This means they are being categorized with respect to their efficiency, planning, financial management, and transparency.  Just being a public monopoly often leads to a utility being labeled as inefficient.  And these impressions undoubtedly impact the political process, policy decisions, and investment.

Protecting the Public Interest - The objective of competent utility branding is simple:  ensure that the utility secures the funding to provide reliable and high-quality services today and in the future….in other words protect the interests of their community.  And the branding tactics are substantive.  They focus on planning, standards, and communications that ensure that the utility is actually being transparent and has a strong reputation with policy makers and the influential public.

Countering the Politics of Under-Investment - The path of least resistance is politically-palatable rate setting and chronic under-investment.  It takes leadership, a strong utility brand, and a staff that knows how to make compelling arguments for investment to counter these determined political forces.

Branding Update

October 13, 2015

The General Manager's Report

In the previous Branding Update we discussed the importance of creating marquee content that can be used to help community leaders keep their “finger on the pulse” of the utility.  In order to provide a consistent flow of information, it is important for the utility to have a systematic way of generating this content.  It turns out that many utility general managers provide a monthly status report to their boards of directors or policy makers.  Arguably, this is one of most important communication pieces that the utility produces.  This is because it should communicate only the most relevant information, in other words what policy makers and community leaders need to know about the utility.  And what do they need to know?  Certainly not technical or logistical information that is difficult to read and understand.  However, they do need to be aware of the actions that demonstrate the utility’s core competencies, for example making investments that yield compelling benefits, being efficient, and making sound financial decisions.

Standards for Marquee Content – Each information item provided in the General Manager’s Report needs to be very high quality and meet specific standards, including the following:

• Is brief, requiring less than 30 seconds to read
• Is presented within the context of the applicable business value of the utility, for example providing reliable water service or protecting the environment
• Employs a headline that connects an activity or investment with a beneficial result
• Uses simple language that focuses on enhancing service, reducing risks, or saving money  

These brief and meaningful items can then be used to consistently reach out to community leaders.  It changes the game when policy makers know that influential people are receiving and reading this “marquee” content.

Branding Update
August 6, 2015

Marquee Information

More is Not Always Better - As water and wastewater utilities have enhanced their outreach efforts they have increased the amount of information available to the public.  This begins with information that helps customers get things done using the utility’s website, for example paying a bill or getting a problem solved.  But most utilities provide more than just customer service information, and the information provided is often voluminous and pretty technical.  One justification for creating and maintaining this information is the need to be transparent.  Being transparent is required, but there is no real transparency if the important information is hard to find, or once found difficult to understand.  And despite providing lots of content, which is a chore to maintain, many utilities still struggle with forging productive relationships with community leaders (those who influence policy decisions and therefore investment).

Finger on the Pulse – Given this challenge, we can ask a simple question.  Is it possible that members of the influential public need only a small amount of focused information to have their “finger on the pulse” of the utility?  Let’s answer this questions with another question.  Would it be valuable to the utility’s staff and policy makers if they knew which community leaders were receiving and reading brief information on the utility’s investments, efficiency improvements, and recent policy decisions?  The answer is yes!

Five Minutes a Month – Making this happen is straightforward.  Information provided by the utility must be brief (requiring 30 seconds or less to read), focused on the issues outlined above, and have headlines that connect an action of the utility with a beneficial result.  Add to this recent policy decisions by the utility’s governing body and you have a content strategy that helps community leaders know what they need to know.  And all that is required is that they spend five minutes a month reading weekly communication pieces.  We can certainly argue that community leaders should have their finger on the pulse of the utility.  After all, its performance sustains the local economy and quality of life.  The utility’s job is to make it easy.

The “Ask” - A senior utility manager recently recounted that he was conducting a facility tour and one of the people on the tour was a member of the state legislature.  Near the end of the tour the legislator asked what they could do to help the utility.  In retrospect the utility manager was disappointed that he did not have a quick answer.  What if the ask was simply to give the utility five minutes a month?

Future Branding Updates will address how to make creating marquee content part of normal utility operations, and ways to deliver the information to specific community members.

Branding Update

July 8, 2015

Drought Happens, But...

Getting People's Attention - When we discuss branding for utilities we need to address the issue of whether our customers are paying attention.  And in most cases they aren't, unless they are resolving a problem with their service or paying their bill.  We call these customer-service interactions "branding moments" because these impressions about the utility's service may last for years.  And in this sense they affect the utility's brand.  So when someone is paying attention, there is a clear opportunity to make a positive impression, or communicate important information.

Communicating Scarcity or Reliability? - People are paying attention during a drought.  The public is bombarded with messages to "conserve our precious resource" and encouraged (or required) to limit their indoor and outdoor water use.  Outdoor water conservation often includes allowing lawns to turn brown or changing to very different landscapes that use less water.  But with all of this communication about drought and conservation, what is the message that utilities are sending to the public about the future?  Will it be defined by water scarcity, water reliability, or is it just unclear?  And if the future is one of water reliability, what are the standards that define this reliability and drive needed investments?

Standards and Water Reliability - In previous Branding Updates we have talked about the connection between brands and standards.  The consistent product performance that attracts us to brands we value is determined by standards, standards that apply to the manufacture of our favorite golf club or govern the service we experience at our favorite restaurant.  Likewise, a water utility's commitment to water reliability should be based on standards.  So what are these standards?  Is the utility committed to ensuring that the risk of a sustained water shortage is extremely low?  Is the water supply resilient to drought, or more importantly resilient to climate change?  Will people have to bury their swimming pools?  Will communities in certain regions have to worry about their water for the foreseeable future, and the effects this has on quality of life and the economy?  Is loss of confidence in the water supply a failure in itself?

People are Paying Attention - Talking about drought and the need to conserve is not enough.  It's imperative for water utilities to communicate their commitment to future reliability, the standards that describe this reliability, and the investments needed to make this reliability come true.  The cost of failure, meaning ongoing water uncertainty, is much too high.

Branding Update
April 23, 2015

Language Matters

Clarity or Politics - It is tempting to think that what we say and how we say it are not that important given the political environment of water investment decisions.  But in reality nothing could be further from the truth.  The language we use does have an impact on outcomes.  The ability to communicate value and create compelling arguments for investment (at the local, regional, and state levels) is essential if we want to facilitate a productive dialogue, minimize politics, and ensure appropriate investment in resources and infrastructure.  Conversely, lack of clarity leaves the door open for politics or ideology-based decisions.

Motivations, Standards, and Risk Management - As we have discussed in previous Branding Updates, the language of value is motivations and standards.  Our audiences need to know why before they can understand what or how.  So when we talk about investing in water reliability, what are we talking about?  Is the “response to a drought” dominating the dialogue (which is very relevant in the California these days) or are we talking about maintaining reliability standards that are meaningful.  For example, do community leaders and decision makers know that the “risks of a sustained water shortage must be extremely low?”  And do they know that this low tolerance for water-supply risk is prudent given the uncertainty created by climate change and the severe economic impacts of a sustained water shortage.  Does water reliability depend on the weather or on the standards, risk assessment, regional planning, communications, and investments by local water utilities and regional water agencies?

Not “Dumbing It Down” – Water and wastewater professionals have tendency to think in terms of making technical issues meaningful to the average person, often referred to as “dumbing it down.”  The problem is that value issues are not technical issues, and the average person is perfectly capable of understanding clear and compelling communications.  To be blunt, as an industry we must upgrade our language.  The challenge associated with ensuring appropriate investment in resources and infrastructure is only going to increase.  And we should not be satisfied with waiting for supply shortages or service failures to open the check books.  This approach often leads to reactive decisions that don’t lead to the highest value.  Improving our language means emphasizing motivations and standards, which often includes communicating in meaningful ways about risks and risk mitigation.  Our arguments for investment must communicate the problem, the solution, financial impacts, the logic behind the timing of the investment, and the ramifications of not taking action.  In short, our language and the structure of our investment proposals must answer the most relevant questions in advance. 

Review Investment Proposals with a Critical Eye – If you don’t believe that we need to improve our language, just read recent investment proposals (in the form of communications to policy makers) produced by almost any water utility.  Are they free of technical jargon, easy to read, and compelling?  Do they categorize the important information so the reader does not have determine on their own whether somethings is a standard, a problem, a solution, a risk, or a timing concern?  Do these communications clearly address all of the questions that decision makers should be asking?  Ultimately, does the case for investment make it difficult for a policy maker to justify a “no” vote?  These communications do not need to be long, they just need to be well-structured and clear.

Most utility communications directly or indirectly support proposals for needed investment.  And most of us do not give up our money easily.  Given this, shouldn’t our language be compelling before we blame it on politics, or policy makers who don’t have the “courage” to raise rates?

Branding Update

February 23, 2015

Communicating to Change Customer Behaviors

In our last Branding Update we covered the different ways that utilities communicate, and specifically addressed the communication and branding that occurs during customer-service interactions.  Go to www.utilitybranding.blogspot.com to review this Update.

Water-Use Efficiency Communications - For this Update we will focus on utility communications designed to change customer behaviors, specifically water conservation or water-use efficiency programs.  These programs have been effective because the objective is very clear: encourage customers to take advantage of water-saving devices (for example washing machines, shower heads, and smart sprinkler systems) and if possible adopt habits that conserve water. 

Communicating the Motivations - The added opportunity is to make sure that customers understand why saving water is important.  Even utilities have a tendency to categorize water-use efficiency as simply the right thing to do.  But customers can and have become confused when they conserve water and their rates go up.  This is a likely scenario unless the utility’s rate structure is designed to cover fixed costs independent of demand.  So it’s important to embed information about the motivations for water-use efficiency in communication materials and content.  The primary objective of these programs is not to help customers save money today, but to ensure long-term water reliability and cost effectiveness.  Saving water also creates environmental benefits.  Every drop of water saved is a drop that is not pumped to the customer, which saves energy, reduces carbon footprint, and means that less water needs to be extracted from the natural environment.  It’s important to recognize that when we are communicating the motivations for increasing water-use efficiency, we have crossed a relationship line.  We are no longer communicating to customers who simply buy water.  We are now relating to customers as shareholders, and therefore investors in the long-term performance and reliability of the water system.

It turns out that being clear about the motivations for any activity or investment is the key to being meaningfully transparent.  And transparency is the topic for our next Branding Update.

Branding Update
January 26, 2015

The Landscape of Utility Communications

It interesting to explore the ways water and wastewater utilities communicate, and the objectives behind these communications.  Many would say that reaching out to the public is an imperative simply because the utility exists, or because public agencies need to be transparent.  But it’s a bit more interesting if we dig a little deeper and apply the context of branding.  Utility communications can be broken down into several categories, including the following:

• Customer Service Interactions
• Communicating to Change Customer Behaviors (Water Conservation)
• Fulfilling Transparency Requirements
• Communicating with Policy Makers (Water Boards, City Councils….)
• Proactively Reaching Out to Community Leaders and the General Public

In a series of Branding Updates, we will explore the motivations and effectiveness of communicating with respect to each one of these categories, and discuss the logic for setting communication priorities.  This Branding Update addresses the customer-service category.

Exceptional Customer Service – We can argue that utilities should provide exceptional customer service simply because it’s the right thing to do.  It should be easy for customers to pay a bill or get a problem solved.  In fact, “making it easy” should be an overarching standard for delivering service, and utilities should develop a series standards that define the specifics of the customer experience.  But it’s also important to understand the link between service, communications, and branding. 

Branding Moments - Service interactions create positive or negative impressions about the utility, so it’s useful to refer to these interactions as “branding moments.”  When a customer is on hold for 20 minutes trying to get a problem solved, the utility is communicating more effectively than in almost every other situation.  The customer is clearly paying attention, which is the first and primary challenge when it comes to effective communications.  Unfortunately, in this long-hold time scenario, the utility is communicating that it doesn’t care about the customer or that it’s incompetent. We also know that when the utility does an excellent job solving a customer’s problem, then trust in the utility is greater than if the problem never occurred.  It is true that a specific negative impression may not come back to haunt the utility, because customers typically cannot choose another service provider.  But it’s clearly not fair to customers nor prudent to be stock-piling negative branding moments due to sub-par customer-service experiences.

Communication Choices - So if it comes down to a choice over allocating resources, it’s better to invest in decreasing phone hold times than to spend time and money trying to reach members of the general public (who are not generally paying attention and may not even be interested in paying attention).  Communicating to change customer behaviors, meeting transparency requirements, and building relationships with community leaders are different matters.  These opportunities will be addressed in subsequent Branding Updates.

Branding Update
November 19, 2014

Happy Holidays....2015 Preview!

Sorry for the recent hiatus in Branding Updates.  Resource Trends wishes you and your family a joyful holiday season!

We have been making significant progress on the utility branding front.  Look for these topics in 2015 Branding Updates:

• Appreciating the relationship between value, brands, standards, and being meaningfully transparent
• Elevating the use of standards in communications, investment proposals, and rate increases
• Differentiating between core (behavioral) values and the utility's business values (brand commitments)
• Using the "Policy Brief" format for making compelling arguments for investments or policy decisions
• Making it easier for people to quickly understand the utility's roles and value
• Using a "Branding Checklist" to keep communication materials and outreach events on track
• Adopting a brand focused, easy to read, and effective format for the utility's Strategic Plan
• Implementing ways to systematically build stronger relationships with the influential public

Also, we are planning another Utility Branding Network workshop early next year.  More information soon!

Branding Update

September 24, 2014

Making It Easy

Experiencing the Value of a Consumer Brand - It’s pretty easy to appreciate the value of a brand like Starbucks.  Customers experience it every time they order a drink or spend time in a store.  And if we are exploring the art of branding, it’s interesting to write down the thoughts that we associate with this brand that has become so ubiquitous in our culture.  Feelings about Starbucks will vary from person to person, but here are some attributes that seem pretty obvious.

• Offers a Variety of Tasty “Coffee” Drinks
• A Great Place to Meet Friends or Business Associates
• A Starbucks Store is Always Close By
• Clean, Pleasant Environment – The Aroma of Coffee
• Good Customer Service
• Free Internet
• My Second Home Office

It is useful to note that these ways of categorizing the Starbucks experience actually create a framework for thinking about the value of Starbucks.  And most habitual Starbucks patrons could easily generate a similar list of attributes.  These features of the brand ultimately determine a person’s willingness to frequent Starbucks stores and pay the going price for the drinks and food.

The Challenge in Appreciating a Water Utility’s Value – It’s useful to explore how easy is it for people to appreciate the roles and value of a water utility, beyond the fact that the waters shows up, isn’t discolored, doesn’t smell bad, or hasn’t made them ill.  The fact is that it’s not easy to appreciate the planning, investment, financial expertise, and efficiency required to cost effectively provide reliable and high quality water service.  Appreciating these issues is important, because they affect the dialogue between utility managers, policy makers and the public about investing in resources and infrastructure.  The fundamental reason for this difficulty in appreciating the utility’s value is that utility managers have not made it a priority to understand this challenge, and how it can lead to unnecessary conflict or water rates that fail to fund needed investments.  And this problem arguably affects any organization involved in managing municipal water or wastewater services.

The Utility’s Brand Framework - In order to make it easier for people to appreciate the utility’s value, we need to start with the utility’s brand framework, similar to the framework defined above for Starbucks.  This framework for a water utility should look similar to the following:

• Sound Planners
• Committed to Appropriate Investment
• Highly Reliable Water Service
• Safe, High Quality Water
• Responsive (Easy) Customer Service
• Efficient and Fiscally Responsible
• Transparent Decision Making and Operations

So for example, utility managers want people to characterize the utility as one that plans well, and appropriately and efficiently invests in providing reliable water service.  It is not a small victory when policy makers or community leaders actually categorize (or brand) the utility in this way.  If they really believe that the utility is investing appropriately and is efficient, then it will be much easier to build support for investment and rate increases.  However, all too often utilities are summarily branded as inefficient or marginally effective because they are “government” agencies.

Making it Easy - In order to head off erroneous conclusions and provide the needed context for understanding the utility’s value, the brand framework needs to consistently show up in planning documents, websites, brochures, board meetings, and presentations.  In fact, the brand framework and key standards must be the context whenever a policy maker or member of the public is evaluating the utility’s activities or proposed investments.  For example, a single sheet brochure for the utility should be designed around the brand framework, communicate important standards, and allow people to get a good grasp of the utility’s roles and value in 2-3 minutes of reading.  This brochure structure can also be used for providing similar information on the website.  And briefings on important policy issues need to emphasize the standards that are motivating the staff to take action or recommend a specific investment.  It is not complicated to provide people with this critical context and transparency, but utility managers need to understand the problem and reorient their communications to make it happen.

Branding Update

August 11, 2014

The "Target Market" for Utilities

This cartoon sends a warning to consumer branding professionals to avoid a common temptation: trying to be all things to all people.  Unfortunately, this loss of focus usually leads to declining market share and potentially failure of the brand.

Many water-utility professionals would say that they serve the entire community, so their audience for outreach efforts is everyone who uses their services.  It is important to remember that the strongest consumer brands build relationships with specific people, with the ultimate objective being that these people choose to buy their product at full price.  Constant discounting from the retail price is a sign of a weak brand.  So the brand objective is to influence the choice and the price that people are willing to pay.

For water and wastewater utilities, consumer choice is typically not in the picture, and the price (rates) is set by policy makers (city councils or water boards).  The brand objective is ensuring that rates reflect appropriate investment in water resources and infrastructure.  So, when planning proactive outreach, utility managers should avoid ineffective and costly efforts to reach the general public.  They should prioritize building relationships with policy makers and those specific community leaders who are influential.  Having very strong relationships with even 15-25 of these community leaders can have a significant impact on rate setting, even if only to counter those vocal community members with strong biases or special interests.

Branding Update

July 1, 2014

Depersonalize the Dialogue

It is all too easy for the staff of water and wastewater utilities to assume that policy decisions are being made based on politics, personal gain, or political ideologies.  And it's equally easy for policy makers or the public to assume that staff is proposing a course of action based on personal opinions or beliefs.  One way to head off these often erroneous preconceptions is to make sure that the dialogue centers around standards. So, any discussion related to an investment proposal or policy decision should begin with a review of the relevant standards.  It is perfectly reasonable for someone to disagree with a standard.  In fact, a debate about standards is the most meaningful and transparent discussion that a utility can have with its community.  This is because standards determine both value and level of investment.  Finally, a dialogue about standards is less personal. This reduces the likelihood of unproductive conflict, and provides the best chance that policy decisions will be aligned with the best interests of the community.

Branding Update

June 5, 2014

"Quote" the Standard

When writing news releases utility communication professionals usually need to develop quotes for senior managers or policy makers.  Quoting a standard is very effective because it provides the context and articulates the value associated with the events or investments covered in the press release.  For example, "We are investing in recycled water to ensure that we have a highly reliable and climate-change resilient water supply."  In this case, highly reliable and climate-change resilient are the water-supply standards.  Or, "We have added aesthetic features to this pumping station to meet our standard of minimizing the impact of our facilities on the environment and our neighborhoods."  This quote illustrates that it's more powerful to explicitly refer to a motivation as a standard.  In fact, being a standards-driven organization is in itself a positive branding idea.

This "quote the standard" advice reminds us that what is meaningful to our audience is motivations and standards, because the utility's value is embedded in its standards.  This is true with any product or service.  How many standards do you think are in play when you enter a Starbucks store or any fast-food franchise?  Maybe more importantly, if the motivation or standard is not made crystal clear in a communication piece, it will be less interesting and will leave the door open for the reader to misinterpret motivations.  People misinterpreting motivations is common and is often the root cause of conflict.  Communication professionals benefit from having a comprehensive list of the utility's standards.  This helps them create content that is brief, meaningful, focused on value, and builds the utility's brand.  And by the way, this list of standards should also be the basis for strategic planning and proposing capital investments.

Branding Update

April 21, 2014

Website Structure and the Brand

Previous Branding Updates have pointed out that branding for utilities does not involve inventing new ideas of value, catchy phrases, or slogans.  It focuses on helping policy makers and community leaders properly categorize the utility’s value, competencies, and character.  One of the ways to do this is to consciously build the brand using the website’s structure and content.  A good example of this is the Cascade Water Alliance website at http://cascadewater.org

The Cascade front page has several branding features, including the following:

• Highlights the brand commitments or core values of the organization (in the boxes)
• Commitments are water supply, cost effectiveness, regional leadership, water-use efficiency, and the commitment to its members
• Emphasizes the need for long-term planning and proactive investments
• Clearly defines Cascade’s service area and member agency partners
• Emphasizes that Cascade’s members are the source of water quality and reliable service

The need for long-term planning is the central theme of the webpage’s video, “Cascade’s Vision for Today…and Tomorrow.”  Both the webpage and the video highlight the co-branding and co-messaging relationships between Cascade and its member utilities.  This partnership is reinforced by the fact that leaders from each community are the speakers in the video.

These concepts are simple but very important.  When communicating any information it is essential to give people a framework for thinking about the value and characteristics of the utility.  And when developing a website, the important point is to consciously address the brand when organizing the website’s content.  Without this structure, more detailed information will not have the proper context.  And out-of-context information rarely leads to desirable perceptions or trust.