Case Study: Puget Sound Energy
Making it easy for customers to say yes to renewable energy
Services: Brand Strategy, Brand Language
The Challenge
Puget Sound Energy is a 145-year-old utility company providing energy services to the Puget Sound region of Western Washington, including Seattle. With the goal of being a leader in the transition to cleaner energy and to support Washington State’s Clean Energy Transformation Act, PSE has invested in developing a range of renewable energy products to give customers different ways to engage depending on their needs and values.
However, as PSE’s renewables product portfolio has expanded, consumer confusion has increased. With more to choose from, each product’s differentiation and unique benefits had become more difficult to quickly understand. And with expected growth in renewable products, PSE brought us (this project was a partnership between myself, PlanBeyond and Program 11) to rethink the organization of their renewable energy portfolio and develop a naming framework for future products – all with the goal of providing clarity to current and future customers.
The Path
Discovery
We kicked off the project with in-depth interviews with each product’s program managers, a review of relevant product research, and a workshop with the PSE team to share and discuss our findings, and explore the organization’s appetite for different naming approaches.
Brand Architecture
Using our understanding of PSE’s product portfolio, its long-term vision for its renewables program, project goals, and best-in-class examples (FedEx, Apple, Tesla), we explored three different product groupings for a branded house architecture. These included grouping products by action, by energy source (solar, gas, mix), and by audience (commercial vs. residential), ultimately landing on “by action” (such as matching energy, replacing energy, generating energy) as the best way to help consumers navigate renewable products and to provide PSE with a clear framework for naming future products.
Brand Naming Framework
With the “by action” branded house architecture in mind – as well as other established naming considerations – we developed three different naming approaches that could be applied to both current and future renewable energy products. Each approach easily and concisely communicated a product’s differentiation as well as similarities to other products within the portfolio.
We packaged the brand architecture and naming framework into a naming playbook and step-by-step process to generate and select names for future products as PSE further expands its portfolio.
“What sets Tavaner apart as a brand strategist is her application of objective frameworks to support client decision making. She doesn’t just throw out recommendations. Rather, she gathers key success criteria in advance and uses those to both build strategy and guide clients in selecting the right path for their organization.”
— Laura Troyani, PlanBeyond
The Result
Our process successfully drove consensus among the 15-person PSE team for how to organize its growing renewable energy portfolio. PSE rolled out the “by action” brand architecture on its website – positioning each product within three different programs: PSE Match, PSE Replace and PSE Generate.
