Over the past 5 years a
lot has been learnt about marketing in deregulated electricity and gas
markets around Europe, the USA and beyond. It is now time to combine this
knowledge.
Building The Whole Picture of Understanding
Around the world electricity and gas supply companies are faced with the
need to compete for customers. There is a need to gain customers, keep
customers, sell more to existing or new customers and above all to conduct
efficient and effective marketing.
Every country which has experienced electricity or gas deregulation has
learnt from the experience. Research has been conducted around the world
by universities, research companies, consultancies and energy companies.
Each country has something unique to tell.
However, from Australia, to Finland, USA to Austria, Canada to Germany,
Sweden, Netherlands and Norway, whilst much has been learnt little is
known. The UK has had high switching rates, but many mistakes have also
been made. The best information is generally sparsely distributed and hard
to find and there are huge variations in the quality of research. Everyone
knows something but few know much. Mistakes are being repeated around the
world because companies do not have the whole picture.
It is now time to combine the best of the worlds electricity and gas
marketing research and knowledge in one place, to create a forum whereby
we can finally put the pieces of the jigsaw together in order to see the
whole picture. It is also necessary to look at the soon-to-deregulate
markets because they will be the markets and test-beds of tomorrow and
useful research is already taking place in such markets.
There is therefore a need for conferences which bring together marketing
researchers and experts from around the world in order to present a
comprehensive, clear and practical view of what needs to be known in order
to be efficient and effective marketers of electricity and gas to end
customers. Real global knowledge is needed, not just local PR or guess
work, reinventing the wheel or opinion polling.
Changing Needs in Infant & Maturing Deregulated Markets
Companies in more established deregulated (Maturing) markets additionally have some peculiar needs for understanding. This is
because whilst the initial (Infant) stage of a
deregulated electricity or gas market is dominated by customer acquisition and
corresponding defensive strategies, deregulated markets eventually begin to
mature: a fuzzy stage characterized by the benefit of hindsight, a broadening
of marketing strategy and the gradual reappearance of higher levels of
stability, control and prices in the market.
Maturing markets can be
less about competing over customers, more about ensuring loyalty and value
from customers; less about cheap price, more about the right price; less about
additional offerings, more about new businesses; less about market niches,
more about mass customization; less about the hype of e-commerce, more about
capitalizing on valuable technological capabilities; less about doing lots of
things, more about doing fewer things well. Above all it should be more about
recapturing long term profitability.
Marketing must
recognize and understand the stages of deregulation. To do this we must
look at the whole picture: past-present-future; countries in different
stages of deregulation.
The Solution
VaasaEmg together with its partners is building a
superb network of experts from around the world. This conference gave
a taste of the benefits which that network can bring.
This conference was therefore the first step towards creating the whole
picture by bringing
together energy marketing expertise from various countries in order to help
the industry learn from others' successes, failures, researches, experiences and new
ideas.
| Programme*
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Speaker
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Topic
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Country Focus
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Hannu Linna
Managing Director
Vaasan Sähkö Oy
(Vaasa’s Electricity Co.)
|
Hannu Linna has
extensive experience within the forestry, construction and
energy industries as well as the IT-sector. Hannu Linna was
formerly managing director of
Korpelan Voima (an energy company in Kannus) for 5
years before becoming managing director of Vaasan Sähkö Oy
in 2001. Mr Linna has also been a member of the board of the
Finnish Electricity Association (SENER), a delegate of Finland
within the Eurelectric/Unipede working group “Products,
Markets and Customers”, and is currently chairman of
Eurelectric’s Distribution Business Area as well as a member
of Eurelectric’s Coordinating Committee.
Vaasan Sähkö Oy is
one of the leading energy companies in western Finland and is
a strong player in the open electricity markets with
substantial local CHP-production and strong distribution and
district heating networks. The company has long been capable
of supplying its electricity and district heating customers
with low-cost energy. |
|
Opening Speech /
Global Expertise
(experiences and consideration of energy marketing)
|
FINLAND
EUROPE
|
|
Dr. Rolf Wuestenhagen
Energy
and Private Equity Analyst
SAM Sustainable Asset Management
|
Rolf
Wuestenhagen is Energy and Private
Equity Analyst at SAM, an independent
Swiss asset management company with
unique expertise in the area of
Sustainability Investments. The
company's Venture Capital arm, SAM
Private Equity, is one of Europe's largest
Private Equity Funds in the energy sector.
Rolf has been analyzing marketing,
technology and financial trends in the
energy industry for several years now.
Previous positions include St. Gallen
University, a major Swiss business
school, where he still acts as a lecturer;
the Wuppertal Institute for Climate,
Environment, Energy in Germany; and the European
Community Energy Efficiency Centre Prague,
Czech Republic. He holds a PhD in
business mangement and has been the
program chair of the First European
Conference on Green Power Marketing held
in St. Moritz/Switzerland in June 2001.
|
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The
Role of Renewables in Strategic Energy Marketing
Trends
and Driving Forces in the European Energy Industry
Status
of Green Power Marketing in Europe
Venture
Capital Opportunities in the Energy Market
Sustainable
Energy Roadmap
|
EUROPE
SWITZERLAND GERMANY
GLOBAL
|
|
Chris Rix
Market Research Manager
UK Electricity Association
|
Chris Rix
has worked in the energy industry for over
25 years, and over the past 10 years in
particular has monitored the roll-out of
competition within the UK gas and
electricity markets, giving him an unparalleled
knowledge of marketing strategies in these
sectors.
The
Electricity Association is the trade
body for the UK electricity industry and is
the collective voice of the major
electricity companies |
|
Successful
Competition
- Lessons From
The UK
The GB model
The key players
Review of above
and below line marketing strategies, tariff structures and their
impact on market shares
Strategies of the
main suppliers
|
BRITAIN
|
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Dr. Philip E. Lewis
Director
VaasaEmg
(Nordic Centre for Expertise in Electricity &
Utilities Marketing)
|
Dr
Lewis holds a PhD. in Marketing from the
University of Edinburgh in Scotland (UK) and
additional marketing expertise through
working for American Express, Frankfurt and
National Westminster Bank (NatWest Bank),
London.
He became involved in the energy industry in
1996 as head of Marketing Research and
Analysis for Beacon, the British energy
retailing subsidiary of Amoco (now BP) and
Seeboard during deregulation of the 20
million customer gas market and final
preparation for deregulation of the
electricity market. Beacon was the leading
winner of new gas customers during this
period and Seeboard was subsequently
successful during deregulation of
electricity.
He established and now heads VaasaEmg and is
Assistant Professor of Marketing at the
University of Vaasa. He has published
& presented extensively,
especially at major energy, e-commerce,
service and consumer behaviour conferences
around the world and has designed research
and given consultancy to over 100 paying
Nordic companies and organizations including
Fortum, Nokia, Helsinki Energy, the Finnish
Electricity Association (SENER) and the
Finnish Ministry of Trade and Industry. He
also regularly lectures for the Helsinki
School or Economics and Business
Administration (JOKO) and elsewhere.
|
|
Customer
Loyalty,
Acquisition
& Value
- Efficiently
|
BRITAIN
FINLAND
GLOBAL |
|
Dr. Rolf Friedewald
Managing Director
avida GmbH (Berlinwasser / RWE)
Ms.
Antje Lüssenhop
Executive Director,
Corporate Communications
Berlinwasser
Holding AG
|
Dr.
Rolf Friedewald, Managing Director of avida GmbH,
Berlin/Germany, and Ms. Antje Lüssenhop, Executive
Director of Corporate Communications of Berlinwasser Holding
AG, will present the experiences of avida, a new local player
in the German multi utility market, in the business and
residential customer segments and describe the branding
efforts and communication campaign. In addition to a
well-defined marketing mix of product, price, promotion and
distribution, the speakers will show the importance of the
interrelationship between branding and offered customer value
in marketing utilities. The lessons learned by this new market
entrant will be critically analyzed and general principles for
successfully marketing utilities will be derived.
|
|
Multi-Utility
Marketing
in Practice
Dr.
Friedewald and Ms. Lüssenhop will outline that
the development and introduction of new products
is decisive for the success and competitiveness of
companies. Companies that master the art of new
product development and segmenting, positioning
and targeting have a strategic competitive
advantage in the marketplace. This applies to
companies in the field of consumer electronics,
the pharmaceuticals, telecommunications,
information technology as well as to utility
companies. However, the development and marketing
of new products is costly and often very risky.
Due to the fact that utilities are considered to
be commodities by customers, the possibilities to
develop new products or to position them
differently than the competitors are limited. That
is why low churn rates of customers are typical
for the German energy market. Therefore, marketing
is no easy task for incumbents or new market
entrants in the utilities business in Germany.
|
GERMANY
|
|
Andras Hujber
Senior Market Analyst
E-Control
(Austrian Electricity Regulation Authority)
András
HUJBER is
senior market analyst of E-Control, the
newly created electricity market regulator,
in Vienna.
András
majored in Economics at the Vienna
University of Economics and Business
Administration. He specialized in risk
management for utility companies and
electricity pricing issues on the
liberalizing European power market.
He
has been working as a member of E-Controls
market research team and is responsible for
international wholesale markets, power
exchanges and specific pricing issues. He is
furthermore involved in various network
related projects, such as network
benchmarking and efficiency analysis.
Prior to that András worked two years with
a major London-based energy broker in Vienna
as a consultant. He gained a tremendous
experience on the fields of energy trading,
pricing and risk management.
He
is a holder of a trading license for the
German power exchange, LPX and publishes
extensively on trading related topics in
Austrian and Hungarian professional
journals.
|
|
The
Austrian
Experience
Basic
information on the Austrian market (statstics,
interconnection)
Some principles of electricity market regulation
(E-control and its role)
Market framework participants, their roles and
responsibilities
First experiences (wholesale market, balancing
market, retail market, competition)
|
AUSTRIA
|
| Tony Burnett
Director, European Research
E SOURCE EUROPE (previously Financial Times Energy - Now
Platts/McGraw-Hill)
As
Director of European Research, Tony Burnett oversees E SOURCE
EUROPE's market research and consulting activities and is
responsible for developing and managing new offerings for
European energy service providers. He has provided analysis of
branding strategies, market segmentation, customer loyalty,
and new product development to numerous power companies
including TXU, Sempra, ESB, and Enron and has written and
lectured on a wide range of energy-related topics including
outsourcing, customer retention, and strategic alliances. He
is a former director of E SOURCE North America as well as
marketing director of an international energy services company
and consulting firm.
E SOURCE (a division of Platts) provides unbiased, independent
analysis of
retail energy markets, services, and technologies. Its
researchers and
analysts work with regulated and unregulated energy service
providers,
government agencies, research institutions, and large energy
users in such areas as strategic marketing, energy efficient
technology, billing,
distributed generation, market positioning and branding,
customer loyalty, environmental issues, and product
development. It offers a broad range of syndicated research
products and customised consulting to more than 350
organisations throughout the world. |
|
Customer
Satisfaction and Loyalty Measurement: Strengthening the Bottom
Line
Through Customer Service Developing loyal customers by delivering
superior service is a common competitive strategy and one that
utilities in both regulated and liberalised territories are
adopting. Even if customers are not be able to choose who supplies
their electricity and/or natural gas, research shows that those who
don't feel loyal aren't likely to buy additional products or
services that can increase a utility's total revenue. This
presentation takes a detailed look at performance measurement
programmes and how they can help guide corporate strategy, identify
and eliminate process inefficiencies, and decrease the impact of
current and would-be competitors.
|
EUROPE
& USA |
|
Richard E. Laikin
Director
PWC
Global (PriceWaterhouseCoopers) (New
Speaker: Replacement for Martti Muroma)
|
Richard
Laikin is a Director in the strategy practice of
PwC Consulting,
and is based in London. He works primarily with
energy and utility
companies and leads our work on retail and
customer service strategy. He
has advised a number of the main UK electricity
and gas players through the
deregulation process and now in a fully
competitive market. He has also
worked with utility businesses on retail strategy
issues elsewhere in
Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Richard has been with PwC
for 13 years. Prior to that he worked as an energy
economist in Europe and
North America.
Delegates can get a copy of this presentation by
e-mailing:
richard.e.laikin@uk.pwcglobal.com |
|
Developing a winning retail strategy for European
Utilities
|
GLOBAL
|
|
Matthieu Griffioen
Researcher
VaasaEmg / CHN University, Netherlands
Dr Philip E. Lewis
Director
VaasaEmg (Nordic Centre for Expertise in
Electricity & Utilities Marketing)
|
B-to-B
Green Energy Marketing
- Reporting a major recent international research
study
|
HOLLAND SWEDEN
GERMANY
FINLAND
BRITAIN
|
|
Lars Stenström
Sales Director
WebGiro
Johan Asplund
Managing Director
IPROBE
World leading
Swedish technology,
ideas & solutions in integrated
metering, billing and payment
|
Johan
Asplund,
born 1956, is the founder, and inventor of IPROBE. (www.iprobe.se)
Mr.
Asplund has several years of experience from the commercial
airline business, i.e. SAS and Swissair. He is an Engineer
with a wide knowledge base in e.g. physics, chemistry and
programming and the father of several inventions.
He
is also the founder and CTO of SWATS, a company that is
developing smart cards with integrated display and browse
buttons (www.swats.se).
Mr.
Asplund owns and manages Applied Polytechnics Inc. |
|
Integrated
Metering, Billing & Payment Systems
- A Demonstration
|
SWEDEN
GLOBAL
|
|
Esa Hartikainen
Managing
Director
Kaupan Kehitys (RT -
Kaupan Kehitys Oy)
(Retail Marketing Consultants)
|
Esa
Hartikainen has over 25 years of experience
in the retail and wholesale business in Finland and
abroad including over a year of extensive
energy retailing seminars for the Institute of Marketing in Finland.
Contact: esa.hartikainen@pp.inet.fi
or tel: + 358-500-401179 |
|
Benchmarking
retail & wholesale
business within the energy industry |
FINLAND
GLOBAL
|
|
Iain Bosbery (replaced on day by Salman Wasti)
Energy Research &
Consulting
Manager
Datamonitor
|
Iain Bosbery is a Research Manager in the Energy
Practice Area. He has
worked for Datamonitor for 4 years, managing
projects and services focusing
on the deregulating utility retail markets. Prior
to working at Datamonitor, Iain worked for an international energy
consulting
group as an Account Manager.
Datamonitor is a leading business
information
company
specializing in industry analysis.
Through its proprietary databases and wealth of expertise, Datamonitor
provides clients with unbiased expert analysis and
in depth forecasts for
six industry sectors: Healthcare, Technology,
Automotive, Energy, Consumer
Markets, and Financial Services.
The company also advises clients on the impact
that new
technology and eCommerce will have on their businesses.
Datamonitor maintains its headquarters in London,
and regional offices in New York, Frankfurt, and Hong Kong |
|
Owning the Home
- Products & People
from a Utility Perspective
What are utilities up to?
What do customers want?
Managing the channel, brand, product mix for best commercial
advantage
Keeping an eye on the competition and new entrants
Who should we look to?
Recommendations for success
|
EUROPE
USA |
|
Petter Sandøy
Product Manager
Fjordkraft AS
Chairman, TF Customer Switching Eurelectric
|
Petter
Sandøy is
currently Product Manager responsible for
Norway and Sweden and has organised
Fjordkraft's customer switching service in
Norway and Sweden. Petter's background is in
marketing, recently as a sales manager and
earlier through responsibility for call-center,
customer service and meter reading
administration.
Fjordkraft
is one of Norway's leading supply companies,
located in Bergen on the west coast of Norway. |
|
The
customer
communication experience
The
change of regime - from local integrated to
national separated
Competition
on your home field
Marketing
- from local to regional and national
marketing
risk due to restructuring of the business
|
NORWAY
SWEDEN
|
|
Panel
Discussion
Selection
of Speakers from the above list and others
including:
Dr. Pirkko Kasanen
(TTS
Institute, Finland),
Martti Muroma, Research Director, VaasaEmg
Dr. Tihomir Morovic
(Head of Research, Energiestiftung
Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)
|
What have we learnt
& what does
the future
hold ?
- (Green Energy; Barriers to Successful
Competition / Market Imperfections; The Role of
CRM; Billing, Metering & Payment)
|
EUROPE
|
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