ATLANTA, March 2, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Utility marketing budgets decreased slightly between 2002 and 2003, and even more significantly since 1999, when they were at their highest levels in many years. About 20% of utilities Chartwell surveyed regarding their non-commodity products and services said their marketing budgets had decreased over the previous year. Most of these utilities added to their products/services mix, forcing them to alter marketing priorities or find less expensive strategies for promoting products, says Chartwell's latest report, Marketing Utility Products and Services: Advertising, Promotions and Community Relations.
The 100+ page report details how utilities such as Duke Power, TXU Energy, Alliant Energy, Sacramento Municipal Utility Department, and more than a dozen others set up their marketing departments/structures, conduct product development assessments and market research, develop marketing programs, and track marketing efforts. Through 12 in-depth case studies, the report also reveals details on successful marketing strategies including forming retail partnerships, using community relations as a marketing tool, and branding. Marketing material from several different utilities are reproduced in full color.
In addition, Chartwell researchers surveyed executives at 86 utilities about the strategies they use for advertising mass market products and services, and to 80 utilities about the avenues they use for promoting non-commodity offerings for commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. These findings also are detailed in Marketing Utility Products and Services: Advertising, Promotions and Community Relations. A 40-page section of the report analyzes the data and provides a detailed look at the issues impacting utility products/services marketing.
A table of contents for Marketing Utility Products and Services: Advertising, Promotions and Community Relations is available at www.chartwellinc.com/npsadvertising04.html. The report, which is available from Chartwell for $595, is part of The Chartwell New Products and Services Research Series, an ongoing information service that provides utility case studies; topical analysis and research centered around specific products or services in the utility and energy services marketplace; and a database of 86 utilities and the products and services they offer.
Members of the Research Series have input into the direction of the research and design of the survey instrument. The annual utility survey regarding products/services and marketing will be conducted shortly, and memberships into the Research Series are still available.
For more information about the ongoing Research Series, the Report on Marketing Utility Products and Services: Advertising, Promotions and Community Relations, or the products/services database, please call Juli Collins at (800) 432-5879, or (404) 237-9099.