Renewable energy has enjoyed a boom in 2020 and that’s largely down to one reason. Big fossil fuel providers BP, Shell, Equinor and Total have shifted heavily towards green investments according to the Financial Times, signaling their clear intent to get involved in the previously shunned market. With this big corporation movement into the sector, renewable marketing will find itself with the general populace as a big new market, just as the digital generation was before it, and will need to find ways to exploit that.
Spreading the word
The key trend to focus on for renewables marketers is the ‘good story’. Classic demographic sections rely on word of mouth and referral marketing to find new business, and this is very true in Asia – influential studies have shown that word of mouth is often considered an authoritative source of information across the South-East in particular, including one such study published by the Asia-Australia Marketing Journal. Use referral marketing for this; use your current customer base to help your new one grow by providing them with incentives to share the good news.
Remote community power
Part of the reason for this enhanced appeal is the fact that remote communities are being brought into the fold. Some 65% of Asian people live in rural communities according to The World Bank, where many face constant energy insecurity. Solar power helps to nip this in the bud entirely; it provides a consistent and reliable source of energy on what are increasingly lower prices. Once again, this means that the technology is being spread to sections of society outside of the tech-savvy, and marketers will do well to continue enhancing their appeal in this regard.
A general interest
Underpinning these trends is a general positivity towards renewable energy among the public in many South and East Asian countries. A 2018 study published by the Journal of Renewable Energy cites Malaysia as an example of a country where people are, by and large, enthusiastic for renewable energy, but have found barriers to obtaining it a large factor in not taking up usage. Marketing companies can, and should, focus on making their renewable energy clients accessible and ready to go for the general public – sales will skyrocket as a result.
This is, essentially, because renewable energy is in the best interests of most people. Moving towards clean energy will give such a range of benefits that it’s quickly becoming a priority for the public at large. Marketers should seek to take advantage of this key trend.
