British Gas reviews marcoms structure to reflect growth of content
ISBA Conference 2014: British Gas is reviewing the structure of its marketing and communications setup to reflect the growth of content marketing and social media.
Speaking at a session called “brands as publishers” at the ISBA Conference in London today (12 March) Pam Conway, British Gas director of P&L marketing and loyalty, said content and social have meant marketing is now brand and not product led. As a result, the company is looking at whether having different teams looking after silos such as retail, products and loyalty is the right approach.
The energy company is currently in the middle of a pitch process where it is asking publishers, media owners, creative, content and media agencies to pitch ideas on how it should be working and structured differently to reflect the changing landscape.
She said the aim is to make sure the energy supplier is “agile” and that its structure reflects the greater time investment needed to produce content.
Also on the panel, managing director of marketing communications at Barclays, Sara Bennison explained how content had changed the way the bank plans campaigns and the skills its marketers need to have. It is now looking to hire marketers with production and journalism skills to meet the need to “say something new everyday about your brand”.
Briitish Gas’ restructure review comes just over a year after the energy provider restructured its commercial team around specific customer groups and installed a data marketing platform.
The changes helped inform several marketing initiatives in the period including the launch of its ME service for young housesharers and its nascent social media strategy.
