Npower looks to make marketing more responsive with hire
Npower is looking to inject more strategic expertise into its tactical marketing to get closer to homeonwers with the appointment of its first head of marketing strategy.
The energy firm is on the hunt for a top marketer to lead a team that will shape its day-to-day communications with customers as the sector faces intense pressure from the Government and consumer groups to be more transparent. While the role will principally focus on the company’s marketing output, it also extends to its commercial programmes such as sales and energy services in a bid to bring greater measurability to Npower’s brand building efforts.
The unit will report to Debbie Britton director of customer marketing at Npower, operating effectively as her second-in-command across the wider,120-strong marketing team.
It is a continuation of the overhaul the business made to its marketing division last year with it ramping up its investment in digital marketing and other responsive media. The company has been testing the strategy in recent months, most recently when it ran online and press ads the day after Labour leader Ed Miliband proposed to freeze energy prices last September.
Other energy players are making similar moves in an attempt to counter the negative perceptions traditionally associated with the UK’s big six suppliers. British Gas saw its efforts to be on the front foot unravel last year when customers hijacked its Twitter Q&A to voice their outrage.
Britton says upcoming investments will ensure its output is no longer geared around external promotions and instead about “really understanding” how homeowners want to engage with their energy consumption. It builds on the company’s 2013 pledge to mimic the strategies of retailers such as Marks and Spencer or John Lewis by developing multi-channel brand building initiatives
Britton adds: “[The head of marketing strategy] will be the glue that ties all our marketing disciplines together.
“The energy sector is getting much more media attention now and people are becoming more conscious of managing household bills. Internally we’re shaping up our marketing team to structure ourselves around customers and make sure we’re looking at the different communications channels together instead of in isolation of one another.”
