Utility Trusted Brand &
Customer Engagement™
Enhancing Utility-Customer Relationships by Driving Brand Trust,
Product Engagement and Operational Excellence
The Utility Trusted Brand & Customer Engagement study is a new industry-leading
body of research that enables electric and gas utilities to benchmark performance,
target improvements on how their brand is perceived, and strengthen utility-customer
relationships. Its unique customer engagement index model helps utilities understand how
they are positioned compared with the overall industry and where to focus improvement
efforts to enhance their image and earn their residential customers’ favorability and trust.
Areas of Inquiry
Value
Trusted Brand Factors
• Local economic development impact
• Customer advocacy
• Environmental focus
• Quality of service
The report will enable subscribers to:
• Target specific improvements in brand trust,
product engagement and operational
excellence to enhance customer relationships
• Benchmark and rank brand trust,
satisfaction and engagement ratings to
other utility peers
• Identify their market and operational
strengths and weaknesses
• Connect management actions to customer
perceptions
Product Engagement Factors
• Awareness and usage of voluntary programs
and offerings
• Encouragement of online services and
“smart” technology
• Demand for energy consumption
management services
• Impact of voluntary products on energy
costs, environment and other utility
consumer needs
Operational Excellence Factors
• Safety and reliability of service
• Billing and payment processes
• Energy cost assessment
• Customer interaction performance
Customer Impressions of Utility
• Evaluation of customer loyalty and
favorability (with utility and other local
service providers)
• Utility brand imagery association
• Customer’s personal brand diagnoses
Utility-Customer Engagement and
Operational Diagnostics
• Evaluation of utility-sponsored messaging
• Evaluation of media coverage of utility
• Use of and demand for billing and payment
services, service support offerings and
consumption management offerings
• Customer energy-type literacy
Methodology
A web-based survey among residential
electric and natural gas utility customers of
the 125 largest US utility companies (based
on residential customer counts). Sample
design uses US census data and strict quotas
to ensure a representative sample of each
evaluated utility’s customers based on age,
income and race.
Two waves of research will be conducted in
2014. Subscribers will have 250 customer
respondents per wave (500/year), and
non-subscribers will be evaluated by 100
customer respondents per wave (200/year).
Who Is Evaluated?
• Electric
• Natural gas
• Combination utilities
Rankings and Recognition
• Net Promoter Score®
• Top performers for trusted brand
and customer relationship strength
• Ability to promote rankings
Publication Schedule
Wave 1:
• Survey fielded: Mar-Apr 2014
• Publication: Jun 2014
Wave 2:
• Survey Fielded: Sep-Oct 2014
• Publication: Dec 2014
Research Investment: $45,000
Deliverables:
• Printed reports and executive
summary report card for each wave
• Access to online portal tool with every
score and question for each utility
• Attendance to webcast of overall
industry results
• On-site strategy session and
presentation designed to deliver
actionable results and facilitate
strategic planning
Operational Satisfaction
► Safety & reliability
Brand Trust
► Billing & payment processes
► Company reputation
► Customer and field service
► Customer focus
► Communications
effectiveness
► Quality & reliability
► Community support
► Environmental
performance
Engaged
Customer
Relationship
Product
Experience
Product Experience
► Design & education
► Benefits awareness
► Usage performance
For more information, email cogent-reports@marketstrategies.com
or call 617.715.7640
Visit us: cogent-reports.com
Read our blog: freshmr.com