Findings: Understanding Modern Energy Brands

In this chapter the findings of the research are presented. The chapter is split into seven sections which are the seven themes of the findings. First, all of the seven themes are summarised along with a table that visually presents the themes and subcategories. The first theme is ‘Energy Market Characteristics’ and deals with the experts’ description of energy companies and markets, and ways in which branding has been used in the energy sector. The second theme ‘Branding Commodities’ refers to experts’ descriptions of branding energy, a process different in many important aspects from branding consumer products. The third theme, ‘Intrinsic Factors’, covers the experts’ view that branding entails the total behaviour of a company. The fourth theme, ‘Extrinsic Factors’, relates to the general usefulness of brands in the energy sector—specifically, what branding does for consumers, stakeholders, and wider society. The fifth theme is ‘Business-to-Business (B2B) Branding’, which relates to how experts described the differences and similarities between branding in B2B versus B2C (business-to-consumer) markets. The sixth theme ‘Investing in Brands’ refers to financial aspects of branding, while the seventh and last theme is ‘Sustainable Energy Brands’. This theme examines the ideas regarding ‘green energy’ and sustainability, namely how these two concepts influence branding, and what role both energy companies and consumers should undertake to effect a sustainable energy future.