The future of the planet starts with people

Building and evolving EV propositions around the changing needs of EV drivers

Shell is accelerating the transition of its business to net-zero emissions, and embeds its sustainability commitment into its strategy, business processes and decision-making. As one of the world’s largest energy suppliers, its goal is to become one of the largest electric charging solutions providers globally, helping Electric Vehicle (EV) drivers to charge their vehicles and get around at home, at work or on the go.

The EV market is emerging and dynamic: a world of new brands, new driving habits and new charging locations. To plan for this ever-emerging future, Shell needs to understand both EV drivers’ needs, and to understand its own role in supporting consumers’ transition to a more sustainable world. Shell worked with us to set up a long-term community of Electric Vehicle (EV) drivers. In a little over a year, the community has enabled an understanding of the importance of environmental awareness in EV charging loyalty programmes, and sustainability as a lever to EV adoption.

This increased depth of understanding has already been instrumental in growing Shell’s reach among the EV driver audience. Exploring needs, priorities and user experience with the Shell Recharge app has contributed to an uplift of 100% in numbers registering in 3 key markets, in the last 12 months alone.

Insights generated via the community have also impacted on huge CAPEX investment decisions. Building Shell’s EV solution involves plans to roll out 100,000 public UK charge points by 2030, for example. The community allows Shell to rapidly and cost-effectively understand needs, wants and pain points to model quantitatively, respond to market and audience shifts, and continue tracking its sustainability goals.

Creating a clear and compelling lexicon to describe green energy propositions

We’ve been helping both E.ON and E.ON Next to understand customers’ expectations of their energy provider for several years. Our work supports the positioning and prioritisation of both sustainability strategy as a whole, and specific initiatives and messaging. We’ve worked with teams across the businesses to explore several sustainable energy solutions, identifying fundamental customer needs, and the optimal framing for the propositions that meet them.

We recently completed a multi-stage, multi-method programme of research that unpacked consumer perceptions of E.ON Next’s offer. Through AI-powered semiotics and by applying a behavioural science lens to exploratory digital qual we built a deep and detailed understanding of the behaviours, beliefs and motivations that shape the way we currently consume energy and how we perceive ‘green’ language in the context of energy tariffs. The team have gone on to develop a range of ideas that will drive carbon reduction, which we’ll shortly be testing quantitatively. The most popular ideas will go on to be offered to E.ON Next’s 5 million + UK customers, positioned using the most motivating ESG messages – and therefore creating the biggest impact on sustainability.

Refreshing the brand with a bolder and more confident positioning around quality and ethics

Waitrose has always been known as a supermarket that sells top quality, great tasting food. However, in a competitive and increasingly cost-sensitive market, it became clear that they had an opportunity to better convey the value of food produced with care. Waitrose was already doing the ‘right’ things when it came to ethical initiatives and while the investments were making a positive impact, they perhaps weren’t attracting the credit they deserved.

We worked with Waitrose to explore what the brand represents to current and future customers and how it should evolve. Our exploration touched upon the delicate balance of purchase drivers like value, ethics, quality and cost. We grappled with themes like the physical and spiritual gains of eating ethically produced food, the extent to which ‘the greater good’ features in our internal value equations and challenging the perception that sustainably produced food is more expensive.

The end result? A confident and inspiring brand evolution, developed in a collaborative effort with Waitrose and their creative partners.