Maksym Bielawski: Communication as the Key to Success for Energy Enterprises: Lessons from History and Modern Challenges in the Energy Club Training Course

12.05.2025

Dear future attendees of the course “Communications and Interaction in Energy: Strategies for PR, Marketing, GR, and Lobbying in Ukraine” from Energy Club!

I invite you to a discussion about why communication skills are an integral part of success. Our educational course from Energy Club will help you master these skills, relying on the best principles of interaction.

Why is effective communication the secret to success?

Maksym Bielawski

Without effective communication, it is impossible to implement large-scale projects, attract financing, or overcome barriers. Imagine: you are trying to enter the market with a new product, such as innovative and quite efficient energy storage technology, but you cannot convince investors or a potential buyer why preference should be given to you.

Helping to unlock potential and win the competition is possible through effective communication, which should be based on the following principles:

• Transparency: Openness, for example, regarding the impact of projects on the environment, builds credibility. Remember, limited transparency creates space for myths and manipulations that will later have to be dealt with, but in a crisis communication format.
• Consistency: Messages and public positions should be consistent to avoid confusion.
• Systematic Approach: Communication should cover all channels – from social media to public dialogue – and be part of an overall state strategy.

Using Open Data, Sociology, and Analytics

In the modern world, communication cannot be effective without data, sociology, and analytics. Sociological research, such as surveys by the Razumkov Center, allows us to understand consumer sentiment, their fears, and motivations. For example, why are industrial enterprises hesitant to implement demand management systems? Social media behavior analytics helps determine which messages resonate with your target audience – the consumer of the product or service.

In the Energy Club course, we will explain how to most effectively:

• Analyze data: Use sociological surveys and analytics to segment the audience.
• Conduct A/B testing: Check which messages and narratives attract more attention.
• Monitor public information: Analyze feedback on social media to adapt strategies in real-time.

Integrated Communications for Quick Results

Probably each of you, starting a particular project, asked yourself questions about accelerating the achievement of goals. This is possible, but by deploying integrated communications.

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) combines all channels and tools – PR, marketing, advertising, GR, social media – into a single strategy to ensure consistent message delivery and maximum impact. In the energy sector, IMC allows you to synchronize efforts to promote products, such as hubs for wind power plants or demand management systems, through various consumer contact points. For example, a campaign may include webinars for industrial clients, LinkedIn posts for investors, TikTok videos for youth, and dialogue with professional communities.

Integrated communications provide:

• Unified message: All channels emphasize one idea, for example, “green technologies are economy and stability.”
• Synergy: The combination of online and offline channels (webinars, exhibitions, social media) amplifies the effect.
• Efficiency: Optimization of efforts through targeting and analytics.

In the course, we will analyze how to create IMC campaigns, using the most effective principles of interaction and data to ensure consistency and coherence.

Historical Lessons of Marketing and Communications in Energy

The communication approaches described above have long been successfully tested in all the historical cases known to us.

One of the most striking examples of the role of communication is the so-called “War of the Currents” at the end of the 19th century between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. Edison promoted direct current (DC), while Westinghouse, with the support of Nikola Tesla, advocated alternating current (AC). Edison launched an aggressive campaign, associating AC with danger through public demonstrations. However, the lack of coherence with consumer interests led to defeat. Westinghouse won thanks to technical superiority and cooperation with partners who conveyed the value of AC.

This case, which we will analyze in the module on crisis communications, shows the importance of consistency and transparency. You will learn to create integrated communication strategies that build trust.

Also, quite interesting is the British information campaign “Dig for Victory” during World War II, which urged citizens to grow vegetables to save fuel. It was systematic (posters, radio, children’s programs), consistent (a single message), and transparent (clear goal). The campaign changed the behavior of millions, saving fuel for the British Armed Forces. In the course, in the GR module, we will analyze similar initiatives to promote energy efficiency in Ukraine.

Quite instructive will be the communication case about the lost opportunities of the early era of popularizing electric vehicles in the global market. At the beginning of the 20th century, electric vehicles, such as Detroit Electric, were popular but lost out to internal combustion engines (ICE) due to weak communication and quite aggressive marketing by oil companies. Ford created the image of the Model T as a symbol of freedom, while electric vehicles had no systematic strategy or infrastructure. The lack of transparency and proportionality led to their defeat. Today, Tesla, thanks to Elon Musk’s integrated communications, sells a vision of a sustainable future. We will analyze this case in the B2C marketing module to learn how to create narratives that put the consumer at the center of attention.

No less interesting will be the marketing case in the field of energy machinery. During the training course, we will examine Siemens Gamesa’s campaign to promote innovative hubs for wind turbines in the 2010s. Faced with competition from cheap Chinese components, the company launched an IMC campaign that emphasized the reliability and efficiency of their parts:

• Data and analytics: Sociological research showed that WPP operators value durability. Siemens Gamesa used this for targeted advertising.
• Transparency: Publication of reports on testing blades and gearboxes.
• Systematic approach: The campaign covered webinars, LinkedIn posts, exhibitions, and dialogue with the government for subsidies.
• Consistency: The unified message – “our parts reduce WPP maintenance costs.”

The campaign increased sales by 15% in two years. At the Energy Club educational course, we will analyze this case to learn how to create IMC strategies for energy products.

Join our educational course, and together we will shape the future of Ukraine’s energy sector, where the consumer is not just a client, but a partner in creating a sustainable future.