ATLANTA, Nov. 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Does your utility have more or fewer marketing people than utilities of similar size and structure? Is your marketing budget in the range of average? Are other utilities leaving you behind, or are you ahead of the curve when it comes to product development processes, market research, and other marketing functions?
The answers to these questions can be found in Chartwell's latest research report, "Utility Marketing Data Summary & Report," based on interviews with 115 utility marketing professionals regarding their strategies, budgets, structures and processes. The report includes not only graphs and analysis but an Excel file populated with the raw data that can be sorted by utility size, type (ownership), services offered and other factors.
For example, the data shows that 40% of all utilities have a formal product development process and bears out that this is a function of utility size and type. Of utilities with 100,000 to 499,999 customers, 35% have a formal product development process, compared with 58% of utilities with 1 million or more customers. Of co-ops, 28% have a formal product development process, while 46% of regulated IOUs do. Only 12% of gas-only utilities have a formal product development process in place.
Similarly, utilities reported on the total number of FTEs in marketing areas including research, product development, advertising and promotions. The report breaks the data down into six different categories based on utility size (derived from number of customers). The Excel data can be sorted to determine FTEs by utility ownership (municipal, cooperative, IOU in fully regulated territory, or IOU in partially or fully deregulated territory), size, and services offered, as well. For example, fully regulated IOUs with 100,000 to 500,000 customers have an average of 22.3 FTEs in marketing. Munis with fewer than 100,000 customers are looking at a benchmark of 3.7 marketing FTEs.
The "Utility Marketing Data Summary & Report" and Excel file are available only to members of the Chartwell Utility Marketing Research Series, which focuses on products, services, and customer relations issues such as marketing, promotions and public communications.
The Research Series is a 12-month membership that includes:
-- Three Data Summaries & Reports and Excel files - Residential
Products & Services, C&I Products & Services, and Utility
Marketing based on the 125-question utility survey conducted
annually.
-- Regular in-depth reports and case studies, released approximately
every six weeks, each covering a specific product/service --
including green power, broadband over power lines (BPL), energy
management tools and services, load management, onsite
power/distributed generation and others -- or marketing-related
issue such as market research, advertising and promotions, or
community and public relations. These reports include more
in-depth data analysis and Chartwell reporting, and case studies
that provide lengthy detail on utilities' successes and/or
failures. Monthly topics are chosen with input from Series
Members.
-- Profiles of vendors poised to help utilities in this arena.
-- One-on-one consultation with Chartwell research staff.
-- Members have constant access to the 2002, 2003 and new 2004
databases, each of which includes hundreds of data points, from
how much individual utilities charge for green power to the
types of power quality services offered to C&I customers.
Membership in The Chartwell Utility Marketing Research Series is $2,995. For more information, contact Bill Grist at (800)432-5879, (404)237-9099 or bgrist@chartwellinc.com; or visit www.chartwellinc.com or Chartwell's Energy Library at www.energylibrary.com.