Utilities are on a par with tobacco and gambling brands | WARC | The Feed

Utilities are on a par with tobacco and gambling brands

Utility firms are now viewed as negatively as tobacco and gambling companies by Britons, according to new data from research firm YouGov.

What’s happened

Six in ten (63%) Britons have a negative view of utility companies, very similar to the proportion having negative views of tobacco companies (66%) and gambling firms (62%).

The negative trend in consumer sentiment has been evident for some time, but marketing efforts to address people’s growing worries have not always been stellar. Back in January, it was already evident that UK utilities faced particular challenges in the year ahead, especially related to surging energy bills for customers, and some responses were woefully inadequate.

Why it matters

It’s a disaster – and not just from a marketing point of view – when brands supplying essentials like power and water are bracketed in the mind of the public with “vices” like smoking and betting. 

Pressure is rising across the political spectrum, with suggestions ranging from pushing energy firms to invest in green energy right through to arguments in favour of capping prices and potentially nationalising these vital industries.

Marketers need to up their game – and they need help from a C-suite that isn’t raking in excess profits and trousering huge pay packets while hiding behind concepts like “maximising shareholder value”.

Sourced from YouGov, Reuters, Financial Times, The Week, WARC