Brand and reputation a vital cog in reaping offshore wind's global opportunities

The offshore wind market is undertaking a momentous change – with golden opportunities, but also new challenges as it is increasingly deemed to be ’mainstream’. With subsidies drying up, the fledging industry is being challenged to drive down energy costs much like its fossil fuel predecessors. As a result it has to match rising productivity expectations whilst maximising efficiencies and managing its own emissions.

This new, more commercial footing can hardly come as a surprise. In the North Sea, the offshore wind market has expanded rapidly; with the European Commission estimating 255.4 GW of cumulative wind energy capacity installed by 2030 in the EU alone.

With the market moving at dramatic speed even pre COP26; what was deemed radical pre-pandemic now appears to be standard. While not the wild west, the industry’s transitional state does mean that there is a rather fragmented and congested market. However, like all business-to-business sectors, brand and reputation will be a vital ingredient in defining success in the race to the top whether that is in terms of attracting investment, employees, customers or counteracting criticism.

Understanding what key stakeholders read and how they communicate is critical given the rapid nature of the sector’s growth. Failing to invest in brand and reputation positioning may not leave time to re-adjust, resulting in lost opportunities or even obsoletion as the market rapidly matures.

Partnering for success

Energy operations have always been a co-operation of multiple parties, with the success of a project being reliant on the quality of contractors and suppliers. Communications is no different. It is vital that renewable energy companies find a communications partner that understands the nuances of the wind sector in order to develop an impactful strategy. BLUE’s credentials in the marine and offshore oil and gas markets, coupled with its deep-rooted knowledge and experience of the decarbonisation across the marine and energy markets, sets us apart; being able to offer strategic brand, PR, communications, and digital marketing services grounded in in-depth knowledge of the renewable sector. BLUE recently bolstered its offshore renewable credentials with the recruitment of Sam Jackson, who returns to BLUE after seven years away – spending that time building knowledge and experience in the renewables market.

BLUE works with several offshore wind clients, as well as other renewable energy organisations. Recently, BLUE was tasked with utilising its network to support floating wind start-up FloatWind to reach its seed funding target and progress to an innovation set-up phase, developing a thought leadership programme that secured coverage across the renewables and investment media.

BLUE was also tasked with supporting Houlder, the offshore design and engineering company to reach its growth objectives in the offshore wind space – by utilising a combination of media relations, social channels, web blogs and digital marketing to convey how independent naval architecture consultancy is central to informed decision-making to optimise project costs and minimise risks.

Other work includes, but is not limited to, supporting Opsealog, the digital performance management experts, helping to define and amplify Opsealog’s core capabilities, insights and services – including its tools for unlocking measurable and verifiable carbon savings – in the offshore wind market. Through its long-standing work with GAC, BLUE has developed powerful platforms to highlight its quay for support vessels, project logistics, warehousing and other related services, and as the transport of large project cargoes, such as, wind turbines, for the offshore wind markets.

To enquire about how BLUE can support your renewable organisation’s brand, PR, communication and digital marketing needs, contact: sam.jackson@blue-comms.com