Staff Report Item 5
Staff Report Item 5
TO: East Bay Community Energy Executive Committee
FROM: Annie Henderson, Vice President of Marketing & Account Services; Theresa McDermit, Head of Brand
SUBJECT: New Brand Name Proposal
DATE: June 7, 2023
__________________________________________________________________ Recommendation
Provide feedback on the proposal of Ava Community Energy as the market-facing brand name for our agency.
Background and Discussion
In recent years, EBCE has dramatically increased its focus on actively promoting and enabling electrification, decarbonization, and efficiency initiatives while maintaining its ongoing commitment to the delivery of clean power at low prices. Since early 2022, staff have led an effort to define and articulate an updated brand strategy in support of this broadening mandate.
In December of 2022, an RFP was issued for a partner to support the evolution of our brand identity. And in February of this year, the Board approved the request to move forward with a preferred supplier. Since that time, we have worked swiftly to build out our evolved brand identity, beginning with the recommended brand name.
To arrive at this naming recommendation, we followed this detailed process:
Strategic Alignment and Naming Criteria: We established a framework for evaluating potential names to guide subsequent steps in the process. These guardrails helped ensure that an eventual name fulfill our objectives for a name change which broadly fall into two categories:
Staff Report Item 5
1) Ease of use, memorability; ability to support our expanded engagement efforts 2) Inclusivity; welcoming to all constituents including those outside of the “East Bay.”
Ideation: In the initial phase, over 150 names were generated and reviewed.
Promising candidates were screened for availability at a high level.
Feedback: In an iterative process, the most promising candidate names were shared with agency leadership, select staff, and members of the ad hoc committees of the Board of Directors and Community Advisory Committee. Several rounds of feedback and review yielded a small set of finalist names.
Clearance and Protection: We’ve taken care to ensure the appropriateness and availability of our recommended name with the following actions:
A full trademark search was conducted by our counsel, DWT. They found no relevant competing claims on the name
Native speakers of the most frequently spoken languages in our territory are reviewing the name to ensure there are no unintended linguistic or cultural associations
Relevant URLs and social media handles were secured
A placeholder trademark filing was prepared to signal our intent to use and protect the recommended name upon approval.
Fiscal Impact
Fiscal impact is driven by the need to communicate any changes to our brand identity and the creation / recreation of branded materials. Actual costs will be determined once the full extent and timing of changes are known. The funding for implementation and outreach on a new brand identity is included in the amount presented to the board for approval as part of the FY23/24 budget.
Committee Recommendation
Ad hoc committees of the Board of Directors and CAC have stated their support for adoption of the recommended name. The name proposal will be presented for feedback to the Marketing, Regulatory, and Legislative Committee on June 16th.
Attachments
A. New Name Proposal ppt.
New Name Proposal
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
JUNE 7, 2023
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Overview
2 ● Background & Rationale
● Insights
● Stakeholder Engagement & Timelines
● Process & Considerations
● New Name Proposal
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Background &
Rationale
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EBCE Brand Evolution
2020
Updates to Look & Feel
Website update to give a more modern
look and feel to the brand. Logo and key
messaging remain unchanged.
First customer program offering.
2022
Program Marketing with Calls to Action
Multiple programs launched or in
planning; specific calls to action,
expanding on an educational focus
2016
Original Brand and Logo Development
County hired Circlepoint to develop initial
website, collateral, and logos.
2018
Initial Enrollment and Launch of Service
Enrollment marketing and outreach
campaign including customer notifications
and key messaging.
4 Begin service to Stockton
2025
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5 In the Beginning…
When we launched EBCE, our primary
objective was to educate:
• What is a CCA?
• How does your bill work?
• EBCE is not a scam…
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Our brand expression is:
● Very literal; we have a highly
descriptive name and logo
● Self-referential; our messaging has
traditionally focused on what we
do (as opposed to what that
means for the consumer)
● Familiar; our “look” is similar to
many other CCAs or IOUs
A Brand Expression to Support Education and Trust
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$19 million annual
customer savings vs.
what would have been
paid for PG&E service
$21 million spent on
local programs like
battery energy
storage, induction
cooking, and electric
heat pump water
heaters 1,015 megawatts of
new wind, solar, and
battery storage,
including projects in
Alameda County
95% average
retention rate across
our service area
Steady expansion
of our service area;
Pleasanton, Newark +
Tracy 2022;
Stockton 2024
On track to implement
the strategy for
100% clean by 2030
2022 National Notable Achievement
Award for Land Revitalization Team
Excellence
We’ve Been Successful
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We Continue to Mature and Evolve to Better Serve our Communities ● We are moving from simply
filling demand to creating it
● Growing capacity and expertise
to stand up consumer- and
commercial-facing programs
that expose customers to
electric alternatives and speed
their adoption, accelerating
decarbonization
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Insights
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Our Name is a Barrier to Success in San Joaquin County* *n=400; 57.5% of sample from Stockton
Q12. Which one of these names is your least favorite?
East Bay Community Energy
EBCE
Placeholder Name
Placeholder Name
Placeholder Name
Placeholder Name
Placeholder Name
Q13: Why?
EBCE
• Acronyms are off-putting;
hard to remember
East Bay Community Energy
• San Joaquin County not part
of East Bay; East Bay too
expensive / doesn’t represent
my values
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Unaided Awareness
Question: PG&E manages the electricity system in your area. You also have an option for generation service (power plants). Is that…
11 May 2022
22.25%
46.5%
October 2022
46.5%
22%
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Stakeholder
Engagement &
Timelines
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• 4/1/22 - Presented brand refresh concept to
MRL Subcommittee
• 10/19/22 - BOD meeting CEO Report notes
hiring of Head of Brand
• 12/14/22 - BOD meeting CEO Report provides
update on brand efforts
• 12/15/22 - RFP posted for partner to support
Brand Identity Evolution
• 2/15/23 - BOD meeting consent agenda for
approval of contract for Brand & Visual Identity
Services
Meetings and Public Information
- 2022 to early 2023
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• February
○ Ad Hoc Committees of the Board and CAC
established; initial meetings
• March
○ Survey of stakeholders, customers, and staff
○ Presentation to MuniPals
• April
○ Ad Hoc Committee meetings
○ Presentation to Exec Comm, CAC, and Board
• May
○ Ad Hoc Committee meetings
○ Update in CEO Report to Board
○ Presentation on brand at Marketing &
Account Services Special Board Retreat
○ Special meeting of the MuniPals
Winter/Spring 2023
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• June 7
○ Executive Committee
• June 16
○ Marketing, Regulatory, & Legislative
Committee
• June 19
○ Community Advisory Committee
• June 21
○ Board of Directors Meeting
June 2023
Info and discussion
Discussion and vote
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16 Reference: Ad Hoc Committees
Name EBCE Role Jurisdiction Role
Elisa Márquez Current Chair Supervisor, Alameda County
Dan Kalb Former Chair Councilmember, Oakland
Jaime Patiño Former Chair of MRL Subcommittee Councilmember, Union City Matt Bedolla Director Councilmember, Tracy
Dan Wright Director Councilmember, Stockton
Anne-Olivia Eldred Chair of CAC Oakland resident
Ed Hernandez Vice Chair of CAC San Leandro resident
Jim Lutz At-Large Member of CAC Oakland resident
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Ahead: Implementing our Evolved Name & Brand (tentative schedule)
Plan, Prepare, Build
● Catalog / update all
branded assets
● Build launch plan x
audience
● Create toolkits x
audience (e.g. logo,
guidelines, FAQ,
messaging, social
posts, newsletter
content)
Now - Aug
Stakeholder Enablement
September
Soft Launch
● Notice customers
● Reskin website
● Apply brand to external
touchpoints
● Social media
campaign
● Outreach at events
Oct - Dec
Robust Comms
● Integrated campaign to
inform and build
excitement among our
constituents (e.g. radio,
buses, BART, OOH)
● Launch evolved
website
● Measure awareness
Jan - Mar
Transition to Steady
State*
● Begin messaging shift
from introduction to
steady state
● Continue elevated level
of outreach with
programs focus
● Integrate tracking data
and stakeholder input to
drive additional
activities
Apr - Jun
● Communications and
training for internal
and external
stakeholders (e.g. all
employees, MuniPals,
sponsored entities,
program partners)
* Timing influenced by results of tracking survey
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Process &
Considerations
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Naming Criteria 1. Signals energy, community, or progress
2. Evokes momentum, positivity, and togetherness
3. Flexible for business and service area expansion
4. Balances uniqueness with reliability
5. Based on easy-to-understand words
6. Sounds and looks interesting; ideally also wearable
7. Stands out from clean tech/smart home innovators
8. Works in connection with “Community Energy” but without creating negative acronyms
9. Ownable as URL and available as trademark
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Naming Process
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Name Proposal
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Considerations ● Legal check is complete and clear - name is available for use ○ Other top contenders did not pass initial legal review, presenting risk of litigation
● Trademark registration submitted
● Cultural / Linguistic search completed; no conflicts found ● Social media handles and URLs have been secured in
advance of revealing the name publicly
● Name proposal is the outcome of many months of working with the ad hoc committees, public engagement, consultant engagement, internal staff analysis, and legal review
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Ava
Ava Community Energy
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Ava Community Energy
Origin Coined from Alameda + Valley
Rationale Signals approachability
Evokes humanity and optimism
Short, warm, and memorable
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Ava Community Energy
Language “East Bay Community Energy is now Ava”
“We’d like to thank Ava Community Energy for
being the Climate Justice Sponsor of the
Oakland Roots.”
“The next speaker is from Ava Community Energy,
serving Alameda County to the Central Valley.”
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31 We are Ava Community Energy
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Ava
Ava Community Energy
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Thank you for your consideration.
We welcome your feedback.
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