Planet-U Energy is a new kind of B2B energy broker, focusing on the fast expanding renewables sector. They wanted our help in building rapid growth in a fiercely competitive marketplace. Our audit of the market uncovered a clear barrier. While many UK businesses are concerned about environmental issues, using renewables felt unfamiliar and too risky. In an in-depth workshop with Planet-U we identified ‘too good to be true’ claims by competitors as being responsible for undermining faith in the whole renewables sector. Our opportunity was to challenge this head on, seize market leadership, and provide what the industry was really missing – transparency.

No spin. No hype. In an era of fake news, we built a long term strategy of claiming the honest high ground. Planet-U would simply present the facts and let companies draw their own conclusions. It was an approach that chimed perfectly with the no-nonsense mindset of Planet-U owner and founder, Grant Nicholson. We developed a suite of key marketing materials that set out this no-spin philosophy, including a brand book, website and company brochure. But it wasn’t just a promotional initiative. Sales staff were retrained so that customers were never sold to, but simply given the information they needed to decide for themselves. The new approach was launched internally and externally on the same day, and included a compelling ‘no expense spent’ film featuring Grant Nicholson challenging faceless competitors to be as open and direct as he was.

The launch had immediate impact, with the company directly attributing the win of Rosemont Pharmaceuticals to the new approach. Not even the global pandemic slowed Planet-U’s momentum down, with the company selling £1 billion worth of contracts in 2020, and acquiring a new office and 30 strategic hires in the same year. Future plans include a fully integrated digital and PR communications plan, encompassing social media, traditional PR, email, CSR and even an on-going series of podcasts from Grant. Ambitious? Certainly. But as Grant says himself, you can’t change the world by thinking small.