CSE, US – As steward of the state’s Energy Upgrade California brand, the California-based Center for Sustainable Energy sought to improve engagement with small and medium-sized businesses. Ken led the Greenberg team in building a research-based segmentation study to more clearly identify which energy-efficient narratives should be used to target different audiences. The program enabled both the advertising agency and state officials to refine the brand messaging and establish sound criteria for evaluating communications.

PG&E, US – As one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the US, PG&E struggled to gain a clear view of its customers as regulatory requirements and management teams continued to change. Over a three-year period, Ken led seminal research assignments that helped establish a renewed understanding of customer needs and informed new communication and product strategies. These programs included Large Enterprise Customer Journey Research, Small and Medium Business Segmentation, Solar Program Evaluation, Mobile Home Research, and Small Agricultural Business Rate Communication Evaluation.

Samarec, Saudi Arabia – Prior to its incorporation into Saudi Aramco, Samarec was the downstream refining and retail arm of the Kingdom’s oil industry. As Siegel & Gale’s Executive Creative Director, Ken led a team of 10 designers and implementation experts over a four-year period in shaping Samarec’s brand identity, corporate communications and retail identity. In addition to its important commercial role, the identity program served as a catalyst for stimulating pride and solidarity among citizens and ex-pats during the first Gulf War, one of the most challenging periods in Saudi history.

Schlumberger, France – Schlumberger has a unique culture that grew out of its multinational roots. As the company expanded beyond its core oil and gas heritage, that distinctive edge became blurred where it was needed most – in the hearts and minds of employees. A key goal of the brand development program was to help reignite awareness and motivation to the Schlumberger way of working. Ken led Siegel & Gale’s EMEA team to help articulate the expression of that culture. An employee recognition program introduced along with the new brand, helped galvanize 65,000 employees around a renewed sense of partnership.

Viridos, US – Founded in 2005 as Synthetic Genomics, Inc, the company was a pioneer in synthetic biology generating more than 100 patents. Spinoffs included platforms for protein-based therapeutics, mRNA replicon optimization, and bacteriophage engineering, as well as the world’s first automated DNA printer. But to be viable the company needed a more focused business model. With a revitalized strategy to apply its algal biotech experience to mitigating climate change, it became clear that the existing name did not reflect the new direction. With colleagues at Two Sides Consulting, Ken collaborated with the company’s leadership team to create a new brand strategy, articulate a new narrative, and write the website to support the launch of the chosen name – Viridos, referencing the Latin word viridis: green, fresh, and lively. The new brand and narrative were endorsed by Exxon, their major shareholder and launched in October 2021 to support the on-boarding of new investors and partners. With its first major deployment – a platform for algae biofuels – Viridos is creating a revolutionary production solution for sustainable fuels for air, rail, truck and marine shipping, sectors which still have no path to decarbonization.

CNBC – CNBC commands the highest advertising premiums in broadcast television. However, the changing media landscape was eroding advertiser confidence and commoditizing its message. Conversations internally revealed the need to strengthen confidence in the brand narrative to an increasingly cynical customer. Ken led the Greenberg team in using innovative qualitative research to identify brand hypotheses that underpinned the value that advertisers could see in the CNBC brand. Quantitative research validated that the CNBC viewer is in a more heightened state of decision making, relative to viewers of other networks. This singular narrative component formed the basis of a powerful new sales video and presentation that gave the sales team the confidence and wins it needed.

Hulu – With dramatic shifts in viewer behavior, Hulu was unclear of where it fit in the streaming landscape. Increasing competition from Netflix and Amazon and fragmentation with new niche providers meant that Hulu needed a clearer view of customers and a more focused message. Ken led the Greenberg team in conducting research that illuminated new patterns driving video consumption that transcended demographics and behaviors that Hulu had not seen before. Through this research, Hulu gained a new set of filters through which to see the changing media landscape, including the understanding that they couldn’t be everything to everyone. By focusing the right strategy and message toward the right viewers, they were better able to harness their business to new behaviors and cultural changes emerging in a highly dynamic market.

Bank of Hawaii, US – Bank of Hawaii ranks among the top performing banks in the US. But “old money” bias, and internal siloes were hindering its ability to deliver competitive services and create perceptions of value among more affluent customers. At Greenberg, Ken led qualitative research with high-net-worth customers that uncovered the need to empower private banking Relationship Managers and enhance that feeling of community-mindedness and “ohana” (family) that is fundamental to island culture.  In a series of immersion workshops with executive management, Ken adapted the output into a customer experience framework to prioritize actions, resources, and product development.

California Public Utilities Commission – California’s regulator mandated a change in how electricity is billed to align use with cost. In such a low-engagement category, communicating this change was a complex marketing challenge. At Greenberg, Ken led a six-person team of experts to establish a statewide marketing program that provided a California-wide blueprint. To overcome the most salient challenge – that customers don’t care about rates – the plan moved the regulator and utilities away from IQ-oriented, rate literacy to an approach based on “emotional quotient”. The strategy was able mitigate the impact of continual rate changes, while gaining acceptance and adoption of new energy habits.

To access the MEO Blueprint, go to either Executive Summary or Report.

Solidere, Lebanon – Solidere was established by Rafik Hariri, Prime Minster of Lebanon, as a public-private enterprise to reconstruct Beirut’s city center, devastated by years of conflict. In addition to the challenge of rebuilding the city, Solidere was charged with the even more daunting task of rebuilding Beirut’s image internationally. Ken and his team articulated the vision for the new city center as a meeting ground for its diverse communities. Beirut Reborn, a large format book was conceived and produced to present the aspirations for the capital as the economic and cultural engine of the nation. The document served as an important tool to secure investors and to showcase the ground-breaking work. Today, its message is still used by urban planners and development agencies around the world to tell the story of Beirut as a role model for ‘city making’ in the 21st century.

Clariant, Switzerland – Sandoz (now Novartis) realized that to compete effectively, it would need to focus on its core business — human health. A key part of this strategy was to spin off its specialty chemicals business as an independent company. Ken led the team that developed the brand strategy, name and visual identity for the new entity. Defining the company’s core strengths became the platform for conducting an extensive name development and registration process. Clariant, the chosen name, and the visual identity played a key part in rallying the confidence of analysts and investors to facilitate what would be one the largest simultaneous IPOs on the New York and Zurich stock exchanges.

DNV, Norway – As one of the world’s most respected certification and classification institutions, DNV-GL must balance its roles between third party advisor and expert consultant with communications that are unequivocal and build trust. As an advisor to the Corporate Communications team for more than three years, Ken led initiatives to clarify brand architecture, improve brand governance and sharpen DNV’s storytelling as a tool to improve internal skills and the quality of its marketing.

Hydro, Norway – For almost a decade, Ken helped shape the brand strategy and communications of this Global Fortune 500 company. As part of the brand management team, Ken led scores of strategic processes across the company and helped raise internal awareness to The Hydro Way. In doing so, he helped embed instinctive application of these principles that continue to enable it to contribute to a sustainable 21st century.