Dynamic Marketing Communiqué

When LIFE IS ON, life goes on! Find out how this company provides better energy management across the globe! [Monday: Marketing Marvels]

May 10, 2021

Urbanization.

Digitization.

Industrialization.

According to an article from the World Economic Forum, the future will be shaped by these 3 megatrends, which can result in an increase in energy demand.

Is that a good thing?

Well, for one company, that is an exciting opportunity to work towards solving an energy paradox.

That paradox is…

“Balancing the planet’s carbon footprint with the irrefutable human right to quality energy!”

Schneider Electric S.E. is a European multinational company that provides energy and automation digital solutions for efficiency and sustainability.

The company services homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructures, and industries by combining energy technologies, real-time automation, and softwares.

Schneider Electric is part of the Fortune Global 500 and has operations in over 100 countries around the world.

As a global specialist in energy management, what strategy does the company employ to achieve its vision?

The “Schneider Is On” strategy, which has been implemented since 2015!

Just a quick background, the company’s vision consists of:

  • Delivering the most competitive and flexible supply base in the industry throughout a product’s life cycle.
  • Developing world-class procurement with the best talent.
  • Driving values of accountability, collaboration, and simplification.
  • Contributing as a role model to a responsible and sustainable environment.
  • Enhancing quality and service level to meet or exceed customers’ expectations.

In “Schneider Is On,” the company focuses on 5 key priorities in order to serve customers better.

These are:

  • Do More – going the extra mile to deliver customers’ needs and demands in the energy sector.
  • Digitize – utilizing the power of new technology and the Internet to connect with consumers worldwide.
  • Innovate – creating new products and softwares that help customers live more conveniently.
  • Step Up – positioning itself as a leader in the energy management industry.
  • Simplify – making it easier for customers to transact with the business so they can understand the company’s processes and collaborate more effectively.

According to Eric Leger, the Country President for Southern Africa at Schneider Electric, the strategy is all about doing more for customers by connecting with them digitally, being a leader in technology and business innovation, and raising the bar of expectations on every employee.

That’s a huge step for the company!

Leger said:

“With this program, we start a new chapter in the evolution of our organization. Our ambition is to serve our customers better by listening more closely to them, thus understanding their challenges and aligning our actions with their needs accordingly.”

… and as part of the “Schneider Is On” strategy, the company launched an integrated marketing campaign that aims to bring bold ideas to life:

The “Life Is On” campaign!

This campaign, which began in 2017, is fueled by Schneider Electric’s Operational Intelligence approach to the Internet of Things (IoT).

[Operational Intelligence: An approach that aims to transform how people and organizations consume energy, better automate industrial processes, and increase the quality of business decisions.

Internet of Things (IoT): The network of physical objects―“things”―that are embedded with sensors, softwares, and other technologies for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data with other devices and systems over the Internet.]

The “Life Is On” campaign shows how Schneider Electric helps customers around the world take advantage of the megatrends that are taking place at the moment.

How?

Through generation of actionable information that will drive informed decision making at homes, manufacturing facilities, data centers, buildings, and cities.

The campaign is built on 4 brand attributes that characterize Schneider Electric:

  • Connectivity – The interconnection of IT (information technology) and OT (operational technology) to produce better business results.
  • Sustainability – The affordability of customer resources, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, and feasibility of more livable environments.
  • Efficiency – The achievement of better energy management in cities, businesses, plants, buildings, and homes through solutions that are simple to use.
  • Reliability and Safety – The delivery of safe and reliable energy products and solutions to customers and clients.

Curious about what Schneider Electric does to increase awareness about its “Life Is On” campaign?

The company showcases customer stories and testimonials through viral videos, print and online advertising, email, website posts, event marketing, and other out-of-home placements!

This goes to show how customer and client testimonials are a powerful tool in helping spread the word about a brand!

Aside from that, the campaign is supported by examples of how Schneider Electric enables its customers to ensure “Life Is On” across the globe.

These include:

The Green Mountain Data Center

This facility near Stavanger, Norway is one of the most energy efficient data centers in the world. It is built into the side of a mountain in a former NATO storage bunker, making the center exceptionally secure.

In order for the Green Mountain to stay cool even without using refrigeration or coolant, Schneider Electric developed a solution that allows the facility to draw cold water from the nearby fjord.

Now that’s really cool!

Additionally, with the help of Schneider Electric’s leading DCIM (data center infrastructure management) software, the center achieved a power usage effectiveness ratio of 1.2, which means Green Mountain customers in the government, financial services, and other arenas can access resources in an efficient manner.

The Fenway Park

This park in Boston, MA, the home of the iconic baseball team Boston Red Sox, needs the most precise weather data available to ensure the right conditions on game days.

Here’s the thing: In Boston, the weather can be usually unpredictable.

So… what did Schneider Electric do to help?

Using the company’s Weather Sentry, the baseball team managers know exactly when and where it’s going to rain, for how long and how hard, and how long it will take until it rains again.

This new level of information enables the Red Sox team to work more efficiently than ever and make the right call in terms of weather-related game delays and cancellations.

Clearly, we can see how Schneider Electric’s technology works well in this aspect!

As stated by Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO of Schneider Electric:

“We build energy management and automation technologies to ensure that Life Is On everywhere for everyone and at any moment. We think access to energy is a fundamental right for everyone on our planet and we engineer solutions to make energy safe, reliable, efficient, sustainable, and connected.

Our solutions serve the key markets of residential, buildings, data centers and networks, energy and infrastructure, and industry. We are committed to helping our customers succeed in this new reality by transforming their businesses and organizations into more connected enterprises―with deep, real-time operational intelligence.”

To further support this vision for IoT-powered operational intelligence, Schneider Electric also takes on a more central role alongside thought leaders from big companies like AT&T, Cisco, General Electric, IBM, and Intel.

Together, these companies work together to develop recommendations for industry specifications and frameworks and speed the adoption of industrial IoT technologies worldwide.

Schneider Electric has also entered into a collaboration with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (HKUST-MIT) in 2017 to advance IoT solutions and adoption.

Through partnerships with several organizations, Schneider Electric is able to develop new technologies and services that drive intelligence, efficiency, and connectivity.

In the past five years, Schneider Electric S.E. has recorded revenues of:

  • EUR 24.5 billion in 2016
  • EUR 24.7 billion in 2017
  • EUR 25.7 billion in 2018
  • EUR 27.2 billion in 2019
  • EUR 25.2 billion in 2020

Indeed, IoT is reshaping businesses across different industries!

According to Juan Macias, President of Schneider Electric Canada, a lot of customers are seeing the benefits of the company’s solutions that provide intelligence for them to make better decisions.

Schneider Electric S.E.’s Earning Power: Valens Research vs. As-reported numbers

Schneider Electric S.E. (SU:FRA) makes for a great case study that we come back to regularly. One great reason?

The company has proven itself to be a better earning power generator than investors might think.

So, how well has Schneider Electric been growing its business in the past years?

The research doesn’t lie—nor do the results. Earning power (the blue bars) continues to show results higher on average than what traditional databases show.

The blue bars in the chart above represent Schneider Electric’s earning power (Uniform Return On Assets). Schneider Electric has seen generally robust profitability. Its Uniform ROA ranged from 14% to 23% in the past sixteen years, or an average of 19%. Uniform ROA is at 23% in 2019.

The global ROA is just 6%.

The orange bars are the company’s as-reported financial information. If you relied on these numbers, you will see a company with terribly understated profitability. As-reported ROA (return on assets, a measure of earning power) only ranged from 5% to 8% in the past sixteen years. Its ROA in 2019 was only at 6%, which is almost 4 times lower than its Uniform ROA in 2019.

That’s what you’ll see in Yahoo Finance, Google Finance, and most other databases.

The company’s stock price also performed better than the rest of the stock market over the decade, which we can see in the blue line in the chart below. Its returns have been well above the market.

The numbers show that Schneider Electric has been doing well and making a profit.

“What’s your bold idea?”

For Schneider Electric, it’s constantly challenging itself to “rethink the future, rewrite the rules, and re-access the possibilities.”

A bold vision calls for bold ideas!

… and Schneider Electric is bringing these ideas to life by making businesses safer, more reliable, connected, efficient, and sustainable through digital information.

Through the “Life Is On” campaign, the company assures its customers that it will constantly reach bold thinkers and inspire thought leadership throughout different industries.

In other words…

A life that is always on for everyone, everywhere, and at any moment!

About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Monday Marketing Marvels”

Too often, industry experts and the marketing press sing the praises of some company’s marketing strategy.

…Only for the audience to later find out that their product was a flop, or worse, that the company went bankrupt.

The true ROI in marketing can’t be separated from the business as a whole.

What good is a marketing case study if one can’t prove that the company’s efforts actually paid off?

At the end of the day, either the entire business is successful or it isn’t. And the role of marketing is always paramount to that success.

Every Monday, we publish a case study that highlights the world’s greatest marketing strategies.

However, the difference between our case studies and the numerous ones out there, is that we will always make certain that the firm really did generate and demonstrate earning power worthy of study in the first place (compliments of Valens Research’s finance group).

By looking at the true earnings of a company, we can now rely on those successful businesses to get tips and insights on what they did right.

We’ll also study the greatest marketing fails and analyze what they did wrong, or what they needed to improve on. We all make our mistakes, but better we learn from others’ mistakes—and earlier, rather than later.

Hope you found this week’s marketing marvel interesting and helpful.

Stay tuned for next week’s Monday Marketing Marvels!

Cheers,

Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
Powered by Valens Research
www.valens-research.com

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