While the importance of renewable energy is undeniable, engaging people through traditional press releases and mundane content poses challenges. Enter OX2, the game-changer transforming the renewable energy narrative through captivating videos. From tailored content for local events to engaging LinkedIn posts, OX2 leverages Storykit to drive awareness and understanding of renewable energy's significance, inspiring a global shift toward sustainable energy solutions.
"Storykit is valuable because it enables us to reach both a broad and niche audience through video. On LinkedIn, we can engage a wide range of viewers, while at events, we can tailor our content to specific audiences."
Founded in 2004, OX2 is a renewable energy company that develops, builds, and manages renewable energy assets, including onshore and offshore wind farms, solar farms, and energy storage. With operations in 11 countries across Europe and Australia, OX2 is leading the way in renewable energy communication and bringing awareness to the energy crisis, climate change, and national security. Check out some of their videos below!
In a rapidly expanding company, Niklas Franck, the Communications Director at OX2, recognized the need for an improved communication strategy to effectively convey their key messages and foster a deeper understanding of renewable energy.
— We needed a way to help people understand renewable energy. There is a big energy transition already happening, and we need to get people to know this and realize the potential of renewable energy.
Niklas explains that there are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to renewable energy and that OX2 needed a way to spread awareness about the current state of renewables and dispel common myths.
— For example, we develop all our projects without government subsidies. A lot of people don’t realize that this is possible since it wasn’t 10 years ago.
In order to get information out there, Niklas and his team were just sharing press releases and text posts on LinkedIn. However, they knew that it wasn’t achieving the impact they wanted.
— With operations in 11 countries across Europe and Australia, we have experienced rapid growth, expanding our team from 200 to over 500 employees in just over a year.
— Our comms team grew some, but not on the scale that was needed.
– For us, a lot of the content creation is being dealt with centrally, and with 11 countries, there are a lot of stories that we could tell and we do tell. But being a small team we need to be smart about it.
— Storykit enables us to create engaging content at scale. For instance, getting access to stock libraries in Storykit is useful because it's hard to get photos and video clips from our own operations all over the world.
— I used Storykit at my previous employer. Not as hands-on as today but it was definitely part of the work we did in that team. Bringing it on at OX2 was an easy decision.
How was it getting started with Storykit?
— I think that the way the start-up was handled, along with the customer success process was really good. The training was fantastic.
— Following the training sessions, we’ve had regular check-ins with the Storykit team and updates to see how we are getting on as well. I think that is a really great way of working.
Niklas currently takes charge of video creation in Storykit for OX2, producing a minimum of two videos per week. However, as their team grows, Niklas plans to get more people involved in the creation process.
— Videos are far more engaging than written content; they enable us to tell complex stories in a clear way, as opposed to relying solely on lengthy articles and press releases.
— LinkedIn is probably where a bulk of our videos end up. This is where we talk to all of our 11 markets, so we try to keep the content on a top level for a broad audience.
What results have you seen on LinkedIn since using Storykit?
— Website visitors and LinkedIn growth are the obvious effects that we have seen since starting with Storykit. Our LinkedIn has grown by almost 100% over the last year from 12,000 to 23,000 followers. Obviously, other factors also play a role, but we see a high level of engagement on LinkedIn — reactions, comments, and a lot of shares. So that's very positive.
— We also use videos for events. I find it really useful for both internal and external events.
How do you use videos for events?
— We can use video to set the tone for an event. Whether it’s the capital markets day or a community consultation meeting around a wind farm, it's a good way to start a meeting. It adds a level of professionalism as well.
— For example, at The Capital Markets Day, which we held a couple of months ago, we created a video that was basically 10 facts about renewable energy, as a way to kick-start the meeting and set the tone. Here we wanted to talk about the rollout of renewables in the energy transition so we started very high level and then further discussed our role in that.
— On the other hand, we have community consultation events where we go out and try to get buy-in locally. For example, we held one at a local community in Sweden where we wanted to start up a new onshore wind park. Here, we wanted to explain the benefits of renewable energy to the local community, like how many homes it can power, local jobs it can help create, and how it ties in with other infrastructure projects in the area. In this case, we created a video that was targeted at a very narrow audience.
— Storykit is valuable because it enables us to reach both a broad and niche audience through video. On LinkedIn, we can engage a wide range of viewers, while at events, we can tailor our content to specific audiences, making it more targeted and relevant.
— I think that working on videos together internally with colleagues also serves a purpose. It forces us to be brief and concise with the format. That is not always easy for people but I think that it makes everyone a little bit better at communication.
Any ideas for how you will use video in the future?
— We are growing as a company and are always looking for new talent, so I think we will be ramping up our employer branding efforts with videos in the future.
— In terms of usage, we are also starting to set up some formats for recurring activities to make things easier and work smarter ourselves. For instance, we now have a 30-second video template that we use for our quarterly reports to make them a bit more interesting. We are also doing one for new projects added to our portfolio since we often communicate the same stuff – location, megawatts, when we’re going into construction, and that type of thing.
Is there anything that you would like to add?
Storykit is fun to use and it works well with the way I think. I grew up reading comic books so I feel right at home here, telling a story frame by frame. In addition to the format, the availability of stock material mixed with our own media makes it look really good.
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