Marketing Communications

342 CHAPTER 10 PUBLIC RELATIONS

Table 10.10 Industry memberships

Role Industry or trade group

Founding Management

Committee member

Center for LNG (includes BG, BP, Shell, ConocoPhilips, Chevron and ExxonMobil), which

is an active participant on Capitol Hill and provides information on LNG to the press

Member of the Board of Directors Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA)

Founding member University of Texas LNG consortium (includes BG, BP, Shell, ConocoPhilips, Chevron

and ExxonMobil and the US Department of Energy), which was set up to develop

public information from the basics to the safety of LNG

Member Groupe International des Importateurs de Gaz Naturel Liquefié, an international

association of LNG importers

Member Northeast Gas Association

Member Associated Industries of Massachusetts

Member New England Council

Chelsea Chamber of Commerce. Finally, the company is also

a major benefactor to charities and civic efforts, ranging

from partial scholarships to students to sponsorship of the

Little League baseball team. Moving beyond the City of

Everett, SUEZ also supports the Citizens Energy/Distrigas

Heat Assistance programme and the Courageous Sailing

programme, which teaches inner-city kids to sail.

Energy industry

The company plays an active role in several industry and

trade groups. This ensures that it is well informed on

significant issues (such as legislation) that could affect the

industry. Moreover, doing so allows SUEZ to have a say in

the messages that the energy industry spreads to the pub-

lic. Furthermore, these industry and trade groups provide

excellent networking opportunities. Table 10.10 presents

some of the groups SUEZ is a member of.

Customers

To cement its relationships with current and potential cus-

tomers, SUEZ uses both direct and indirect means of com-

munications. Direct communications consist of individual

contacts between the SUEZ sales force and the (potential)

customer. Indirect communications are obtained by:

1. participating in key industry conferences where the
   company affirms its plans;


2. press releases to, for example, the Northeast Gas
   Association, an association to which most of SUEZ’s
   customers and prospects belong.

Media relations

LNG is a hot, but also a very sensitive, topic. SUEZ is well

aware that reporters are eager to cultivate controversy on

LNG. Therefore, it is important for the company to help

frame the issue. To this end, the company has always

responded in a very timely and helpful fashion to any

requests for information and interviews, irrespective of the

day (business day or weekend) and time (day or night).

Besides these prompt responses, the company also

behaves proactively by spreading press releases, articles

and opinion pieces for various publications. For example,

in February 2005 Frank Katulak, Senior Vice President of

Operations for Distrigas of Massachusetts, wrote an opinion

piece for a trade magazine for the chemical engineering

profession on the safety of LNG and its operations to

counter the rumours of LNG ships being a natural target

for terrorists. Also, in the autumn of 2005 an article was

published in the Propeller Club Quarterly on the security

plan of SUEZ.

To conclude, SUEZ considers it business-critical to

communicate often and well with all the stakeholders

mentioned above. Remaining a credible company and

partner in the eyes of all stakeholders is one of the main

challenges that the SUEZ team accepts every day. As this

case clearly illustrates, PR activities are exceptionally

important to SUEZ. To make a comparison, advertising

equals only 5% to 10% of SUEZ’s PR investments.

QUESTIONS

1. What type of PR has SUEZ engaged in?


2. Is SUEZ using direct or indirect PR?


3. What other types of PR could SUEZ have used? Which
   specific PR activities would you recommend?


4. Which of the PR target groups discerned by SUEZ do
   you think is most important? Why?


5. What do you think are the main objectives of the PR
   activities directed at the different target groups?

M10_PELS3221_05_SE_C10.indd 342M10_PELS3221_05_SE_C10.indd 342 6/5/13 3:26 PM6/5/13 3:26 PM