An update on Eskom’s Online Marketing

A quick update on my previous post about Eskom’s Meatball Sundae… It seems that the beleaguered power utility has been paying a bit more attention to its online reputation management and marketing (perhaps someone read my post and approached them ).

First, a Google link search on Powering South Africa now returns 116 results; whereas, before, it only had two inward links over and above one or two internal links.

Second, whereas a search on ‘Eskom’ returned a lot of highly ranked negative results a month ago, Eskom’s own sites (main and subsidiary) dominate the first page of the search results; and the first truly negative link is only halfway down page 2.

It may be partly explained by the fact that there was much less load shedding in March, and that they haven’t been getting flamed as much lately, but they definitely seem to have been doing some work on their online presence too.

Eskom’s Meatball Sundae

I can’t help but feel that Eskom’s new online initiative, PoweringSouthAfrica.co.za, is a bit of a Meatball Sundae. When I read about it in a three-full-page ad in the Sunday Times last week, I thought it sounded like quite a good idea (the extravagance of the advert notwithstanding); and the site itself is not bad, although I think it needs a bit more participation by Eskom itself (they invite visitors to “Join the Discussion“, but don’t seem to engage in those discussions themselves – at least not explicitly).

But here’s the thing: When, on Tuesday, I wanted to check out the site, without the Sunday Times in front of me and not remembering the URL, I couldn’t find it. Eskom haven’t even linked to it from their main website, let alone invest in any online marketing or PR, it seems. I subsequently heard their radio advert on KFM, so they got through to me eventually.

Never under-estimate the power of humour in marketing

Never under-estimate the power of humour in marketing. Last week, I started receiving Eskom jokes and cartoons by email. It happens like clockwork, doesn’t it.

After consulting with one of our spokespersons, I decided to include a “Lighter side of load shedding” on our new blog. I created a Humour category, and posted a couple of humorous pics on Friday.

New DA blog on Eskom load shedding

Last week, we set up a new blog for the DA to write about Eskom’s load-shedding and other energy-related matters. We’ve called it “Shedding Light“.

We want to shed light on the energy crisis using all avenues at our disposal – parliamentary questions, portfolio committees and other sources – and make that information available to the public. But we also want to hear from anyone who’s got a good idea, who wants to comment on our ideas, or who just wants to vent, and have someone take note.

We do post our press releases to the main DA website; but, besides sending an email using one of the maillinks on the “Contact the DA” page, it’s rather limited to one-way communication. We’ve picked up from emails we’ve received over the last couple of weeks that there’s a lot of interest in engaging us on this issue, and we’d like to hear from the public and experts alike – especially on our proposed solutions.

So have a look at the new blog, and let us know what you think.

Citizen Activism 2.0 – Eskom and the Scorpions

The DA often comes up with ideas for initiatives (not only online) around issues and concerns that are at the forefront of the public’s attention. For example, we launched Victims of Crime at a time when crime was very much in people’s mind’s eye – shortly after some very high profile murders (a concern still very prominent in the public mind).

We don’t always think of those ideas first, though.

This week, trade union Solidarity launched Eskom Stories – a platform for people to share their experience of Eskom’s incapacity, to vent and perhaps offer suggestions about how to ameliorate the situation.