PlatinumBlack’s video series, Platinum Standard, spotlights technical B2B brands that are effectively integrating strategy, marketing, and creative to accelerate growth.
In our fifth episode, we turn our attention to Electric Hydrogen, a Massachusetts based company that manufactures the world’s most powerful electrolyzers for clean hydrogen projects. Our Director of Brand Management Kristin Braud and Senior Art Director Robert Avila break down what Electric Hydrogen appears to be doing well, from positioning to defining their market, and more.
Watch the episode for the full conversation.
PlatinumBlack has no relation to Electric Hydrogen. All insights reflect our professional perspectives and positive assumptions based on publicly available information.
*Transcript has been edited for readability
Kristin Braud:
Hi, I'm Kristin Braud. I'm the Director of Brand Management at PlatinumBlack, and I'm here with my colleague.
Robert Avila:
I’m Robert Avila and I'm a Senior Art Director here at PlatinumBlack.
Kristin Braud:
And we're here to talk about Electric Hydrogen.
We've never worked with this company before and everything we'll talk about today are just our professional opinions about what they're doing well today in their marketing program and things that they can build upon.
Robert Avila:
The things about Electric Hydrogen would shock you.
Kristin Braud:
That was a good one.
Robert Avila:
They are positioning themselves as not just a technology company. They are deploying whole solutions, not just focusing on one type of technology. It's a whole system that they're trying to deploy, not just focusing on one part of it. So it's more of a holistic approach. And I think as long as people can see the bigger picture, it's a lot easier to understand the smaller parts.
Kristin Braud:
Agree.
And I think what they're doing really well in terms of how they're trying to position themselves, is they’re really focusing on, I think, the benefits to the customer, which at the end of the day, it's cost and it's speed to market, right? So, being a cost-effective solution and being able to deploy that technology in that product quickly, I think those are the two biggest barriers that happen, especially in this industry with anything clean tech that has been the biggest barrier. And so being able to say very clearly and succinctly that that's the benefit that they provide to the customer is a big differentiator.
Kristin Braud:
I thought that they did a really great job of on their organic social channels, promoting different earned media from credible sources of people saying, you know, how great the product is. You just— basically giving credibility to this company and, and this product in such a new market. So I think that they did that really well.
I think the website comes across really strong and succinct. It's very clear what you're what you're reading through. I think something that people get stuck in a lot of times when they're trying to explain really complex, overengineered things is sometimes it's hard to understand what are they trying to say?
Robert Avila:
They get lost in the technical language.
Kristin Braud:
Exactly.
Robert Avila:
Instead of trying to bring it back to the financial aspect and the cost saving.
Kristin Braud:
Yeah. The benefits, right? The benefits to the customer. What does it mean to them? How does it work?
I think that they do a really great job of explaining it in really clear, layman's terms and making it make sense for what they're trying to do.
One of the things I also thought was really well done that they're doing currently is they have a good mix of, you know, free resources that are on their website that anybody can access. Anybody can go to get more information. They also have some things behind, you know, gated landing pages that you can you can go and get more technical information, just answer some of those FAQs that a lot of customers have. And I think that that's really smart from a marketing perspective of making sure that they're capturing leads, but in a way that's providing value to that end user.
So it's not just, you know, gating something that's actually not that exciting or interesting to them, not going to provide that value or that greater insight. I think that that's something that, you know, some companies don't always do so well is making sure that whatever they're putting behind a gated wall really is valuable to that end user, so that they feel like giving you their contact information was worth it. And now they're excited to to have somebody reach out to them and to get a chance to learn even more.
Robert Avila:
A lot of the posts, they could use some sort of templatization. So that way people, when they go to their LinkedIn, they know exactly what's what they're looking at or when they're doing their paid media. You immediately know it is them. Their design is pretty tight. It's locked down. It looks pretty good. It just needs a little bit of tweaking, a little bit of help to help get everything under that same umbrella. So that way you immediately know that you're looking at their assets as opposed to looking for a second like, “Oh, okay.”
Kristin Braud:
I get what you're saying. Like the distinction, right? Like going a little bit farther in terms of color grading and everything. So that's a very unique treatment and style that is very Electric Hydrogen and you know that that's them. As soon as you—you know, you come across anything that's from their channels. Right?
And I think what you said about the templatization, like, I think sometimes people hear that and they think, “Oh, we want it to still feel creative.” Right? And I think you can still accomplish that.
Robert Avila:
People, when they hear the word “templatization” they think, “Okay, it's just one thing and that's it.” It's not that it's a whole system that you can use or employ and you can do that through color, shape, messaging, tone, design— the options are limitless.
Kristin Braud:
The possibilities are endless.
Robert Avila:
And as long as you arrive upon, you know, a whole look that is definitely and distinctly theirs, as soon as you see it, then you know you've hit that mark.
Kristin Braud:
I think they do a great job on their organic channel in terms of showing, showing the technology, showing the product, showing the people.
Looking through their ad library on LinkedIn, I think they could actually just boost some of their organic posts as ads, and that would help to bring some of those at the forefront so that it's not feeling like two different companies whenever you're looking at ads versus social content. Because I think that they're they're missing a little bit of focusing on their product in their ads. Their—the message of “Hydrogen is here and it's now.” is loud and clear, and that's great. And they talk about the—in their ads—they talk about the the industries that they serve.
I think that that's all very important. But I think bringing it a step further on like the education of your of your product and the technology, how it's differentiated, those proof points that we talked about earlier, I think that that's where you can really shine on paid ads, especially on LinkedIn, because you can get so targeted with your with who you're targeting on that channel.
I think that that would go a really long way. And some of it is, I think people sometimes think, “Oh my gosh, I'm going to have to do a whole campaign concept, and it's going to take a ton of hours and money and investment,” and sometimes you can go that far if you really want to, but sometimes you don't have to. Sometimes you can look at your organic social media strategy and see, are there simple tweaks that I can make here to make this hit— land better as an ad versus an organic post?
We've done that for other clients of ours, just to make sure that we're, again, not recreating the wheel every single time, but still making sure that every every piece of content, every post, every ad is optimized for that channel, for that audience, so that we're making sure that the right messages are getting across and it's making an impact. And you see that ROI.
Robert Avila:
That's where your strategy and marketing research comes into play.
Kristin Braud:
Exactly. Yeah.
Robert Avila:
Try to find out who you're speaking to and tailor the message to them.
Kristin Braud:
Something that I think that other brands could learn from Electric Hydrogen: I think that they do a really great job, as I mentioned previously, like just being really plain and straightforward about how they're describing their technology and their product. I think that goes a really long way.
I also really think that what they've done in terms of like amplifying the earned media that they've received on social media is really smart, especially when you're I mean, they're not a really young startup, but this is a really new industry that's ever-evolving. And so it's really important to have that. Those earned media sources, especially from credible sources, just to give more trust and recognition to your own brand.
And they do the same thing with their partner logos and just showing that, “Hey, these other big companies trust us and work with us,” and that can go a really long way in a market like this where everyone's trying to find the right solution. Everyone's trying to find a trusted provider, people that are going to be in the market a long time, not startups that are going to come and go. And so being able to show that credibility and that trustworthiness goes a long way for the customer to say, “Okay, I'm willing to to take a chance or I'm willing to go have a conversation with this company.” And other credible sources are amplifying their message and giving them good reviews on, you know, on their— in their articles and press releases. And so that goes a long way.
Robert Avila:
I'm glad you brought that up, because I noticed that they lean a little bit more into the customer driven results as opposed to the scientific language. And that goes a long way in establishing— establishing yourself as a leader in that sector. And as long as they keep focusing on that, that's great. And they can expand upon that and maybe get some more case studies in there that explain the results from each one of their clients and how it helped them.
Kristin Braud:
I think the, you know, “What does it mean for me?” is such a big part. Like, how can you anticipate what are your customers questions, objections, any concerns that they might have when they're going through that buying journey I think is so important. So to be able to have those those case studies and, you know, just like you said, the metrics, the results up front for them, I think goes goes a long way just to position them as, you know, “We're— we have a smart product that does the job that it needs to do. And there's proof points on that.”
Robert Avila:
The metrics and results speak for themselves a lot louder than the technical language.
Kristin Braud:
Absolutely.
Kristin Braud:
Can we do the Electric Slide now?
PlatinumBlack provides strategy, marketing, and creative for highly technical B2B companies. If you're looking to strengthen your brand, we'd love to connect.
