Creating the first category narrative to align a diverse and complex global industry

Issue

Hydrogen as a clean energy solution is hardly known, widely misunderstood, and its applications so varied and complex that having a shared vision and narrative for the disparate global hydrogen community seemed impossible. And with stakeholders spread around the globe, getting interested parties together was a challenge.

Idea

The essence of clean hydrogen energy in myriad applications became “Lifeblood Energizing Planetary Care Now”. With this core idea in place, we developed a brand narrative that supported
a wide range of vertical sectors as well as messaging guidelines for five global audiences, implemented at various stages along their communications journey – from awareness to engagement.

Just as important as uncovering the brand idea and its dissemination was the strategy around stakeholder engagement and adoption.  We provided council members with regular updates and developed a toolkit and accompanying workshops designed to teach the teachers, helping them to develop their own organization’s hydrogen narratives in keeping with the category narrative. Finally, to show and inspire rather than just tell, we developed a video to bring the narrative to life.

Impact

Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Over 65% of members polled found the hydrogen manifesto video either very or extremely resonant. The global steering committee was so pleased with the process and work that they have asked us to continue partnering with them. The aim? To develop storytelling assets to educate and inspire audiences about current and planned hydrogen energy projects.

Moral of the story

The more complex the stakeholder environment, the more important it is to engage people early, foster alignment and ensure ownership.