Listening to the group discuss this issue really left me thinking that this new demographic of employee values a lot more than the high salaries that typically accompanied jobs in this sector. Words such as “responsibility,” “environment,” and “social obligation” were common in the discussion. In fact, many of the students even believed in the role that Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations play in the equation to act as a “check” on industry. The general mood seemed to be that acting ‘sustainably’ should not only include the economics and energy efficiency side of the equation, but also incorporate the social and environmental angles as well.

What became clear from the conversation was that this new generation of potential employees believes that their future employers have a role to play in the world’s welfare. For an industry that is concerned about its impending labour crunch, it would be wise to pay attention to the comments coming out of focus groups such as these. Too often, community involvement and social responsibility are dismissed as purely philanthropic or costly. Listening to Generation Y discuss this issue certainly indicates that there are greater business and staffing repercussions for ignoring the social angle.

There’s been a lot of buzz regarding the “Avatar Sands” ad that recently appeared in Variety magazine. Too bad it drastically dumbs down the conversation surrounding the oil sands. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, you can view the ad here.

Environmental protectionism and the needed shift to more sustainable forms of energy are the most important issues of our time. Because of this, it is important to have an educated discussion regarding effective solutions to these issues. Both sides of the industry-environment debate have been guilty of simplified sloganeering and the Avatar Sands ad is just one more example of this. Those of us who have read up on the issue realize that simply shutting down the oil sands is a pie in the sky solution.

The problem with the “Avatar Sands” ad is that it compares an incredibly complex issue to James Cameron’s simplified (dare I say dumbed-down?) version of resource extraction. Sure, big business (the energy industry included) has at times had an ugly past, but it is wise to keep in mind that rarely are things black and white. The Avatar Sands ad, seems to portray the issue this way. It neglects to mention the hard-working aboriginal people who are employed by the oil sands industry, the on-going negotiations and agreements that occur between them and industry or the fact that open pit mining has only disturbed 0.02% of Boreal forest. Sure, improvements need to be made to oil sands extraction, but I believe they will come via technology and government leadership.

The groups behind the Avatar Sands ad have played a very effective hand. Hollywood has always been quick to promote environmental issues and their voices often carry the most weight when breaking through the clutter of mainstream media. That being said, my concern lies with the irresponsibility of the campaign. Shouldn’t we be trying to have a discussion about this, rather than reverting back to simplified sloganeering?

DMD Green, a Calgary-based agency focusing on green communications, recently posted a blog entry detailing online mentions for two of the industry’s largest companies: ExxonMobil and BP. With ExxonMobil recording 30,445 mentions in a month and BP recording 12,658 mentions, the level of cyber-discussion regarding energy brands begins to become clear. The conversation doesn’t stop there. A quick Google search turns up all kinds of debates, links and opinions related to the energy sector.

A few industry players have already accepted the shifting nature of communication and have started to engage online audiences. Included in this group is the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), which has created an active Twitter account, Facebook fan page and LinkedIn group.

CAPP’s Advisor of Web Communications, Tony Rino, explains that social media is a reality that is driven by perception – sometimes factual and often emotional. Because of this, CAPP decided to bring more balance to the social media conversation by broadening the discussion to include its virtual voice.

Perhaps the most active energy company in the social media realm is Chesapeake Energy, whose public engagement initiatives are impressive. Chesapeake’s Social Media Coordinator, Blake Jackson, credits much of the company’s success to attaining executive buy-in. Doing so, allowed Chesapeake’s social media team enough sovereignty to ensure timely response and authentic, personality-driven interaction.

1) Look around. Figure out where you fit. — If no one is talking about your brand, industry or topic on Facebook, don’t start with Facebook. Start with communities that have already been established. Meet your target audience where they live online.

3) Set goals and objectives for your social media program. — Once you’ve decided to make the leap into social media, make sure your goals for engagement mirror or support your overall marketing and communications goals. Social media works best in a supporting role, not as a stand-alone tactic.

5) Participate consistently and authentically. — People who engage with a company or organization online do so for myriad reasons, none of which is to be marketed to. Your slogans, taglines and talking points are already being relentlessly pushed via press releases, advertisements and your website. Set your social media program apart by having a personality-driven dialogue. Let your online audience know who is behind the Twitter account or corporate blog. Be open with people and they will open up their online networks to you. That is the currency of social media.

Look around. Figure out where you fit.

I usually blog about energy related issues, but found the news coming out of Walmart big enough to make an exception. For those of you who haven’t heard, Walmart recently announced that it will be introducing a green labeling system. The idea is to label its products based on their environmental impact.

While the program isn’t expected to be rolled out anytime soon (the above excerpt says it will take five years), it promises to revolutionize the economy. Based on Walmart’s size, there is no doubt that their thousands of suppliers will scramble to clean up their manufacturing practices for fear of being ‘black labeled’ by millions of Walmart consumers.

Further societal benefit will also be realized when one considers that Walmart’s competitor’s will, of course, also seek to mimic the practice of an economic stalwart. If there was any doubt that we are entering into a new economic era, one that incorporates sustainability into its core framework, the fact that the largest company in the world is now so clearly pushing this issue should silence any skeptics.

Walmart’s intentions are undoubtedly driven by the bottom line, but it’s hard to deny the environmental merits of such an action. Walmart has shown a great deal of initiative with this plan and they should be commended for getting out ahead of the pack, especially given that most governments around the world have been reluctant to push forward with any green focused legislation of comparable impact. Who thought that big business would lead the way towards sustainability?

Regardless of your views on Walmart, they are clearly responding to the market’s demand for all things enviro. This stands to benefit all consumers, as it will inevitably enable us to make responsible purchases. The transfer of information is a beautiful thing.

For more analysis on this topic, I highly recommend you check out Harvard professor, Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s blog.

Former Colorado Senator, Tim Wirth, gives a great speech to the oil and gas crowd in Colorado where he borderline chastises the natural gas crowd for failing to lobby Washington over the proposed Climate Change bill.

This is all ties into what energy insiders seem to recognize, but what politicians and the general public don’t: that natural gas is an abundant resource that can act as a great bridge to a carbon friendly future. It’s truly amazing that the coal industry seems to be the recipient of a lot these Cap & Trade credits, while the cleaner Natural Gas has yet to push for any themselves.

Nonetheless, great clip, despite the fact that there it is only audio.

Found this clip of W. Brett Wilson, founder of FirstEnergy Capital, giving some predictions on where he sees the energy industry headed. I found it interesting that he points to increased natural gas supplies leading to a future lack of funding for “alternative energies.” Those of you familiar with economist Peter Tertzakian, know that he is also bullish on nat-gas and its future appeal. While nat-gas is currently trading at around $4.00/MMBTU, Wilson and Terzakian both see this rising. Terzakinan has some great insight into this here.

My suspicion is that Wilson and Tertzakian have it right, that nat-gas will continue to grow in clout, especially given its low cost and the simple fact that it’s the cleanest burning of the fossil fuels. Despite this, I still see renewables being heavily backed by worldwide governments needing to comply with cap and trade/copenhagen committments.

Renewables will undoubtedly represent a growing portion of our increasingly diversified energy basket, despite maintaining their status as a poor cousin to natural gas and oil. Might be a good time to start looking at nat-gas focused companies and where their shares are trading.

Don’t get me wrong, the oil industry is not a pretty industry and there are some very ugly parts (especially environmental) to it. That being said, I firmly believe that this industry has been short changed. There are committed individuals working hard to resolve the environmental shortcomings we have read about, many of which have been over stated.

While I firmly believe in environmental protection at all costs, some of the biggest eyeopeners for me were the realizations that the oil sands only contribute .1% to the world’s GHG emissions and that 70% of the oil sands’ used water is recycled. Sure .1% is bound to grow and net extractions from the Athabasca river are still high, but these are still positive numbers that put these issues in more context. Both are widely accepted numbers (and not just by industry-friendly groups).

When bringing these numbers up in various conversations, I also began to wonder why the general response I received was one of skepticism. I believe this relates back to industry’s haphazard branding and PR efforts. With these thoughts in mind, I recently wrote a letter to the President of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Its contents are listed below.

RE: Creating a Meaningful Oil Sands Brand

Dear Mr. Collyer,

I recently had the good fortune of attending Calgary’s GO-Expo where I once again heard the calls for a more effective oil sands Public Relations campaign. As a communications and marketing professional who has recently moved across the country to work within this industry, I believe I bring a unique and important perspective to this issue.

I have no doubt that CAPP and various other industry associations are devoting a great deal of capital, both financial and intellectual, to this cause, but as a relative newcomer to the industry, I know these core messages are not being conveyed to other parts of our country and probably the world. I remain convinced that we can do more to create a crisp, coherent and cohesive oil sands brand.

To begin building a stronger brand we need to position our industry as one that prioritizes the value of people more than anything else. By solidifying this positioning within the public’s collective mind, we can better communicate our industry’s value. While we must continue to realistically address the public’s environmental concerns, we must also differentiate ourselves from other oil producing nations by reinforcing the importance we place on the individual. The fact that we typically pay well above minimum wage, subscribe to the rule of law and place a premium on safety and human life are all positives many oil producing nations cannot claim. In essence, we need to position ourselves as the human rights friendly oil industry; an industry that is also committed to addressing our acknowledged environmental deficiencies. Brian S. Seasholes has written an excellent article on this brand positioning in the June 2009 issue of Oil Sands Review. It is well worth a read, if you have not already done so.

Equally important is the need for consistency. The human rights message needs to be conveyed through every interview, press release, or promotional campaign. As I see it, a serious flaw in our current approach to this issue is that there are too many oil sands organizations saying too many different things. A patchwork approach will not work when attempting to establish a salient and consistent brand. Nailing down a firm strategy driven by a single task force will undoubtedly shore up our PR quagmire. A cohesive approach is much needed.

My hope is that these preliminary thoughts do not appear to be arrogant, but rather that they ignite an understanding and desire to reposition and strengthen the oil sands brand. It is my sincere hope that this letter may play some role, however small, in rehabilitating our industry’s damaged image.

Respectfully Yours,

Jeremy Dietz

Representatives from PTAC, CAPP, goverment of Alberta and several oil companies all stressed the need to invest in this area. Unfortunately, R&D has not been a key focus in the energy industry (especially in Canada) and I would surmise that it might be paying for it now.

On a similar note, there was an interesting point brought up that an improvement in automotive emission technology would dwarf the effects of any carbon reduction technology implemented in the oil sands. I’m not overly clear on the numbers behind this, but at first glance, it appears to make sense. Automotive emissions certainly represent a far greater proportion of the world’s GHGs than do the oil sands.

This certainly ties in with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s comments regarding the future of the oil sands, namely that he believes in the power of technology to solve the enviro concerns of this great resource.

My prediction on all of this? We are going to see more dollars allotted by the Alberta government (this in addition to the $2 billion Alberta has already set aside for Carbon Capture & Storage) and industry. CCS represents the tip of the iceberg for this globally strategic energy resource. Continued advances in in-situ methods will also be needed to keep emissions down while supporting the growing energy demands of the world’s exploding middle class. More R&D spending is sure to come.