Building a Global Energy Brand with Francis Perrin, Chief Brand and Sustainability Officer of Rehlko

Welcome to this episode of the Advertising and marketing Vanguard podcast. Right now, Jenny Rooney speaks with Francis Perrin, chief model and sustainability officer at Rehlko, about model transformation and B2B advertising and marketing innovation.Francis discusses his profession, from P&G and L’Oréal to main the transformation of Kohler Power into the unbiased firm Rehlko. He shares the strategic considering behind the rebrand, together with how they created the title Rehlko as an anagram of Kohler to take care of heritage whereas establishing independence. The dialog explores the chance in residential energy era, competing as a challenger model in opposition to business giants, and why Francis believes B2B advertising and marketing affords extra alternatives than client advertising and marketing.Previous to Rehlko, Francis’ profession spanned main CPG manufacturers together with Pernod Ricard, the place he gained intensive worldwide expertise managing international manufacturers and digital innovation. He beforehand held CMO roles at Bell Manufacturers and Saint Michel Wine Estates earlier than transitioning to B2B advertising and marketing.Episode Highlights: [03:09] The Kohler Power Heritage Story — Francis explains the historical past behind Rehlko’s basis: “Kohler is understood for his or her kitchen and tub issues, however it’s truly a really giant firm that does extra. As they manufactured bathtubs early within the twentieth century, additionally they received into the engine enterprise. After you have a foundry, they created the primary engines and in addition the primary mills initially to equip farmers within the Midwest, the place they didn’t have entry to electrical energy.” This heritage story turns into central to Rehlko’s model positioning because it establishes independence whereas honoring its century-plus legacy.[06:35] The Strategic Rebrand from Kohler to Rehlko — Francis reveals the inventive resolution behind the title Rehlko: “Our problem was to provide you with a brand new title. Now we have a whole lot of enterprise companions that have been so hooked up to the Kohler model. The inventive resolution was discovering the title Rehlko, an anagram of Kohler, however there’s a whole lot of intentionality and objective in it. The primary two letters, R and E, stand for resilience and reinvention.”[11:11] The “Resilience as Reinvention” Marketing campaign Technique — Francis discusses their launch marketing campaign: “Resilience is a vital phrase for us. We’re one of many first corporations to essentially attempt to personal that phrase. We offer energy the place and when the grid doesn’t.” This positioning helps differentiate Rehlko in a crowded industrial market by specializing in the core worth proposition quite than technical specs.[18:03] Embedding Sustainability in Model Management — Francis explains his distinctive title construction: “Usually, sustainability groups are separate from the enterprise. It’s considered one of their challenges to get consideration. I feel by embedding it within the model, we’re ready to verify everybody’s engaged on it within the C-suite. I’m the one who brings up the subject within the C-suite in our conferences.” This integration ensures sustainability isn’t handled as a separate initiative however as core to enterprise technique.[21:02] Why B2B Advertising and marketing Provides Extra Alternatives — When requested why B2B advertising and marketing is best, Francis responds: “As a result of there’s so many alternatives and low hanging fruit. I might encourage any B2C marketer to think about making the transfer. You’ll work on a brand new product launch, and the engineer offers you the 100 the explanation why this product is best. After which as entrepreneurs, we’ll distill that and attempt to provide you with a singular promoting level that’s really differentiated.”