How a Utilities Company Rebuilt Trust Through Inclusive Marketing

The Challenge

A major utilities provider found itself facing a crisis of public trust. Following a series of natural disasters and a period of rate increases, customer sentiment had soured. Communities – particularly those most vulnerable – voiced concerns about reliability, safety, and the lack of clear communication from the brand. Public discourse reflected frustration, suspicion, and emotional fatigue. To remain a relevant and trusted partner, the brand needed to do more than inform; it needed to reconnect. 

The ask was clear: rebuild credibility, and do so in a way that empowered customers and reflected their true realities.

The Approach

The company engaged Collage to develop a new, insight-driven strategy to reengage communities and restore trust. Leveraging Collage’s Inclusive Marketing 3.0 principles and the Brand Cultural Fluency Quotient (B-CFQ) framework, we helped the brand identify the gap between current consumer expectations and their existing messaging.

We began with a Real-Life Resonance diagnostic to evaluate how well existing messaging aligned with the everyday experiences of their diverse customer base. The results revealed that customers – particularly women, lower-income households, and multicultural communities – responded more positively when they saw tangible action, empathetic storytelling, and acknowledgment of challenges they had endured.

We guided the brand toward an evolved communications strategy rooted in three core Inclusive Marketing 3.0 strategies:

The Solution

The brand launched a new video series and supporting campaign guided by Collage’s B-CFQ framework. Messaging focused on three pillars: acknowledgment of recent hardships, clear communication of available solutions, and authentic depictions of how the utility company supports families and communities in tangible ways.

To ensure the campaign delivered on Relevance, Fit, and Credibility – the dimensions most predictive of favorability and intent – we used pre-launch ad testing and cultural resonance analysis to refine creative content. We advised on how to frame safety checks as protecting loved ones, how to visually represent infrastructure innovations like undergrounding, and how to position custom service tools as sources of empowerment, not just information.

The Business Impact

Early indicators show a meaningful turnaround in brand sentiment, and the user base turned from declining to growing. Trust metrics began to climb in brand health trackers, especially among Hispanic, Asian American, and low-income consumers who had expressed the highest levels of skepticism. Engagement rates with campaign assets exceeded benchmarks for the utilities category, and social listening detected a shift in tone – from criticism to cautious optimism. Consumers began to associate the brand not only with power delivery, but with a commitment to service, safety, and partnership.

Importantly, this work positioned the company for long-term cultural fluency, with a roadmap for inclusive representation and community investment that could scale across future campaigns.

Learn what top brands say about Collage and how they apply cultural intelligence to fuel growth in our client testimonials and case studies.