Marketing Infrastructure: It’s More Than Just EV Chargers
In energy and e-mobility, marketing isn’t a layer you add later—it’s part of the infrastructure itself. From trust to storytelling, here’s why good marketing is as critical as your next charging station.
Most people think marketing infrastructure is about logos, ads, and maybe the occasional Google campaign. But in sectors like e-mobility or decentralized energy, it's something far deeper: it’s about trust, public perception, and cultural adaptation.
Let’s be honest—selling charging stations isn’t sexy. You’re offering kilowatts, uptime, and reliability. Yet when you look at the most beloved brands in this space, what people actually connect to is identity: sustainability, empowerment, progress, freedom.
Physical Infrastructure Needs an Emotional Narrative
A charging station is a utility. A solar inverter is a box. Even the smartest home battery doesn’t tell its own story. If you want to build momentum around clean energy, you have to go beyond function. That means marketing the mission andthe experience.
I remember walking past a row of charging stations on a Swiss highway, all identical in specs. But only one had a queue. Why? Simple: better lighting, cleaner signage, a clearer app, and a brand that felt like it gave a damn.
In fast-growing sectors where adoption is still early-stage, perception is adoption. And that’s marketing infrastructure: not just the tools you use, but the trust you build.
Beyond Ads: What Good Infrastructure Marketing Looks Like
- Local Relevance: Tailoring visuals, language, and messaging to local norms and fears. What sells in Oslo doesn’t fly in Lausanne.
- Consistency: From your charging UI to your onboarding emails, trust is built in the details.
- Visibility: Not just digital. Physical signage, community engagement, co-branding with municipalities—these things matter.
- Customer Support as a Channel: The best energy brands treat every service interaction as marketing. Because it is.
Lessons From the Field
In my work helping energy and mobility players enter new regions, marketing is often treated as the final step. First comes hardware, permits, locations—and then someone asks, “So how do we tell the story?”
That’s backwards.
Story comes first. It helps with hiring, with partnerships, with early community acceptance. It’s how you gain traction when no one knows who you are yet.
Build Brand Like You Build Stations
Every charging station you install, every solar contract you sign, every app update you push—they all add up to something bigger. Marketing is the connective tissue. It’s what makes the difference between a scattered rollout and a recognizable presence.
Because at the end of the day, you’re not just offering electricity. You’re offering a vision of the future.
If this resonates with you and you’re in the business of building things that last—brands, infrastructure, trust—follow along here or on X @rlivain_builds. I’ll keep sharing what I’ve learned rolling out new markets and messaging in the world of energy.
