This is the first column by Keri-Ann Stanton about sustainable marketing. We care about your sustainable business, and want it to be sustainable, so we’ll be sharing more business tips and ideas with you.
The perfect communication or marketing strategy is when you can never quite remember when you first came across a brand or campaign … was it an article in a magazine, an overheard interview? Or was it a sponsored ad on a scrolling feed, a billboard, or a funny commercial?
GoSolr crept up on me quietly and elegantly probably first and foremost with their very slick and recognisable branding, a strong call-to-action name, and probably a solid mix of public relations and digital marketing. In the throes of our energy crisis (bizarrely resolved right now?) we all knew solar was a fast growing necessity.
The clincher for me was a … gasp, horror .. an influencer post
The cleverness of GoSolr was packaging a plug and play solution – a rental relationship for those of us not cash flush to make the once-off massive investment needed. And the clincher for me was a … gasp, horror .. an influencer post. Misha Levin had GoSolr installed in her holiday home, and she documented the process and costs in a really easy to understand way. I can’t recall whether it was sponsored or not – I suspect not.
Love or hate your influencers – if you are on social – you will find the tribe that feed you, alert you, and educate you on the products and news that make sense to your life (and the gold is when it makes sense to their lives otherwise it just feels off). I don’t intend to go into a masterclass on the dos and don’ts here. I just know that it was her post that made me finally take action after months of screenshotting, saving posts, putting on a to do list.
And then the slickness of the GoSolr business process kicked in – fast, simple, easy, guided, supported, professional. Paperwork done. A crew arrived. Panels placed. System set up (bypassing tricky pay-as-you-go electricity meters that I still needed).
Eskom se Push no longer holds me hostage
I downloaded the app that keeps me informed if I need to / remember to look – but to be honest, we have so many sunny days here and I use so little electricity (gas stove) that I never worry about running out. In fact the only time I have ever noticed that we are having an outage is when the stove doesn’t switch on or the hot water runs out. Eskom se Push no longer holds me hostage.
GoSolr have also mastered the elegant line of keeping me informed / updated without making me feeling spammed. I seem to recall Whatsapp comms that I quickly opted out of (if you work in crisis comms your phone pings enough!). But what I have enjoyed is the odd email alert for example a recent heads up on stage 4 loadshedding and quick tips on how to check on your battery status etc.
There is no spammy newsletter, just fun, on brand, infrequent mails with a very clear reason
They have also cleverly harnessed the power of their customer base to create a referral system with rewards for yourself (R1,000 off your next bill). I haven’t done it and again, they haven’t pushed it. There is no spammy newsletter, just fun, on brand, infrequent mails with a very clear reason. To me this is what sustainable brand communications in 2025 should aspire to: a clear product offering, easily explained, easily onboarded, easily processed, an easily recognisable brand, easily recalled brand name, easy to use app and easy engagement strategy. Which of course, is easier said than done. GoSolr make it look and feel easy. And the actual lived experience is their brand promise. Lots of back end investment no doubt, that is translating to a sustainable offering, and community.
- To find out more about Go Solr visit their website
- Disclosure: Keri-Ann Stanton has her own strategic communications consultancy that is at full capacity – the brands featured here are not clients, or potential clients, they are simply brands that have caught her eye and inspired her with the POV of sustainable marketing or communication. Twyg has been a past client of her consultancy, and she has conceptualised brand collaborations with them in the past
- Image: Pexels
