Blooming the Box We’re All Talking About: The PR Behind Bloom Box
Appearing nearly paper thin, Bloom Energy's fuel cell which comprises the Bloom Box
“In the world of energy, the Holy Grail is a power source that’s inexpensive and clean with no emissions,” began CBS’s Lesley Stahl, touching off a frenzy of media attention – a firestorm seemingly as controlled and well calculated as the technology itself. The 60-Minutes segment would be the beginning, the launching pad for a PR blitz that feeds on mystery, intrigue and our insatiable need to learn the secrets of the Bloom Box.
The Bloom Box, a futuristic miniature power plant, has captivated our attention and set our minds racing. A couple of small cubes no larger than a loaf of bread are able to power a U.S. home according to Bloom Box creator Bloom Energy. Group multiple cubes, or fuel cells, together and you can power entire corporate centers. It's already happening.
Bloom Boxes deployed at Ebay headquarters
At almost $800,000 for an entire "energy server," these Bloom Boxes already adorn the lawns of major American companies: FedEx, Wal-Mart, Staples, Ebay, Bank of America and Cox Enterprises – each of them going “off the grid” to produce their own energy. But how? We all really have no idea. And that’s just fine in the evolving world of new public relations.
The media campaign surrounding last week’s official launch of the Bloom Box is the genesis of Outcast Communications, a small firm barely 13 years young with offices in San Francisco and New York. And while short on information, the Outcast strategy is long on results so far. “It’s about seeing the world as what it can be and not what it is,” the exuberant and wildly joyful Bloom CEO KR Sridhar said as he led a fascinated Lesley Stahl through his laboratory. “It works!” But Sridhar is not alone.
Today more than 100 companies and research firms are building fuel cells and several have found similar success. A Business Week article reveals that Sprint is gobbling up hydrogen-based fuel cell patents at record speed with the idea of deploying the technology at cell phone towers. Bloom Energy may have hit the media stratosphere, but the race is tighter than we now understand. To win this race and create the appearance of dominance, at least for now, Bloom Energy had to strike first, before its competitors.
Bloom Energy’s PR machine isn’t addressing the staunch criticism coming from some like Sam Jaffe of IDC Energy Insights, an energy consultancy. “While the Bloom gurus have handled the PR process masterfully, they forgot to mention a few other things about their Bloom boxes,” Jaffe writes in a blog post entitled “Four Things Bloom Energy Forgot to Tell the World.” Citing drawbacks including real questions on efficiency and environmental impact, he says Bloom “garnered an inordinate amount of the Internet and the media’s attention.” And it should have.
Bloom Energy's CEO KR Sridhar
While Jaffe may be right on, the truth is no one is talking about efficiency or supposed environmental impact. Bloom Energy launched its box in the middle of a cold winter amid high energy bills - maybe one reason we’re talking about the idea of creating our own energy in our back yards. We’re talking about the prospect of going “off the grid.” And we’re talking about the Bloom Box.
The folks over at Outcast Communications have thoroughly succeeded. They’ll just have to keep the box blooming over time. Thomas Alva Edison likely saw the same challenge.
Not 130 years ago Edison burned his first light bulb. History suggests his technology was not the best. It was not the most efficient. And those bulbs weren't cheap to illuminate. But his bulbs were first. And in just a year Edison was powering up 10,300 bulbs for more than 500 customers nightly in Lower Manhattan. Those bulbs busted the competition and from them grew the mega-corporation we now know as General Electric.
GE's got fuel cells too. But different from Bloom Energy, GE's PR machine is still quiet.
Tweeting Prompts Fat Apology from Southwest Airlines
Known for his film character “Silent Bob,” film director Kevin Smith is now anything but silent. He’s now putting out a call to war among his 1.6 million Twitter followers – and the apparent enemy, Southwest Airlines, is more than listening. It’s Tweeting back.
Southwest is now in a race to apologize to Smith after airline staff ejected him from a flight on Saturday because of his size. Smith, who had apparently purchased two seats on one flight for himself, opted to accept a stand-by ticket on an earlier flight. Problem is there was only one stand-by seat. Smith boarded. Smith was removed. Smith began Tweeting.
"Dude, I know I'm fat," Smith said according to a CNN article. "That's not why I was truly thrown off that plane because I fit perfectly in the seat… I am not fat enough to eject off a Southwest flight."
Telling Twitter followers he had no problem sitting in the seat, buckling his seat belt and lowering his armrest, an angry Smith is vowing he’ll never fly on Southwest again. The resulting flood of traffic and responses to Southwest prompted at least a temporary shut-down of customer generated comments on the Airline’s blog. And if the fat issue weren’t enough, the airline’s general reputation is being called to question by a contingent of Smith supporters. Alas, a public relations nightmare for the discount air carrier usually found to have few consumer complaints by comparison.
According to numerous published reports, Southwest says it will “use this experience in [its] customer service program when training… employees on the correct way to apply the policy." The policy is simple and requires "passengers that cannot fit safely and comfortably in one seat to purchase an additional seat while traveling.”
"If a customer cannot comfortably lower the armrest and infringes on a portion of another seat, a customer seated adjacent would be very uncomfortable and a timely exit from the aircraft in the event of an emergency might be compromised if we allow a cramped, restricted seating arrangement," the airline said according to CNN.
The message is made clear in a QandA now published on the airline’s web site which answers the question “What is the definitive gauge for a Customer of size?” Answer: “The armrest is the definitive gauge for a Customer of size. It serves as the boundary between seats and measures 17 inches in width. Customers who are unable to lower both armrests and/or who compromise any portion of adjacent seating should proactively book the number of seats needed prior to travel.”
In all Southwest’s apology-making, what exactly is the airline apologizing for? Fat passengers? Small seats? The policy itself? Or is Southwest worried about the reach of a celebrity using Twitter?
In the minds of a largely compassionate, commonsensical public concerned about obesity as well as airline comfort, who will win? Whoever stops Tweeting sooner.