Energy Voices: energy’s pivot to pragmatism

“The closest word to brand, the synonym, is reputation.”

For Rita Álvaro Dias, Deputy Director of Global Brand at EDP, that’s not a slogan. It’s a strategy.

“You don’t do business with a brand you don’t know,” she says. “You need to make the brand visible, and you need to make it respectable, trusted, and credible.”

In a market where politics shift, timelines stretch, and public confidence is fragile, managing reputation has become a strategic imperative.

You don’t do business with a brand you don’t know. You need to make the brand visible, and you need to make it respectable, trusted, and credible.

Rita Álvaro Dias Deputy Director of Global Brand, EDP

The transition has recalibrated – oil demand is steady. Renewables investment is uneven. Politics are loud. Capital is cautious.

For energy brands, the question is no longer, “How fast can we transition?” It’s more fundamental than
that: how do you protect trust when the path forward is no longer linear?

The answer is more pragmatic than ideological. This is a shift from purity to practicality. From bold promises to demonstrable outcomes. From
debating the future to making it workable.

We spoke to senior global brand and marketing leaders to understand how they’re navigating a market defined less by certainty and more by coexistence – and how disciplined pragmatism is becoming the sector’s defining leadership trait.

Stop talking about “transition.” Start talking about balance

A few years ago, the narrative was
simple: accelerate the transition. Replace the old with the new. The moral arc felt clear.

Today, that binary framing feels outdated, and, for many stakeholders, unconvincing.

Trust has been strained by over promising, political swings, and shifting timelines. What customers, investors, and communities now want is not
ideology. It’s realism.

Miguel Rangel, Marketing Director at Prio, doesn’t even use the word anymore. “It’s not a transition. It’s a coexistence,” he says. “We should activate all the alternatives we have.”

At Prio’s stations, traditional fuels sit alongside biodiesel, LPG, and electric charging. Customers aren’t forced into radical change. They’re offered accessible options.

It’s not a transition. It’s a coexistence. We should activate all the alternatives we have.

Miguel Rangel Marketing Director, Prio

“We have the regular,” Rangel explains, “and then alternatives for people who are more concerned for the environment. With the same car, with no transformation, they can coexist.”

Etienne Melo, Strategy, Marketing Director at Sercel, sees a broader societal shift.

“People understand that there is a need for oil and gas,” he says. “There is a more balanced view between oil and gas and the other energies.”

For him, the debate isn’t about abandoning legacy expertise. It’s about applying it differently. “We have this history. We know how to explore and extract oil and gas. At the same time, with our technologies, we can help the transition and explore new energies.”

Even companies firmly rooted in renewables acknowledge the growing complexity.

Paul Shanks, Head of Brand, Communications & Online at RES, says remaining 100% renewables gives the company clarity. “That authenticity – always being focused on a zero-carbon future – helps build trust. That is our focus. That is our passion. And we’re never going to deviate from that.”

But he’s clear that resilience requires realism. Strategy flexes by region. Messaging remains steady.

The near-term future is focused on what matters to audiences right now – and brand leaders are acknowledging that their storytelling must be, too.

Trust is built in the real world

Energy brands are operating in a credibility crunch. Grand promises don’t land the way they used to.

At EDP, that realization triggered a strategic shift. “Four years ago, we were super focused on our ‘why’,” Dias adds. “But we understood that the ‘why’ is not what resonates in some markets. We needed to shift the narrative away from the ‘why’ into the ‘how’.”

Instead of leading with abstract climate ambition, EDP began emphasizing tangible outcomes: affordability, energy security, and job creation – themes Dias describes when explaining the shift from purpose-led storytelling to benefit led communication.

That authenticity – always being focused on a zero-carbon future – helps build trust. That is our focus. That is our passion. And we’re never going to deviate from that.

Paul Shanks Head of Brand, Communications & Online, RES

“We started focusing not only on climate and sustainability narratives, but more on tangible benefits, such as renewables are the most affordable technology – a great way to create new
jobs,” she says.

It’s a pragmatic recalibration, and one echoed across the sector.

At GETEC, trust starts with delivery. “Stakeholder confidence is built by demonstrating competence, reliability, and consistency in delivering value over time,” says Carla Haag, Head of Global Marketing & Communications.

“Our brand represents who we are, what we do, and what sets us apart. It brings together our vision, culture, competences, and experience.”

It’s not about claiming leadership. in the transition. It’s about proving you’re structurally equipped to deliver it.

Our brand represents who we are, what we do, and what sets us apart. It brings together our vision, culture, competences, and experience.

Carla Haag Head of Global Marketing & Communications, GETEC

Rangel echoes that sentiment from a challenger-brand perspective. When Prio introduced higher biofuel blends, skepticism was real.

“In the beginning, they didn’t trust the new fuels,” he says. “But then they use them repeatedly and see there are no problems, and so they keep using
them. It’s a long-term path.”

Experience builds credibility, not just slogans.

At RES, trust extends beyond customers to communities. “We’re not just in it for the short-term gain,” Shanks says. “We are committed within
the communities in which we operate.” Long-term presence, and tangible local benefit, is part of the brand story.

Across the board, trust is no longer built on vision statements alone. It is built on proof and on making energy feel understandable, affordable, and relevant to daily life.

Volatility isn’t a phase. It’s the environment

If 2020–2022 felt like crisis years, 2026 feels different. The turbulence has normalized.

Etienne Melo describes it plainly: “It’s not anymore about, ‘Wow, we managed to deal with that crisis.’ It’s just that we are in the middle.”

Geopolitics, tariffs, AI disruption, commodity swings – these are no longer shocks, but the backdrop.

Haag agrees that consistency under pressure is what defines credibility: “This integrated approach enables stakeholders to recognize consistency, which is essential in creating confidence in a complex, rapidly-changing energy landscape.”

At the end of the day, the content we really spend time on involves people and gather communities – that’s the most engaging content.

Etienne Melo Strategy, Marketing Director, Sercel

As Dias puts it: “If the context is against us, we try to do it in a smarter way, but always sticking to the same message and the same positioning.”

In other words, tone may adapt. Strategy does not.

At Prio, the tension is commercial as well as political. Competition on price remains intense.

“We always have companies that are only focused on selling one product, at the lowest price possible,” Rangel says. “So, we need to keep passing information, being transparent, being coherent in our positioning.”

Stability is about refusing to let volatility dictate your identity.

Your frontline is your brand

In a sector under scrutiny, internal alignment is a strategic necessity.

At Prio, education is institutionalized. The company runs what it calls the “Prio School,” ensuring staff understand how to explain alternative fuels clearly and confidently.

“One of our major concerns is training,” Rangel says. “Not only on safety, but explaining to customers why these products are different – to increase trust in the products.”

At RES, cultural alignment was critical during acquisition. “If the people who need to deliver
on that strategy are not all working together and under common values,” Shanks says, “your ability to make it a success will be severely hampered.”

Even in highly technical B2B sectors, the human element matters.

“At the end of the day,” Melo says, “the content we really spend time on involves people and gather communities – that’s the most engaging content.”

Where energy brands go from here

The energy debate is often framed as a tug-of-war: fossil versus renewable, speed versus stability, ambition versus affordability.

The leaders navigating this moment are not retreating from ambition. They are shifting from rhetoric to results. From ideology to proof.

The transition is in its pragmatic phase. The brands that prove they can deliver in the real world will be the ones that succeed in the next decade.

About the author: Will Bosanko, CEO, EMEIA

Will Bosanko is CEO of Brandpie’s EMEA region. Known for his relentless energy, clear thinking, and ability to inspire belief, Will helps businesses move forward with purpose, confidence, and momentum.

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