ABSTRACT
This chapter opens with a consideration of Sweden’s rankings according to the United Nations’ Human Development Index, which indicate the country’s stability and prosperity. It then covers Vattenfall, the world’s first state-owned electricity company, which has retained both its name and ownership structure for the last 110 years. The chapter compares the Vattenfall brand with other successful Swedish brands, highlighting Sweden’s pop-culture nous, before engaging Magnus Hall, the company’s CEO, on the subject of energy branding. Hall’s notion is that in modern societies “energy is everything”.” Every aspect of modern life revolves around the availability of energy, hence energy brands must deliver on their commitment to their customers, stakeholders and society as whole. Hall also discusses what “fulfilling expectations” means given Vattenfall’s commitment to ‘“fossil free living within one generation’ generation” and gives an example of the company divesting itself of its lignite business in Germany.
