David Cameron doesn't appear to be a fan of British Gas

When the Archbishop of Canterbury decided to go on a one man mission to challenge the private lending sector Wonga were left shaking in their boots and suffered brand damage which has taken months to improve. Bearing that in mind imagine how British Gas must be feeling with the Prime Minister himself pleading with customers to switch to other gas and electricity providers in the wake of new price increases.

http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/customers-urged-to-quit-british-gas-as-brand-suffers-twitter-backlash/4008277.article

How will British Gas take the news that the Prime Minister isn't a fan? Well let's just say that it isn't exactly the best PR to be dealing with. Even the most ardent supporters of the old adage 'any news is good news' will probably find it hard to justify that anything good can come out of this damning report from such a public figure. And why should British Gas be surprised by David Cameron labelling the companies price hikes as a 'con'? A company that continues to make record profits and is justifying an increase in price to offer discounts in the future just doesn't add up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24562930

Of course all energy providers have a long history of poor brand perception scoring, which demonstrates that the problem isn't just solely restricted to British Gas. let's take for example the brand index scores of SSE. A brief look at their score over the last year demonstrates just how low those scores can go.

http://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/04/05/105m-fine-whacks-sse-brand/

So why do energy providers appear to struggle so badly? Maybe it is unfair to assume these companies can do much to maintain a positive brand perception in the face of sharp tariff rises and constant price hikes. However, even if this is the case it is clear that the big energy and gas providers have done little to win the confidence of their customer base. We've said it before and The Brand Avenger will say it again but these companies need to start realising the power of transparency and leveraging Social Media for proactive and not reactive measures. Maybe next time this will help British Gas be well and truly prepared for Prime Ministers Questions.