Exelon Case
Exelon: Eco-Preferred® Power
James C. Anderson
Florent G. Carbonneau*
January 2003
* James C. Anderson is the William L. Ford Distinguished Professor of Marketing and
Wholesale Distribution, and Professor of Behavioral Science in Management, Kellogg School of
Management, Northwestern University. He is also the Irwin Gross Distinguished ISBM Research
Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM), located at Penn State
University, and a Visiting Research Professor at the Department of Technology Management,
Eindhoven University of Technology. Florent G. Carbonneau is a Research Associate, Kellogg
School of Management, Northwestern University. The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of Dennis Murphy, Bill Brady, and Ellen Lutz in the case research.
Please note that we prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. We disguised some of the company names and information on marketplace conditions.
Send correspondence to:
James C. Anderson
Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern University
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
(847) 491-2724; (847) 491-2498 (fax) jc-anderson@kellogg.nwu.edu EXELON: ECO-PREFERRED® POWER
Ellen Lutz, Director of Marketing at Exelon, the 4th largest electric utility in the United States
(U.S.) and her colleague Bill Brady, Business Development Director, had been working together on an environmental project for months when they both received the same text message on their cellular phones. It was Friday, October 5, 2001, and their Vice President of Marketing & New
Business Development, Dennis Murphy, was calling a meeting for the following Monday. The message was: "Tangibilize the intangible! What role can branding play?"
Ellen had been leading the Environmentally Preferable Power (EPP) project since 1998 and was about to launch a pilot program. She knew that
James C. Anderson
Florent G. Carbonneau*
January 2003
* James C. Anderson is the William L. Ford Distinguished Professor of Marketing and
Wholesale Distribution, and Professor of Behavioral Science in Management, Kellogg School of
Management, Northwestern University. He is also the Irwin Gross Distinguished ISBM Research
Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM), located at Penn State
University, and a Visiting Research Professor at the Department of Technology Management,
Eindhoven University of Technology. Florent G. Carbonneau is a Research Associate, Kellogg
School of Management, Northwestern University. The authors gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of Dennis Murphy, Bill Brady, and Ellen Lutz in the case research.
Please note that we prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. We disguised some of the company names and information on marketplace conditions.
Send correspondence to:
James C. Anderson
Kellogg School of Management
Northwestern University
2001 Sheridan Road
Evanston, IL 60208
(847) 491-2724; (847) 491-2498 (fax) jc-anderson@kellogg.nwu.edu EXELON: ECO-PREFERRED® POWER
Ellen Lutz, Director of Marketing at Exelon, the 4th largest electric utility in the United States
(U.S.) and her colleague Bill Brady, Business Development Director, had been working together on an environmental project for months when they both received the same text message on their cellular phones. It was Friday, October 5, 2001, and their Vice President of Marketing & New
Business Development, Dennis Murphy, was calling a meeting for the following Monday. The message was: "Tangibilize the intangible! What role can branding play?"
Ellen had been leading the Environmentally Preferable Power (EPP) project since 1998 and was about to launch a pilot program. She knew that