Geomarketing: the power of maps at the service of Enel

Italy is one of the most varied and diverse countries in the world: every corner has its own identity, its own rhythms, its own needs. To better understand them, Enel Energia is also relying on geomarketing, a discipline that combines data analysis, geographic knowledge of the territory, and marketing. The development of geomarketing within Enel Energia is the result of the work of Claudia Malatesta, a statistician by training with a specialization in marketing analysis, and Renato Mari, an industrial engineer who works in customer analytics. One of the objectives of geomarketing is to help optimize Enel Energia’s sales network across the territory: to understand how the stores are located, identify uncovered areas and provide the commercial network with the tools to intervene, meeting the needs of customers who prefer a physical location to manage their energy supplies. «Our geotool is designed to be usable in all sectors of the company, it is user-friendly even for those with a commercial rather than technical background», explains Claudia Malatesta. A more or less intense color on a map is enough to make the data clear and show where there is untapped potential, thus evaluating where to expand the sales network.

Geographical and territorial data are the foundation of geomarketing algorithms. A first level of information comes from ARERA, the Regulatory Authority for Energy Networks and Environment, which provides reports on the total number of supplies in a given area. A second level comes from ISTAT, public databases and other forms of open data: geographical, social, and demographic information. A third set of information is received from long-term partners, such as the division of Italy into three types of areas: “metro”, metropolitan cities; “urban”, medium-large towns; “rural”, inner areas, far from major population centers. The level of map detail reaches a territorial unit that, for cities like Rome or Milan, can encompass at most a couple of city blocks. It is like looking at a high-resolution photograph of the Italian territory.

What are we trying to see in this picture of Italy? «The goal is to associate each sales point with an attraction area, to understand how much potential is covered by the current network and how much remains uncovered», explain Claudia and Renato, who developed the tool with the support of ValueLab. Another useful piece of information that the geotool allows us to measure is the «driving time»: the average time needed to travel from one point on the map to another, for example from a specific census section to a Spazio Enel. «We analyzed the average distances our customers are willing to travel between their homes and our sales points, and using statistical methods, we defined the average driving time for each type of area»; the goal is to offer customers a widespread network of sales and assistance points with nearby stores. Another important set of data allows us to understand the social makeup of an area: whether it is more attractive during the day or in the evening, whether it is home to families, elderly people, mainly residential or working users, and what other points of interest are present, such as shopping centers, banks, train stations or post offices. These are fundamental pieces of information in the decision-making process for the location of new Spazio Enel outlets.

The ultimate goal is once again to meet the needs of the customer, putting our data know-how to good use and enhancing it to also facilitate direct interaction with Enel Energia.

Of course, both our existing and potential customers can always interact without distinction or limitation through all our customer care channels (phone, digital, social, as well as physical locations like Spazio Enel) to learn about all the services and initiatives the company offers and to manage their energy supplies.