SOUTHERN COMPANY ELECTRIFIES UGA PRSSA WITH CORPORTATE COMMUNICATION INSIGHT

ATHENS, Ga.—Feb. 24, 2014 — On Wednesday, February 19, the John E. Drewry chapter of PRSSA welcomed the Executive and Stakeholder Communications Manager of Southern Company, Tripp Cagle, to present on corporate communications.

The attendees of the meeting learned, corporate communications efforts take on a unique identity depending on the purpose of the corporation. For a power company, these efforts are concentrated to delivering clear updates during power outages and informing the public about their utilities in a comprehensible manner.

Cagle’s illustration of Southern Company’s communications tactics could not have come at a more salient time — a week after the second snowstorm to wreak chaos across the state of Georgia in a month. Cagle relayed Southern Company’s PR initiatives to prepare for and react to the massive power outages that occurred across the state.

For the recent incident, Southern Company created a Georgia Power Outage App that enables users to view where and when power outages strike, operating off of the Georgia Power Storm Center headquartered in Atlanta. Cagle and his team publicized these resources before the storm even occurred by maintaining an active online presence. During the storm, Georgia Power interacted with interacted with Twitter users 17 million times and gained more than 2,700 new followers.

Once the storm hit, the focus shifted to directing assistance to reported power outages. In a situation where blame could have easily been shifted toward the company, Southern Company developed a trusting relationship with their customers.

Attendees of the meeting also analyzed Southern Company’s educational and promotional videos, which present seemingly mundane utility statistics in a light, simple and quirky fashion to teach users about their energy and where it comes from. 

 ABOUT THE SOUTHERN COMPANY

With 4.4 million customers and nearly 46,000 megawatts of generating capacity, Atlanta-based Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving the Southeast through its subsidiaries.

A leading U.S. producer of clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in four states — Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power, and Mississippi Power — and a growing competitive generation company — Southern Power –– as well as a licensed operator of three nuclear generating plants — Southern Nuclear — and fiber optics and wireless communications — Southern Telecom and SouthernLINC Wireless, respectively. Southern Company brands are known for energy innovation, excellent customer service, high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the national average.

For more information visit: www.southerncompany.com

ABOUT THE JOHN E. DREWRY CHAPTER

With more than 250 active members, the John E. Drewry Chapter of PRSSA at the University of Georgia is the largest chapter in the world. It was named after Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication’s first dean and was founded at The University of Georgia in 1969. Dr. Betty Jones is the current faculty advisor, and Jessica Rossi serves as the professional advisor.

###