SaskEnergy

Challenge

Monitoring and Managing Critical Information Flows

An interesting fact: 40 below in Celsius is also 40 below in Fahrenheit. There shouldn't be any confusion around the degree of cold we're talking about. Icy Arctic blasts place a premium on reliable heat generation in Canada's Saskatchewan Province, especially in winter. 

SaskEnergy's Government and Media Relations team says the demand for natural gas has never been higher, and because safety issues are always top of mind, corporate leadership needs to be plugged into any developing situations night and day. The Media Relations team has responsibility for monitoring communications and intelligence related to the utility and being capable of responding whenever necessary. This requires the compact, three-person unit to rotate weekly shifts whereby someone is always available, including weekends and evenings. 

SaskEnergy's Dave Burdeniuk says, "Twenty years ago you might have had half a day to respond to a reporter's inquiries. Now you probably have five minutes." Burdeniuk says SaskEnergy's previous media communications tool was essentially spamming them, alerting them to as many as 75 mentions of the same story in half an hour. Also, whenever he and his colleagues had issues with the software, it could be days before they'd hear back from a service rep. 

Solution

Its Immediacy is Meltwater's Greatest Attraction

Meltwater's media monitoring and social media solutions allow SaskEnergy to stay on top of any comments about the company— positive or negative— and never be blindsided. Burdeniuk says his team receives timely email alerts without fail, while the platform's filters and settings ensure that the alerts never become excessive to the point of distraction. Being able to target coverage geographically helps immensely. 

The platform's immediacy is another great asset. "You really need something that lets you set it and forget it, and then responds immediately. Meltwater makes a huge difference in the quality and speed of our information." 

Getting ahead of a story tops every PR pro's wish list. Oftentimes Burdeniuk will still be speaking with a reporter when he gets alerted to a tweet or a mention based on something he said just a minute ago. Meltwater gives him options, by allowing him to react quickly with more facts or context around a story, or to share the latest information with executives, a regional office, or the government. More accurate information leads to better outcomes. 

Burdeniuk has a personal reason for liking Meltwater as well: its versatility. "I'm blind, and Meltwater works with the specialized software and settings I use with both my laptop and phone."