BP PR Campaign: Right or Wrong Timing?

11 comments Written on June 9th, 2010 by
Categories: PR, Social Media, Strategy
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BP unveiled a new multi million dollar PR campaign this past week. I first saw the commercial while watching the morning news and watched with great interest. First as a US Citizen I wanted to know what this European based company was doing to clean up the worst natural disaster in our country’s history. I have family that lives in that part of the country and I felt a bit snarky when BP’s CEO Tony Hayward said they would take care of all the problems and he’s sorry that it happened.

Even President Obama said that BP should be spending more on the clean up than on a PR campaign. However would his opinion be different if he was a PR person? I mean we keep telling everyone how this new social media channel allows us to have a conversation and that companies need to communicate to us and not just sell us goods and services? Recent case studies I’ve read about companies doing it wrong continually point out that some companies react and stop the communication in fear of inflaming a difficult situation or crisis communication.

No doubt that the effects of this spill will continue to affect the Gulf region for years to come. It’s a terrible tragedy that in a perfect world would never have happened. But it did and BP as well as those affected have to deal with the aftermath. BP could not continue to run its typical brand advertising in the face of what happened. That would have been a big slap in the face to Gulf coast residents and others that care about our environment and livelihood of our fellow world citizens.

In writing this article I visited the BP YouTube channel to find the link to the ad. While there I noticed that BP has many videos produced in the past several weeks addressing the Gulf spill across a variety of topics. The videos range from updates on the progress of trying to cap the pipe, technical videos on the processes and how they work to environmental awareness and animal release information.

From a PR and social media perspective BP seems to be doing the right thing by engaging and communicating to the public. The ad shows some sincerity in apologizing for the disaster and promises to clean it up at no taxpayer expense. Of course we know that’s not true as the multitude of federal, state and local government workers that are dealing with the problems that have arisen due to the spill. However it appears that BP is following the conventional wisdom of owning up to its responsibilities and taking ownership and communicating that to its audiences. Of course time will tell how well they actually do just that.

What do you think of the recent BP PR campaign? Is it the right step at the right time or just damage control?

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About the Author: Brian McDonald
http://www.squarejawmedia.com
Brian McDonald started Square Jaw Media to document strategies and techniques he had used over his experience working in marketing and communications since 1990. During this time Brian wrote about many of the exciting Raleigh social media events where great knowledge was being shared and tries to share some of the tips and tricks.
  • http://marketinghipster.com Cord Silverstein

    Brian,

    Great post. I agree with your thoughts and I think BP is doing everything that can from a PR standpoint. Though I think Tony Hayward has put his foot in his mouth too many times and should be hidden a room until this is all over. He has rubbed too many people the wrong way to try to resurrect his image.

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  • Jen

    I think it’s just damage control. It’s easy for them to apologize and accept responsibility when there is a script. However, watching the executives go on The Early Show each day and tiptoe through the questioning without ever giving a direct answer is painful, and shows their real colors way better than a paid advertisement.

  • http://www.squarejawmedia.com Brian McDonald

    Jen I agree that BP had to do something else other than go on morning shows and sidestep the questions. I think the PR campaign does what they should have done in the first place and just accepted responsibility versus saying, “we don’t know who’s fault the spill is.”

  • http://www.squarejawmedia.com Brian McDonald

    Thanks Cord. Yes they should have come right out and said we F’d up big time. However this is a step in the right direction. Was amazed at the US COO who on the first week of the spill told Fox and Friends I don’t know who’s fault it is!

  • Tucker

    BP could spend billions on PR and regardless of their message the images of oil covered birds, dead dolphins and non-working Americans will resonate 100 times stronger than any spin or words they put out.

    It’s too late for damage control (image or Gulf Coast) and everyone but them seems to know they f’d up. Sure they have Halliburton and Transocean as potential scapegoats but that is something they need to worry about from a legal standpoint not a PR one. Take that PR money, give it to those effected, clean up the mess and then worry about restoring an image that is pretty much destroyed anyways.

    I can tell you right now that I would rather be stuck on the side of the highway without gas than go to a BP station regardless of how low they price their gas (which will be going up most likely anyways).

  • http://www.squarejawmedia.com Brian McDonald

    Tucker, on a pure emotional standpoint I agree with you. From a practically standpoint I think most Americans get angry at companies like BP but then have short memory. I mean look at Exxon? Remember everyone cutting their cards or sending them back to Exxon in an oil soaked plastic bag? But now Exxon is one of the top 5 publicly owned companies in the US. Our culture, sad to say it about comfort and convenience first and suffering and sacrifice second. Sure we have many in our ranks that suffer greatly, especially our military. But we have culture of over abundance and waste at the same time. People don’t want to give up their cars and take public transportation until gas hits $4/gallon. Yet look at Europe with higher gas prices for many years now. Sad to say in 5 years BP will most likely be one of the top five publicly owned companies in the US and the world.

  • Tucker

    Brian, I see your point and I thought about Exxon and people’s short term memory over that but I think that when it comes to the ability to not only disseminate this information faster we are also able to extend it’s shelf life hence hurting if not killing BP in the US. At least with the Exxon disaster there was a defined and noted human error. In this case it’s three multi billion (I believe) companies playing point the finger at each other.

    Maybe it’s the fact that I have a big head to store these memories but I really think this is going to impact BP a very long time. Their stock is down 52% and dropping. They are continuously flubbing with each attempt to fix and still have not come up with any decisive conclusion as to how to fix this mess.

    Yes, Exxon is back on top after a PR nightmare. Yes people seem to forget when public figures/companies do wrong but I think for some reason that this is really going to stick with BP. Maybe not bankrupt them but being a foreign company and screwing the pooch like this doesn’t give them much leverage with the American people to get back to being a company trading at $60+ per share IMO.

  • http://www.squarejawmedia.com Brian McDonald

    Tucker, true that. It will be interesting to see how long the American public stays angry at BP. Remember one of the biggest employers in the Gulf is the petroleum industry. I’m with you in that I’m no fan of these companies and I would love to see our society change its wasteful ways! Thanks for the discussion!

  • http://KarlSakas.com/ Karl Sakas

    Thanks for your analysis, Brian! A professional acquaintance used to be in charge of U.S. investor relations for BP. I am sure she is *thrilled* to have left that position a couple years ago.

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