Bad public relations worsens the situation for BP
Earlier this year I was horrified that brilliant public relations tactics at Toyota were able to cover up the fact they’d known about potentially deadly defects – and lied about them – for years. Now I’m horrified yet again. This time not because I’m watching people who are too good at manipulating the media – this time I’m seeing how traditional corporate communications practices are helping destroy a company’s brand rather than mitigate the damage during this awful disaster. A New York Times article yesterday discussed the satirical twitter feed @bpglobalpr and its impact on the messages being sent regarding the oil spill. So far the feed has 133, 000 plus followers. BP’s real feed has a mere 12,000, showing how clueless they are in terms of the PR 2.o and its impact.
BP is accused of many things in this disaster – lack of urgency, poor testing, circumventing the process, the list goes on. I’m not sure we’ll ever really know what happened at BP from a corporate standpoint because their communicators seem buried in the Dark Ages of public relations. Stilted press releases, bland twitter feeds and stiff spokespeople reading messaging points are only going to drive BP further down. Come on guys, don’t hire some old fogey from the Bush administration. Go hire Chris Brogan and let him tell the world what’s really going on. It can’t get any worse than these 1950′s messages you keep sending out.
What do you think? Who would you hire to run PR strategy at BP right now? What would you do if you were in charge of their public relations right now?
June 7th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Well, I wouldn’t hire Chris Brogan, but I do agree with you that BP needs to refresh their approach to PR/Communications. But even so, the change will not happen overnight – you have to understand your audience in that industry, build the channels, and completely overhaul your content. BP is just one of thousands of companies that are in this position, just those other thousands have not screwed up big enough yet to learn this lesson…
Bob Stanke
June 7th, 2010 at 7:59 am
Curious why you wouldn’t hire Chris? To me, it would be like hiring a trusted celebrity to send your message, and garner an instant channel of followers, etc in the social media world.
June 7th, 2010 at 8:25 am
Well I guess my first question is, why would he even accept a job like that. He has it pretty good now doing everything else he does, I find it hard to believe he would leave all that for a job at a big fat, slow aging corporation…?
June 7th, 2010 at 8:29 am
Also (and this is just a personal opinion) he is kind of whiny a lot. On more than one occasion he complains about what others think of him and as a rebuttal he tends to get really defensive. In a lot of ways he is kind of like Oprah, which can turn a lot of people off. I think he is a great resource for all of us, and in my opinion he is best off if he stays in that role. BP has the money and resources to go after plenty of people who could help them. CB is not the end-all of being able to help them.
June 7th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Wow, Bob great insight I guess I don’t know Chris nearly as well as you do. Whiny is never a good thing! Who would you hire??
June 7th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
I wouldn’t hire me, either. I’m not in PR. I also only work with companies I love.
: )
June 7th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
Chris, hanks for letting us know and for the sense of humor! And for the record, by my definition of public relations – which is building and maintaining relationships with the key publics of a brand, company, product, service, etc – you ARE in PR.
June 8th, 2010 at 12:58 am
“Well, I wouldn’t hire Chris Brogan, but I do agree with you that BP needs to refresh their approach to PR/Communications”. She looks very offensive.
June 11th, 2010 at 10:39 am
Yep, Tony Hayward (Wayward) has said some silly things and Obama has got a bit personal so BP are feeling the heat now no doubt. Wonder if they will ever be a profitable business in the US again or simply withdraw like DeBeers.
June 11th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
That’s a good analogy – I heard they’d be bankrupt soon at this rate.
June 11th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
I think it’s a bad move for England to say criticism against BP is anti-British. Most of their pensions are tied up in the company, but it is BP that made the mistake that is destroying the ecosystem and it is something they will ultimately pay for.
June 12th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
BP has the money and resources to go after plenty of people who could help them!! its realy interesting
September 13th, 2010 at 7:29 pm
I use to work as an assistant for a Talk show on one of the TV stations in the US. and that’s why I can really relate on this post.
Thanks a lot,
September 13th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
I think it’s a bad move for England to say criticism against BP is anti-British. Most of their pensions are tied up in the company, but it is BP that made the mistake that is destroying the ecosystem and it is something they will ultimately pay for.
September 13th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
That’s a good analogy – I heard they’d be bankrupt soon at this rate.
September 13th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Yep, Tony Hayward (Wayward) has said some silly things and Obama has got a bit personal so BP are feeling the heat now no doubt. Wonder if they will ever be a profitable business in the US again or simply withdraw like DeBeers.
September 13th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
I wouldn’t hire me, either. I’m not in PR. I also only work with companies I love.
March 29th, 2011 at 8:43 pm
Many companies trip over their own feet when managing a crisis. Often the demand by media and now citizen journalists, mean that the company cannot focus on the immediate response to the crisis. Often we ask many questions ,when they are still managing the effects on its operations, staff and families. I realize this is a lame excuse for ignoring public demands, but it is what it is!
September 4th, 2011 at 6:37 am
Thanks for posting this. Found you via google, I’ll bookmark this site for future updates. Thanks again. Have a great day!