“How To Do It Wrong” starring BP
Note: In this article I discuss the flaws of BP’s use of social media and how proper utilization of this medium could help their image in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. While I take an interest in their online response, I realize that this is the least of their worries and hope that they can complete the cleanup in the quickest manner possible. I am very cognizant of the sensitivity surrounding this topic.
Can you imagine the PR staff in charge of BP’s public image? I think it’s safe to say that these people have been in a room since April 20th trying in vain to think up ways to make ruining an ecosystem, putting thousands of people out of work and killing cute marine animal after cute marine animal seem “not that bad”. To date, they have been unsuccessful (shocker, I know). The truth is there is no PR strategy in existence that a company in BP’s position could unleash to effectively fix an issue of this magnitude.
However, before this ever happened, BP should have (among many, many other things) stepped back and taken stock of how the public views them and grabbed the proverbial reigns of their own image. I don’t know about you, but when I think of a giant oil juggernaut like BP, I get a picture of corporate greed, usually followed by a clip from the movie “Wall Street”. Now, it’s fair to assume that before this disaster happened, the people in charge of BP’s branding understood that:
A) the majority of the public thinks of them as greedy oil pimps.
B) there is a chance that some catastrophy might unfold and BP will have to explain themselves to the public.
Knowing that, it’s also fair to assume that BP would have gone to work crafting their image as an environmentally conscious and lovable oil giant long before anything bad happened. Among other benefits, this would ensure that most of the public would perceive an accident as just that, an accident. Instead, everyone perceives this as a company being careless in the interest of boosting their profits. This positive public persona that BP currently wishes they possessed could have been achieved through a consistent and transparent social media campaign. What makes this even more frustrating, especially for an employee of a brand consulting firm that specializes in social media, is that they could have done this for, to quote Gary Vaynerchuk, “sweat equity”. No billboards, no commercials, just social media; Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
BP has an online presence, but they waited until the disaster was in full swing to become truly active. Furthermore, now that they’ve been forced into action, the space is so new to them that they are making some very rookie mistakes. A couple things that I noticed:
-While their Twitter account @BP_America is super-active now, it wasn’t even close before the spill; they averaged a tweet every 10 days or so. Their lack of engagement showed in their follower numbers; on April 20, the day of the spill, BP had 2,299 followers. 17 days after that, they had 2,846 followers. Today they have 14,897 followers, all of them with a hugely negative image of the brand and undoubtedly following purely out of desire for answers. Wouldn’t now be a nice time to have a loyal follower base that interacted with you before you were a pariah?
-They have neglected to take swift action against the Twitter account @BPGlobalPR. This account is fake and has systematically made a mockery of BP. The account was created 28 days ago, and they’ve spent all their time putting out tweets like “If we have to pay $20 billion, we’re paying each claim with sweaty wads of ones and/or penny hills”. While it is funny, it is detrimental to a brand that is currently at its weakest. And the worst part: they have just under 170,000 followers.
-They never @reply anyone. I understand that there are millions of people griping about the oil spill on Twitter, but as little as 10-20 replies per day would show that BP cares about what people are saying and that they are listening.
-Lot of the same on this platform. BP’s interaction with their Facebook fan base was embarrassingly low before the spill. For example, they had a post on November 10th, December 10th and February 18th and then nothing until May 2nd. Again, another platform that could have been populated with genuine fans of the brand.
Youtube
-As far as I can tell, BP didn’t even have a presence here until the spill. In my opinion, this is the most crucial platform for them as a company, because it allows them to show the public what they’re doing and why it’s relevant. This interaction can range from videos displaying charitable efforts to environmental conservation to safety measures and beyond. Instead, BP is hastily attempting to populate their new channel after the fact. With all of the talk surrounding BP’s lack of safety measures and disregard for the environment, it’d be quite beneficial to be able to reference a video addressing those topics published before April 20th to show that it truly was a priority for them. Furthermore, they are encouraging people to “friend BP on YouTube”, a function that doesn’t exist on the site (they meant to say “subscribe”).
Please understand that I am not suggesting that if BP had properly developed their social media presence before this happened, the public outcry would have been suppressed. There is literally no way that BP can heal their image for years to come. However, their charge into social media after a crisis has happened is akin to putting your seat-belt on after you’ve been in a car accident. Effective use of social media enables you to build relationships with people in a way that no other medium can. It’s an important lesson for all brands, both personal and consumer, to learn. Don’t wait until you need the loyalty to earn it; do it during the good times, because no one knows what tomorrow will bring.
Author: John Oates
