BP = Botched Positioning
Mon, May 3, 2010 at 09:16AM 
“Welcome to BP. Our products and services contribute to a better quality of life. They provide the freedom to move, to heat and to see.”
Energy giant BP did the right thing this morning, saying it takes “responsibility for responding to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We will clean it up.”
The company’s crisis communications staff is working hard, too, posting this detailed disaster response on the company’s home page.
BP’s real problem, however, didn’t begin with last week’s oil rig explosion. It began years ago with the company’s risk-laden “green” positioning.
Industrial companies should be applauded for manufacturing environmentally friendly products and promoting sustainable cultures. But BP painted itself into a “green corner” by championing its greenness too loudly, creating the impossible expectation of perfection.
Toyota will sell cars again. And Goldman Sachs will surely climb back to the top of the hill. But BP’s image may be permanently befouled, no matter how hard the company works to repolish its reputation.
This time around it’s going to take a lot more than a new logo to fix that.
Frank J. Oswald
WHAT GOING “BEYOND” REALLY MEANS. Great blog, by Sanford Lewis, about how companies should incorporate the “precautionary principle” into their decision making.
Reader Comments (3)
I was thinking about exactly this last week. There's nothing like reality to provide a slap in the face to image.
Or, could it be Brilliant Positioning? Feels like the public outcry over the spill is kinda muted. Maybe their Beyond Petroleum greeness positioning is providing some shelter during the storm?
Hey, Mark. I think that's going to be the subject for a great debate. And not enough people are suggesting your point of view.
Not long ago, everyone was writing off Toyota due to the acceleration issue. But it seems to be doing fine again. As you suggest, it's brand could providing shelter from the storm.
I'm not sure if BP will be analogous because there is so much inherent distrust of the oil industry. I think BP's strategy of, literally, going "beyond petroleum," is brilliant—-and laudable. But I think too much of its business is still grounded in dirty and dangerous work to bet the BP brand entirely on being "green."
I was on the road the past two days, driving to Western Pennsylvania. Off one of the exits, I stopped for gas, at a BP station, my only choice at that rest stop. Someone had written "BP kills birds" in Sharpie on the mini-mart ad that was attached to the pump. That's an anecdote, I know, but it could become a fast-moving meme if that in fact there is a lot of bird/animal/livelihood destruction in the Gulf.
Through whatever prism I look at it through, there's no way that can be seen as "green," if it occurs. Given the distrust of the oil industry that already exists, I think BP would be viewed as a hypocrite, or liar, rather than as the victim of a chance event.
It will be interesting to see, too, if other companies in the industry try to point fingers at BP, trying to distance themselves from the problem, since their own future drilling prospects have now been dashed. If this becomes a "BP problem" rather than an oil-industry problem, then BP's brand would need to be strong indeed to shelter it from that storm.
It will be interesting to see which way this goes. In the meantime, let's all hope for the best for the people and wildlife of the Gulf!