Erik and I spend a lot of time helping companies craft their brand and image. But, that only takes a company so far. You can build a brand but over time, you have to be willing to let the brand and image evolve as your customers and the public respond to your product/service and marketing efforts. Unfortunately, a disaster can wipe out your “brand” (which is a fragile construct at best) in one fell swoop just as it has with BP. Remember those “Beyond Petroleum” ads BP used to run? They now seem like a huge lie. BP doesn’t care about developing alternative energy strategies. Trusting an oil company to do that is ridiculous. In hindsight, I’m not sure anyone really ever believed BP was telling the truth.
In a press release, Leroy Stick, the man behind @BPGlobalPR (a Twitter account tweeting satirical tweets about the oil spill) explains it this way:
“The point is, FORGET YOUR BRAND. You don’t own it because it is literally nothing. You can spend all sorts of time and money trying to manufacture public opinion, but ultimately, that’s up to the public, now isn’t it?”
He’s right. You can get your brand started, but ultimately it’s the public’s perception of your brand that matters. Do the right thing and not just when someone’s watching. Do it all the time. People’s tolerance for BS is so low now that you really can’t get away with much. Why would you want to in the first place? BP recently spent about $50 million dollars on this joke of an ad with Mr. Tony “I’d Like My Life Back” Hayward as the spokesperson. Think how far that money could have gone toward cleanup efforts or toward helping all the people of the Gulf who have lost their livelihoods because of the spill. The ad obviously backfired since no one–no one–trusts that BP is doing anything in the best interest of the people or ecology of the Gulf of Mexico.
The lesson is a simple one. If you do the right thing–all the time–then you have nothing to worry about. Of course, there will always be people and companies who don’t care about doing the right thing (like BP). Hopefully, that will change over time. Of course, what’s happened in the Gulf isn’t just about the destruction of BP’s image. No one cares about that. Everyone just hopes that they will eventually be forced to do the right thing. Regardless, the damage they have done is unfathomable. So sad.
