BP’s digital strategy to respond to and update people about the oil spill has been highly criticized and ultimately found lacking due to their inability to communicate in a transparent and straightforward way. Though the news may be bad, delivering it directly and honestly is what people are asking for rather than circuitously avoiding the facts.
Even the BPGlobalPR Twitter account, which was created by an anonymous person to bash BP’s handling of the the oil spill fiasco, has gotten closer to handling the digital response correctly. In a recent press statement released by BPGlobalPR, the creator of the sarcastic and satirical account said, “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?”
While BP_America has tried to minimize negative press, BPGlobalPR has constructively and effectively capitalized on social media relationships by using its popularity to raise more than $10,000 for relief efforts from T-shirt sales. Andy Beal identifies the fundamental flaw in BP’s PR response to the disaster as the lack of real engagement in their online presence. Though they have active accounts on many networks, the lack of dialogue and understanding is reminiscent of archaic standards of busines-to-consumer relationships, on which, he claims, BP was founded. Social networks require more than a face, they require genuine engagement. This is evidenced by the BPGlobalPR account having 173,000 (and counting) followers, a number that dwarfs the actual BP account, BP_America, which has a dwindling 15,000 followers.
A paid advertising campaign was a logical first step for BP, but purchasing all of the Google ads for “oil spill”, “BP”, “gulf coast”, “deepwater” and more were not enough to reign in rampant negative online sentiment. The move actually incited a unexpectedly heated backlash. BP has also regularly updated their Facebook, Twitter and oil spill page, and has posted videos on YouTube that have garnered several thousand views, but the “BP Spills Coffee” spoof video has been viewed more than 6 million times. The major complaint is that BP’s presence in these networks has no substance; their statements offer “no solutions, no urgency and no sincerity.”
Though ultimately the situation in the gulf is a terrible one to navigate, the BP oil spill is a powerful example of how digital media can be used to manage a crisis (or exploit it) and establish lines of communication between businesses and their consumers that may not have existed prior. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Google search are continuously expanding vehicles of information sharing. Regardless of the situation, whether laying a brand’s foundation or managing a massive crisis, utilizing those digital media to communicate and build customer relationships is of the essence.
