BP’s Branding Vs. Reality

BP's brand value has been annihilated by its involvement and response to the oil spill.

There are many lessons that we can learn from the oil spill quickly spreading from the Gulf of Mexico towards Louisiana and Florida, but the most relevant one I’d like to look at today concerns brand integrity and authenticity.

In 1999, British Petroleum began a massive re-branding, illustrating how it could transcend the oil sector by delivering top-line growth while remaining “innovative, progressive, environmentally responsible and performance-driven.” With the ‘Beyond Petroleum’ tagline, BP’s message to consumers was clear: we aim to navigate our complex world by combining energy and environmental concerns, going above what is expected of us to deliver longterm and innovative solutions. And that’s a pretty heavy promise to make to consumers.

It soon became clear that the marketing message and BP’s business practices just didn’t match up. As disasters caused by their refineries and pipelines continued to make headlines, the company continued to insist that it was responding- not only in a legal sense, but out of moral obligation. In 2006, CEO Robert Malone said that “what happened may not have broken the law, but it broke our values.”

And then the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico happened.

BP was talking the talk, but not walking the walk. Branding begins and ends with operations. And because they have made such a strident effort to be seen by consumers as environmentally friendly, responsible and trustworthy, their current response is all the more devastating– and alienating– to the public. This isn’t about condemning BP’s actions during or following the disaster– I think that argument speaks for itself. It is about companies living their own brands.

In some cases, it’s appropriate to alter operations to match a brand perception (I’d say that’s the pretty obvious preferable choice here– if BP took more environmental precautions, their usage of the yellow and green sun wouldn’t be as jarring and laughable). But if you’re comfortable with how your business operates, take a hard look at your brand. Is it authentic? Do the day-to-day happenings behind the scenes of your company fit within the larger picture? If they don’t, it’s either time to re-brand or start changing processes.