One of our X-Force members recently produced this webinar on the topic of “Crisis Communications: Lessons Learned from the BP Oil Spill”. Our discussion focused on what BP did well during the crisis, what they could have improved, and steps businesses should be taking themselves to prepare for how they would handle their own “Deepwater Horizon.”
While BP has taken some correct steps in its crisis response, one of the big takeways is the power of social media. Twitter, Facebook, blogs and message boards have taken over traditional media to harness and form public opinion. It all starts with the video feed of the streaming oil. Web sites from NPR to CNN have embedded that feed with counters displaying the amount of oil and the number of days since the accident. iPhone has several apps related to the crisis including games and journalist apps. One company has created a contest to create the new BP logo. They already have thousands of entries.
BP’s own gulf spill twitter account has 16,000 followers vs. an anti-BP Twitter account of 100,000+ followers.
Until the stream of oil is plugged and the counters can stop, BP’s brand and reputation will continue to sink to dire proportions despite spending $100 million on advertising to try to change public perceptions. Money and press conferences are simply no match for social media.
Early in the crisis, BP made a few mistakes:
- Set public expectations too high, too early regarding spill flow, duration and impact
- Lacked empathetic tone in early public statements
- Appeared more intent on blame avoidance than problem-solving
- Failed to appreciate ubiquity of news media and social media
- Should have identified limited media role of CEO
As companies seek to learn from the BP oil crisis, one key element we recommend is having a dedicated crisis team that practices its own “Deepwater Horizon” before it occurs. By going through simulations and tabletop exercises, companies will see firsthand how prepared they are to handle a crisis in the 21st Century.
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