BP Crisis Management & How They’re Missing the Boat on Social Engagement

Things probably couldn’t be any worse for BP. Having caused one of the worst environmental disasters in history, under fire by the US Senate Subcommittee, the target of massive public outcry, and still unable to stop 1000s of gallons of oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico 28 DAYS AFTER Deepwater exploded, things at BP are pretty bleak.

The irony is that BP---the company that once touted lowering its carbon footprint in ads---has now brought us one of the worst environmental disasters in history! While BP, Transatlantic and Halliburton are busy pointing fingers, BP proves that they are clueless when it comes to customer assurance.

What’s BP’s response to the public hue and cry?
A full court press traditional media response---a ONE WAY BROADCAST center anchored on their website. By adopting a one-way communication and reactionary stance, BP has wrenched their grip on the public conversation.
BP = #FAIL!

How is BP Missing the Boat?
BP ought to take its cue from the people that brought us Open Government---The White House! as well as other successful Social Media brands like Jet Blue and GM.

Jet Blue, once known for holding passengers captive for 10 hours on the tarmac is now a darling of the Social Media world. Why? They ENGAGE with their consumers across all social news channels, especially on Twitter, which serves as a primary customer communications platform.

GM is another great example of how a company uses the Social Web for customer assurance. When GM borrowed bailout money last year, they acted responsibly and opened themselves up online by first launching AskFritz.org and then, GM Reinvention. GM Reinvention is a brilliant communications vehicle for the company. There you can virtually meet some of the GM management team, connect with them in a real-time chat, and join the more than 125,000 followers on Facebook or more than 14,000 followers on Twitter (although...um...GM should take care to Follow Back most of their Twitter followers).

BP by comparison…

BP on Facebook: placeholder copy and inactive Page

Here’s a real quote from one disgruntled person who commented on BP’s Facebook Page:

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BP on Twitter: BP has 39,000 followers on Twitter but only follows back 38. Just another example of how disconnected they are from their customers.

How can BP throw itself a Life Saver?
For starters, BP could set up a real-time 2-WAY customer response hub across all Web 2.0 avenues. They could also listen in on public conversations on Twitter and Facebook, follow back customers on Twitter and respond to complaints and concerns in real-time. They could blog frequently and invite employees working on the clean up to share their stories. BP needs to not just react but also to ENGAGE with their audience right now, in real-time, and for the foreseeable future should they have a hope of ever turning the tide of negative perceptions about their brand.

How do YOU think BP should be engaging with the public? Let us know!

Endnotes: As of the time of this blog, BP won’t even let journalists photograph the spill!

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