Aja Dorsey Jackson Freelance Writer

BP can’t control oil spill or PR messages.

Posted by Aja on June 14th, 2010

Charlie Riedel/AP

A recent AP article speaks to BP’s failures not only in controlling the disastrous oil spill but in managing it’s public messages in the wake of the disaster. In short  BP lacks public compassion for those affected by the spill which was so eloquently  demonstrated by the CEO’s “I’d like my life back” complaint as those along the coast lose their livelihoods.

Immediately as I read this I had a flash back to college and public relations 101 where we examined case studies of the1989  Exxon Valdez spill and the PR blunders the company made during that crisis, most of which amounted to too little, too late.  Among them:

• Exxon refused to speak to the media about the crisis for more than a week. Meanwhile, the media covered the spill’s devastating effects while the company stayed silent.
• Once Exxon leaders spoke, they showed little concern for the environmental impact and refused to take total responsibility for the catastrophe.
• They were unable to contain the spill or demonstrate that they had plans in place in the event of a such crisis.

21 years after the Valdez spill, BP seems to be making many of the sames mistakes that I learned about through the Exxon case study. While they have been much more forthcoming with information that Exxon, their actions in the wake of the spill have been translated by many as showing arrogance and lack of concern.

While small business owners will likely never be involved in something as catastrophic of an oil spill, there are things that you can learn from the mistakes of this situation.

• Have a plan in place. Your PR plan should include some type of plan for a crisis or negative attention. When I worked as a marketing manager for a community development organization, there were negative incidents that occured in the community that shed a bad light on the neighborhood as a whole. I learned to anticipate questions about such incidents and developed talking points to help control the flow of information.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate. If your business is doing any type of marketing or advertising, your customers should be hearing from you on a regular basis. Crisis time is not the time for you to suddenly go silent. Even if your response is to say something along the lines of “We are working toward the best possible solution…” be sure to respond and respond early. Saying nothing, or saying “no comment”, can be quickly construed as arrogance and lack of concern. The public may be able to forgive a mistake, but lack of concern may be an unforgivable sin.
• Control the problem. None of your PR efforts will mean much if you are unable to get the situation at least partially under control. Fixing the situation should be priority number one. No matter what BP does at this point, few people are going to look upon them favorably while they still have gallons of oil barrelling into the sea.

Is your business prepared in the event of a PR disaster? Contact us for a free consultation today!

Tags: oil spill PR, oil spill public relations, PR crisis, PR disaster, PR mistakes

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