Business Coaching

Will a social media campaign be able to reverse BP's image?

Can social media save BP?

The world’s current most unpopular oil company is looking to Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr and other digital tools as a way to clean up BP’s flailing image. The campaign broadcasts content like videos explaining health risks to repair crews, while BP’s Facebook fan page also alerts followers to breaking news, such as the latest congressional hearings.

One BP rep summed up the strategy by telling Adweek, “A lot of people are angry, just as we are. It’s all the more reason to keep going and keep telling people what we’re doing.” It’s still yet to be seen whether the company can salvage its reputation better than it can stop the spill.

BP CEO Tony Hayward is getting serious flack for not handling BP's situation well.

The BP oil spill is finally under control. The well is capped and oil is no longer gushing into the gulf. In fact, most of the oil has been cleaned up and most beaches on the gulf coast are clean and open for business.

Unfortunately, the beaches are too open. So open they are virtually empty and with just a few weeks left before summer travel season ends, businesses are struggling to make ends meet.

The extensive media coverage has been a double edged sword for residents of the gulf coast. The attention has ensured that BP worked as quickly and efficiently as possible in cleaning up the spill. On the other hand, all of that attention has kept tourists away, as most assumed that the beaches were virtually destroyed by the spill.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sure, there are tarballs, but for the most part, the cleanup has gone well and beaches all over the gulf coast look as pristine as they ever have. But there aren’t any tourists to enjoy those beaches.

In early spring, it looked like the area was poised for a big summer. But after the spill, things went south very quickly.

For example, in May and June, the Inn on Destin Harbor lost $102,000 worth of reservations, and it didn’t get better in July. The Inn usually expects 90% occupancy in July, but this year, the occupancy was off by over 30% and they’ve had to cut their prices to fill rooms.

That is the story for businesses throughout the gulf coast, which, like most tourism communities, rely on seasonal visitors to make enough money to get through the rest of the year.

The BP spill and its aftermath should serve as a wakeup call to communities that rely on tourism throughout the United States.

Communities and businesses that count on tourists need to find different streams of revenue and seek ways to draw visitors no matter what happens.

What can your community take ensure you aren’t adversely affected by the forces of nature? What steps have you taken so your business can weather adversity?

BP CEO Tony Hayward is in hot water.

The BP oil spill has dominated the news for quite some time. The disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico had devastating effects, and in these next few weeks and months, all eyes are on BP to see how they’ll handle their massive…well, spill.

So far, proclaiming that you want your life back, like BP CEO Tony Hayward said in a statement last Wednesday, is not a good way to start to save face. He has since apologized for that comment, however.

BP definitely faces an uncertain future due to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. But BP also has two additional challenges to face: before the spill even happened, the company had a reputation for not-so-safe safety practices, and more than any other oil company, BP still wants to operate in the Gulf of Mexico.

Since the ’90s, BP has mainly been invested in deepwater oil strategies that, while risky, amassed some 500 leases in the gulf through US government auctions — more than any other oil company.

How badly will the oil spill effect BP’s already tarnished reputation? If governments in the US stop giving BP leases, the company’s leading position in oil and gas is at risk. And as Bloomberg Businessweek pointed out, what politician wants to be responsible for giving BP a lease?

Business coaches: this is a tricky situation, but would you have any ideas on where to start with BP if they were your client? How can they rebuild their reputation?