A crisis of consistency
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:04AM A conversation over at the Linked in group Public Relations and Communications Professional titled, "BP CEO: It's not my fault" brought to mind an uncomfortable reality public relations professionals must face:
The best crisis communications counsel and planning in the world won't make a dent if your operational response is weak.
No one -- not BP, TransOcean, Interior Dept... no one -- had fully contemplated the risks of a blowout a mile below the surface of the Gulf, nor did anyone have a plan in place for how to handle it. This much became apparent days after the explosion.
Since then, the public relations industry has fallen all over itself offering unsolicited advice to BP on how to present a human face for the company and manage communications to preserve the brand for a post-cleanup recovery. Aside from Tony Hayward's ongoing insistence that "we will pay", the company has seemed to go out of its way to injure its reputation at every opportunity.
Seems odd, doesn't it? The CEO essentially admits fault and offers billions to clean up the mess, but the media coverage and social media commentary is almost universally negative. A quick Social Mention score on BP and the oil spill paints a gloomy picture indeed. It's hard to find anyone who will defend BP, and those who do qualify their comments with great care. When Andrew Napolitano on FOX News tried to shift some of the blame to federal guidance based on faulty data, Shep Smith called him on it.
It's simple: You cannot communicate your way out of an utter inability to handle the crisis. To wit, BP still has not stopped the leak. BP is learning that transparency offered by social media will expose empty attempts at communications. They've become a liar at best, a conspiratorial plotter at worst. This viral video of Louisiana native Kindra Arneson telling her behind-the-scenes story is powerful, if certainly biased.
So, today's lesson from the BP disaster is simple: When planning for a crisis, make sure that your ability to communicate and your ability to operationally respond to the crisis are consistent with each other.
Robert Cathey
Thanks to alert reader Steven Spenser from Linkedin who noticed that the video of Kindra Arneson on YouTube has been taken down. Here are some other links to content featuring her story:
- Flickr feed
- Alternate video feed from Godlike Productions
- CNN story from June 3
Reader Comments (5)
I think people cannot be consoled about this because this disaster represents everything that is wrong with capitalism: rampant greed, utter lack of concern for the environment, disregard for "the little people," etc. - things that can't be fixed with any amount of BP's money.
I think BP's communications is HORRIBLE, but I'm not sure what could be done differently, either, on a practical basis, aside from the CEO NOT appearing on his yacht. There are so many players. I do wonder how many communicators' feet on the ground BP has. I think this has turned the crisis communications equation on its head. I'm not sure the traditional rules apply in something this unprecedented, broad and complex.
On Fri, Jun 25, 2010 at 2:24 PM, <hughwillett@aol.com> wrote:
Remind your clients not to get too discouraged. There's always a light at the end of the tunnel. They should be focusing on the light, planning "The big comeback story" for after the storm passes instead of trying to fight the storm.
A "crisis" moves off of the top of the news because another "crisis" replaces it. We've got elections, wars, financial crisis all kinds of things that will push BP off the top of the agenda. In the meantime BP should not do anything stupid or too creative that will bring attention to itself.
HGW
Capitalism is fine. BP only did what it had to do to produce valued product with the weak, existing oversight of at least 3 Prez administrations. 760 safety violations and fines for BP in N.America while the reviled Exxon had just 1 over the same 5 year period (source: OSHA).
Not one leader in the White House considered this, over 67 days now, as the foreign invasion of our Gulf citizens, such as it is. If not skimming 50 miles off the coast, the foreign entity of BP should have been relieved of the collection duty with an armada of domestic and international talent...all paid well by the US Gov by way of a pass-through billing to BP. Real leaders would have lived by "Hope for the best...but plan for the worst". That's what TR, Churchill, and Reagan could have seen and led accordingly.
Off-topic, but I don't think it matters whether the invading party is domestic or "foreign." This is a global economy, the U.S. is a willing and necessary participant, and there is a huge, huge mess. I say let BP go down in flames as a result of market forces and the will of consumers not to patronize and legitimize their greed versus being taken over, kicked out, etc.
What really galled me is that, two months into this thing, they just announced that their shareholders will not get a dividend. Well DUH! Poor babies. Did they really think they could get away with paying dividends??? If that is not arrogant capitalism, I don't know what is. I'm not anti-capitalism, but these guys are pushing the boundaries of decency. No, they have gone beneath it.
Thanks for the thoughtful comments. I do not think capitalism is at fault here. The world needs energy, and oil is a critical part of that equation. The issue remains that organizations who take outsized risks must be prepared to protect the rights of property owners who are impacted when things go wrong.