The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to generate no shortage of commentary.  Not only on the environmental, political, and economic consequences of the disaster, but also on a topic much more personal for corporate communicators: BP’s communications strategy.  If you’ve seen such commentary from activists (e.g., James Hoggan) or from news outlets covering the broader story (e.g., CNN), you’ve likely noticed a certain schadenfreude that permeates these remarks.  Of course, this makes them interesting, but mostly irrelevant to corporate communications professionals, aside from the minority who are responsible for crisis response in companies capable of major industrial accidents.

For the rest of us – and even for that minority – there are a couple lessons to be gleaned from BP’s handling of the Gulf Coast oil spill.  Lessons that are more subtle than the prevailing commentary and much more relevant.  

1)  Corporate “reputation” is merely the standard to which a company will be held, not a “bank of goodwill” that you can draw upon in times of crisis.  BP’s previous efforts to reposition its corporate image (e.g., “beyond petroleum” slogan, green logo) did nothing to shield it from criticism in the face of an actual disaster. 

Some have argued that BP did not do enough in advance of this spill to put substance behind its image.  But a look at earlier, arguably less severe, incidents involving BP in Texas City, Texas (2005), and Prudhoe Bay, Alaska (2006), suggest otherwise: BP’s reputation in 2005 was the envy of its industry and put it among the world’s most admired companies.  However, the “penalty” in terms of share price and image after those incidents was just as extreme, culminating in the “early retirement” of then-CEO John Browne, a fate many commentators anticipate for his successor, Tony Hayward.

Our research shows that a person’s opinion of a company (absent some emotional attachment) is highly fickle and determined by experience, not company statements or generic reputation.  If there is an opportunity to build up anything like a “bank,” it would have to be in the accrual of emotional connections, i.e., feelings of ownership and shared identity with the company. This is admittedly difficult for companies to create, but not impossible.  CEC members can learn more about how the best companies cultivate and use that sort of emotional connection by clicking here.

2)  Communicators should proactively manage “primary” reputation risks and merely be ready to react to “secondary” reputation risks.  By “primary” risks, I mean those risks that actually result from changing perceptions of the company, as opposed to actual events.  One example is the recent negative press around investment banking bonuses: the bonuses aren’t new; the public’s expectations of the industry and its response to bonuses in light of the financial crises changed.  Communications can actually do something to manage primary risks by monitoring shifts in stakeholder expectations, then (a) sensitizing business decision-makers to those shifts, and (b) aligning company messaging to the new expectations.  Interested in learning more?  Check out our best-practice case studies from Cadbury and Capital One.

“Secondary” risks, such as those stemming from accidents, accounting scandals, or noncompliance with safety or environmental standards, can best be managed by Operations, HR, or Legal; all Communications can do is have a good agency partner on hand to help with the volume of communication required if disaster strikes.  BP’s communication team may not have done everything right, but none of the many things they have done right will matter until their operations team can stop the spill.

Those are my thoughts, but I’d be very interested in hearing from readers — what lessons have YOU learned after observing BP’s crisis ?