BP and the Spill

If BP were in any doubt about how recent events have harmed its reputation, it need only consider the chart below. Those parallel trend lines show, unequivocally, that in the social media world the brand has become synonymous with ‘oil spill’.

 It’s no surprise that more than 75% of the coverage is negative toward BP (although these numbers will reflect the “negative” nature of the event itself and might not necessarily involve explicit criticism of BP).

There are, however, positives. BP quickly recognised the scope and nature of the challenge, establishing a microsite (at a speed that suggests a crisis-ready darksite), a Facebook group and a dedicated Twitter feed, @BP_America, whose content is being retweeted across BP’s other Twitter channels. 

@BP_America has become a lightening rod for the social media response. According to Google, there are over 7,500 tweets featuring “@BP_America”, many of which are, as you would expect, calls for greater action, transparency, even crowd-sourced solutions. But this content is, proportionally, far less negative than the content as a whole, with retweets of @BP_America content – including details of newly established help hotlines and links to footage of rescue efforts – finding their way into wider conversation.

In being ready, willing and able to engage online, BP is already laying the ground for recovery.