Two Spokespersons Amplify BP Oil Spill PR Chaos
To say the least I’m perplexed about BP and their response to the oil spill in the Gulf. I could (and may) write a White Paper on all the mistakes and missed opportunities, but for today let’s talk about their spokespersons.
They’ve made some obviously vague and tone deaf statements–especially recently with CEO Tony Hayward’s assertion that the spill’s environmental impact will be “very, very modest”:
Yeah, tell that to the fishermen, Tony. Their impending “modest” bankruptcies are no biggie.
Hayward’s wishful thinking out loud makes the situation worse for BP, particularly when his own COO Doug Suttles (who I give points to for making himself available to the media) apparently contradicted him on the Today Show this morning (last few seconds of this piece):
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Two spokespersons in a crisis communications situation is almost never a good idea, especially when there is no message coordination. It’s certainly played a role in BP’s long-standing environmentally-responsible image–which now resides somewhere in the vicinity of that leaking well on the bottom of the sea.
Developing…we’ll have more analysis shortly.
In the meantime, what do you think? Should BP’s CEO stay out of the messaging, or does it really matter at this point?
Alex has earned a reputation for success and ingenuity from his more than twenty years experience in public relations, journalism, marketing and broadcasting. His career has spanned several industries including healthcare, television, non-profit organizations and higher education.
His work in the news media included positions as an editor, journalist, radio talk show host and vice president of Kansas City Public Television.
He founded AlexanderG Public Relations, LLC in January 2010. AlexanderG PR is a member agency of PRConsultants Group, a collaborative made up of senior-level PR experts in every major market in the United States.
Alex is also the award-winning author of several works of fiction, including the thriller novel "Pilate's Cross" available wherever ebooks are sold--including the the Amazon Kindle store. It is also available in paperback at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu. Visit the website at www.PilatesCross.com for more info.
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4 Responses to “Two Spokespersons Amplify BP Oil Spill PR Chaos”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] serves to make the brand more reviled. And as my friend and PR guru, Alex Greenwood points out in a recent post, the fact that they’ve allowed two spokespeople to deal with this disaster instead of one only [...]
[...] Two spokespersons (Hayward and COO Doug Suttles seems to be in a pissing match over who gets to shoot their mouth off in front of the cameras) in a crisis communications situation is almost never a good idea, especially when there is apparently no message coordination. Hayward needs to be silent. Some argue he needs to put on a hard hat and clean up the mess with crews on the beach. That’s ridiculous. People will perceive that BP is once again trying–and failing–to manipulate the story in their favor in a blatant way. As CEO, he needs to issue carefully vetted, printed statements only– and only statements that support what their designated spokesperson is saying to the media. If they picked Suttles, he at least has a presence that doesn’t suggest complete ineptitude and emotional vacancy. [...]
[...] have reacted to this situation almost as poorly as BP (though not on the same scale of disaster, it’s a relatively similar PR crisis for the [...]
[...] talk regularly on this blog about pubic relations crises and missteps–not just for the gleeful rush of pointing the finger at bad moves and insipid sound [...]