BP’s Brand Hyprocrisy

The Beyond Petroleum positioning of BP may have been little more than hundreds of millions of dollars spent in greenwashing.

According to The Power Grid column in yesterday’s New York magazine, BP’s investment in hydrogen, wind, solar, and biofuels amounts to just 6 percent of its overall capital expenditures.

While this is certainly a significant amount in terms of dollars (or pounds) spent, it pales in comparison to what BP spends annually on oil exploration and production.

And this does not include, writes John Heilemann, “the tens of millions of dollars that BP has spent on lobbying against safety regulations, even as it’s compiled the most abysmal safety record of any major oil company.”

One key point in the article: safety violations by BP over the past five years totaled 760, as compared to only one for Exxon Mobil.

As we wrote yesterday, media monitoring firm General sentiment calculates that BP has lost $1 billion in brand value since the Gulf Oil spill.

It’s not the fact that BP had an accident that makes this brand suspect; it’s the manner in which they have tried to pass off blame and responsibility that bothers most.

Add to the above the 700,000 “friends” who have signed on to one of the three Boycott BP pages on Facebook, and you have a brand that is approaching free fall.

Sadly, the BP Board doesn’t seem to get this yet. By the time they do, it will be too late. (Another reason why Marketing needs to be brought into Corporate Boardrooms.)

The tombstone for the BP brand is being readied, and the graveyard of Enron, WorldCom, HIH Insurance, and myriad others awaits.

National Green Brands Forum

The third annual National Green Brands Forum, produced by 3 Pillars Network, will be held in Melbourne on 17 June.

Over 80 small business and corporate executives are expected to attend and hear speakers from Unilever, Origin Energy, Australian Paper, Cadbury, SENSIS, Orange Power and other organisations discuss creating innovation, value, and authenticity through marketing sustainable brands.

“There’s a very real concern across Australia about doing the right thing, communicating it in the right manner, and conveying it in a credible way,” conference produce Cheryl Samarasinghe told me yesterday in a phone conversation. Thus, the conference program has been designed around sharing of world-leading marketing strategies, the latest directions from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and an introduction to Australia’s National Carbon Offset Standard.

For new players, businesses and marketers entering the green marketing space, this looks like an excellent forum for learning new tools, best practices, and how to avoid having one’s marketing efforts come across as mere greenwashing.

Program and registration details are available online, and there is also an event blog for those who want to preview some of the key issues that will undoubtedly be discussed and debated at this industry leading event.