BP brand was in decline for years

By Quentin Langley

 

It was no surprise to see that BP had fallen out of Interbrand's top 100 brands this year - until we look at the methodology in a little more detail.  It turns out that this year's rankings were all based on data from calendar year 2009.  The disasters of this summer did not contribute to this decline at all.  No doubt they will contribute to a further decline next year.

 

BP has been falling in the Interbrand survey since 2007 - based, of course, on 2006 data.  So the decline in BP's brand presaged the confused and incoherent handling of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.  

 

Interbrand's Tom Zara told Brandjack News that the main factors behind BP's decline were a lack of brand responsiveness and a lack of clarity around the brand's values.  Zara believes that Tony Hayward's leadership of the oil giant was in stark contrast with that of Lord Browne.  (Though, in fairness, we should note that Browne was still CEO throughout 2006).  Zara also stressed that this was "not a category erosion."  Other energy companies, including Shell, have been moving up as BP has been moving down.

 

Zara is clear that there has been a "shift in values" at BP over the past few years, leaving the brand  rather weaker than at the time of the 'Beyond Petroleum' rebrand.  "The momentum of a brand can be measured over time," stressed Zara.  It seems that for BP that momentum has been downwards for some years. And it is doubtful that the decline is over yet.

Click here to read the Interbrand report.

Comments

[Jonathan Hemus]

The clue to this decline may be seen in the reference to "Beyond Petroleum". It seemed that BP did very little to bring this slogan to life or to tell a clear corporate narrative to embed it into the consciousness of stakeholders. As a consequence, they had little brand equity to fall back on when they suffered their crisis and were seen simply as a big, bad (British) oil company that put profits before safety. It's a reminder of the old lesson that building a strong and clear reputation in the good times coupled with relationships and dialogue with stakeholders can be invaluable if a crisis strikes.

Jonathan Hemus
www.insigniatalks.com

[Quentin Langley]

Jonathan, that's a well-argued point, and I agree. Tom Zara at Interbrand seemed to be suggesting that there was a focus on the 'beyond petroleum' strategy for a while. I am not convinced. It was only a tiny part of what they were doing, at least in the short-term.