I may know the reason that BP's early PR was so AWOL

Brent Boynton, formerly the news anchor on KOLO-TV, Reno’s ABC affiliate, conned me into attending this mornings monthly breakfast hosted by the local chapter of PRSA - Public Relations Society of America. We’re both stirring around, looking for our next professional adventure, and you have to do this sort of thing to keep your hand in, so to speak.

I’ve avoided getting aligned with this group simply because the great share of my PR experience has been for a large non-profit closely affiliated with the military, and was better fit with the NIOA - National Information Officers Association.

But Brent said, “oh, it’s going to be about Crisis Communications, and you’ll be interested in that.” True enough, and I thought the networking opportunity might be worthwhile, too.

Here was the official program:

“Successfully Responding to Crisis”

When things go wrong, what do you need to do as a communicator to get your organization back on track? What are the steps that lead to not only resolving the crisis, but also to repairing your organizations’ reputation?

The most well-intentioned projects and well-meaning companies can be rejected or ignored amid a chorus of naysayers drowning out their message. At our May luncheon, you’ll learn how to identify and refine the positive messages that will beat back that chorus and ensure the true issues are brought to the public’s attention. We’ll discuss how to create detailed message plans and outreach strategies to prevent misinformation from disrupting your efforts.

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BP offers new public service: How to mis-manage Crisis PR

Oh, yippee. BP is giving us crisis communications professionals a giant lesson in how NOT to manage a giant corporate screwup.

First: They can’t seem to agree on the number of barrels a day that are leaking out into the ‘used to be clear, blue waters’ of the Gulf of Mexico. 2,000, 5,000, a gazillion? Uh, it’s 5,000. But, lookit - you’ve got live feed of a boatload of oil still gushing out and you just said you’re sucking 5,000 up the tube. Could it be that NPR’s estimates of a much larger spill had to be true?  Do the math, dipshits. Somebody needs to grab hold of these numbers, right/wrong/or indifferent and ‘own’ them. Immediately.

Second: They need a single BP spokesperson as a reliable, likeable ‘face’ of the event.  That person should, of course, not be Bob Blankenship from Massey Energy. BP should get a Crisis Communication Professional who actually has some PR creds rather than a legacy of nasty anti-regulatory/anti-government videos on YouTube. Nice move there, Massey Energy. BP is damn lucky, in the absence of talent from their stable to have the Coast Guard’s Rear Admiral Mary Landry. Isn’t it interesting that women seem to gravitate to this sort of thing and be really, really good at it, while the suits stand there with hands folded and stupid looks on their mugs?

Third: Agree on a strategy and stick with it. Preferrably not the same lies and conflicting stories that even the corporate suck up professionals at Fox News ain’t buying. Your Board needs to quit micro-managing and let that suggested single spokesperson do their job within the fancy JIC.

Hey, BP … I’m available. I’m not cheap, but I’m good at trench/field Crisis PR, and did I say … available?

Here’s my point: BP has a truly lovely, enormously impressive crisis website, it’s a freaking techno wonderland, with more bells and whistles than any hundred PIO’s could jump over. What they lack is a human rather than corporate face. All that fancy website does is confirm the public perception that they are a giant, souless, faceless and uncaring corporation.

Not exactly what they need to be aiming for just now.