BP®, also known as British Petroleum, is in trouble as a brand and as a company. Deep trouble.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the BP oil spill disaster, I’ll run it down for you briefly. It’s big. Really, really big. And this problem is not going away any time soon. There are thousands and thousands of gallons of oil leaking into the gulf every hour, with no end in sight, at least not in the near future. There are some that say this leak will take 6 months to cap, and possibly even longer to clean. In the meantime, untold numbers of marine wildlife are dying, and the gulf coast is absolutely devastated.

Pretty big disaster, and a pretty nasty incident for a company. One that may ruin their reputation forever.

So how did they become the topic of discussion here at our website you might ask? Well, yesterday one of my clients called and we were discussing a few things when he paused and asked a very interesting question.

“Can BP’s reputation survive this catastrophe?”

My answer was a resounding, “Yes.”

So let’s take a look at why I answered the question the way I did. And let’s look at what is ahead for BP and their reputation, and what they are going to need to do to save it.

First and foremost, BP is going to have to survive as a company, and I do think they have the means to do just that. I’m not privy to their financial details, nor do I know how much this is going to cost them to cleanup. I haven’t done any research in this regard at all. I will say that they are the fourth largest company in the world, and I have to assume that they have contingency plans in place for this very type of problem. Maybe not on this scale, but they are in the oil business, and they know the risks of what they do. I have to think they can withstand a pretty drastic blow as a company. (If you disagree, please comment in the comments below this article)

What I’m more concerned with is their brand management, and how they are going to save their reputation, both online and off. They are in bad shape in the public eye, and it’s certainly going to get much worse before it gets any better. The press is going to have a field day with this and demonize them right up to the very end. The public will hate them, and it will affect their sales and their income.

Back to the question at hand though. Can their reputation survive?

Yup. It sure can.

Let’s take a look at BP, the company for a minute. Let’s take a look at the brands they actually have to protect around the world.

AM/PM (AMPM Stores)

AM/PM is a convenience store chain with branches located in several U.S. states including Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, recently in Illinois, Indiana, Georgia and Florida, and in several countries worldwide including Mexico and Japan. In the western US, the convenience stores are normally attached to an ARCO gas station. In other parts of the country they are attached to BP gas stations. BP Connect stations in the United States are currently in the process of transitioning to the AM/PM brand.

Aral

BP operates its petrol retail chain in Germany and Luxembourg under the name Aral.

ARCO

ARCO is a BP retail brand on the West Coast of the US, in California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

Castrol

Castrol makes and sells a variety of motor oil and other lubricant products and is a brand completely owned by BP.

And several others…

Other marks like BP Travel Centre, BP Connect, BP Express, BP Shop, BP 2go, Air BP, and BP Shipping are all owned and operated by BP.

Why do I point this out? Because BP is smart, and they have all these great brands that many people have no idea are BP companies and part of this giant problem. Though everyone is screaming about how terrible BP is, I do beleive they have been managing their brands well, and will shift focus on these other brand names, primarily the names that don’t have “BP” in them, and continue making money. I would bet that if I lived in California I could drive by the local ARCO station and find a line of cars waiting to fill up their tanks.

This is not by accident. Smart companies often diversify their brands for this and many other reasons. The ultimate goal of any company is to make money, and to continue making money, no matter what happens. This is why brand protection is so important, and this is why companies spend so much money building not only one brand, but several.

Especially when you are of the caliber that BP is.

So my answer to the question once again is, “Yes, I do think BP will survive as a brand.” At least under one of the brands they operate. I don’t know how this will all end, and I don’t know the path that BP will take to repair their reputation. I know it’s going to cost them untold millions, and I know that if they are smart, they are looking to rebuild their brand at this very moment.

Ultimately time will tell. In six months I’ll try to revisit this article and take a peak at where they stand. Until then, feel free to add your comments on this topic in the comments box below this article.

Does your company or corporation need brand management or reputation repair services? Give our office a call at 800.818.6286 for a free consultation.