I Spy With My BrandsEye – BP Destroying The Planet And Their Online Reputation.

On the 20^th of April, BP’s semi-submersible drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, burst into flames 41 miles offshore in the Gulf Of Mexico. This event has had catastrophic consequences on marine life in the Gulf, resulting in many rare species becoming perilously close to extinction. Cleaning up the oil spill to date has cost BP US$2 billion, and BP has set aside a further US$20 billion for future expenses. Here at BrandsEye, we were interested at seeing the less tangible cost incurred by BP as a result of this environmental nightmare. We opted to spend some time examining the effect on their online reputation.

After 24 hours, the results are alarming. In one day, the environmental disaster caused by BP was mentioned online 12 426 times. These mentions reached an audience of 52 730 040 people, equating to R11 962 374 worth of negative PR for the BP brand.

The attack on the BP brand has been consumer driven, with consumers being responsible for 85% of all negative mentions.

BP is a true multinational; therefore it is hardly surprising that criticism is being leveled at the brand from every corner of the globe. The biggest brand terrorists are based in America with 69% of all mentions originating from there. 

 Below is a breakdown of the other countries generating negative press for BP.

• United Kingdom 6%
• Canada 4%
• Mexico 3%
• Germany and India 2%
• Netherlands, Italy, France and Australia 1%
   

BP’s pressroom translators will need to steel themselves for abuse being hurled in a number of languages. English speakers demand the most attention with 94% of mentions, followed by German at 2% and Dutch, Portuguese, French and Spanish each accounting for 1% of mentions.

Interestingly, the attack on BP is predominately being driven through Twitter, with 55% of all mentions originating on the social networking site.

 BP is facing an astronomically high cleanup bill, a plummeting share price and a ever-growing negative online sentiment against the company. The stress of it all must be taking its toll on Tony Hayward, BP’s CEO. I’m sure he felt like he needed to take some time out. And what better way to do that than taking a leisurely cruise in your £182,000 Farr 52 racing yacht around Isle of Wight, off the coast of southern England. I suppose he had to choose England. After all, it’s not like he could set sail in the Gulf of Mexico, not with all that oil around.