The new BP – Beyond Petroleum again?

6 August 2010

This week BP is finally putting the cork into the earth and it can investigate how much damage the largest oil spill in history has done. The question is whether and how the brand can be saved.

Instead of being the enlightened brand of innovative and responsible oil production, it chose a decade for an artificial brand positioning as an element of its business strategy. BP was supposedly looking ahead to new energies, and positioned itself as “beyond petroleum” without actually doing it. Not very wise.

Perhaps the optimists at BP see this as a new chance. But before they start with a rebranding the framing question is; what went wrong? Hopefully they’ll go back to it’s vision and values and be responsible and creative to find back confidence in an exceptional way.

Do you have examples of BP's new energies of the future? Please let us know at CreatingTrustville.org or read more about new opportunities in our manifesto.

Image: Greenpeace UK