The two different incidents, that is, the Queensland flood and British Petroleum deepwater horizon are both notable. The two incidents have resulted in huge destruction of the resources as well as people’s lives. The British Petroleum deepwater horizon oil rig exploded tremendously in the year 2012, which killed approximately eleven people. Moreover, around three quarters of the state was being declared as highly disaster prone area, in between December 2012 and January 2011, due to catastrophic floods. Over thirty five people were lost due to this and the corporation and contractors were accountable for the explosion of British Petroleum and oil spill. On the contrary, the flood at Queensland was considered as an “Act of God.” As a result, nobody was being held responsible for the Queensland disaster.
The public in the case of BP disaster were mainly the customers, government officials, employees, contractors, dead employees as well as their family, British Petroleum’s stakeholders, congressmen, marine ecosystem, oil industry, equity markets, insurance companies, fisher folk and others who directly and indirectly got hugely affected by this tragic event. Moreover, the Queensland disaster’s public were the transportation system, Theodore town, Brisbane city, telecommunication, insurance companies, livestock, mining industries, banking industries, government machinery, emergency response teams, fishing communities as well as others who directly and indirectly got affected by the disastrous flood (John Gleeson 2014).
On segmenting and prioritizing the publics of the two incidents, it is important to consider the extent of the disaster and the initiatives as well as responsibilities undertaken by the organization. The management team of the company has considered the discharge of methane gas and also utilized this specific technique to clear all the menace approaching with the toxic dispersant. In addition to this, the publics were actually being linked with destructive effects of the dispersed toxic that in turn, caused severe consequences to the localities and nearby population as well. Individuals residing at those zones suffered from severe chest pain, injury in their internal organs, vomiting, headaches and more. The health department released several reports on these issues, which is considered to be on the top most priority. The disastrous flood in Queensland caused huge damage but however, it did not have the same concern level as it was being regarded as the “Act of God.” The overall policy was being employed, which diverted the population. Additionally, the oversight approvals of leadership and the regulatory were in full control (Macnamara 2012).
Both the disastrous incidents caused huge trouble to the internal and external publics as well. In order to prioritize the segments that got affected by the incident of British Petroleum, it is important to consider the internal part as well as the external periphery of the organization. This includes the financial institutes, deceased employees, family members who were completely dependent on them, fishing community, front line employees, ecosystem where the incident occurred, administration officials, media, business associates, local and federal government, top project management teams, stakeholders, general public, coastline which got affected, customers, action groups and others. On the other hand, the flood at Queensland was considered as an “Act of God” or nature. The officials of the government could have easily ensured on-time operations as well as executed some plans for combating with the tragic incident. The inhabitants of the area got affected, local markets, farming community got destroyed and the infrastructures got damaged. The priority was to provide the citizens who got impacted with medical assistance, foods and accommodation (Kitchen 1999).
A leader is known for his/her skills and qualities to combat with any crisis. The way he motivates his/her team members, gives an overview of his/her abilities. Hayward, the leader of British Petroleum used a specific approach.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh used a different approach for the crisis moment.
Both the instances portrayed about inappropriate measures, which led to the company’s further destruction of image.
The corporate image is defined as a mental picture that is created regarding an organization. It is completely dependent on the overall individual’s insight or what he/she feels regarding the organization. The corporate reputation is considered to be a public picture that clearly defines the abilities, disabilities and qualities of an organization. However, a particular organization’s corporate image can be good but its overall reputation may be bad among its publics. According to the management of public relations, the organization can utilize conscious ways of using the mass and social media, for maintaining their corporate image. In addition to this, with the advent of digital platform, any organization can utilize this media form to create or maintain a better corporate image (Culbertson and Chen 2013). Such initiatives help in building a good corporate reputation as well.
Organizations build good corporate image as well as manage it. It helps in creating a better impression on the minds of the customers. In addition to this, such methods help in associating those particular organizations with their customers. However, the companies need to maintain those by building a good image. The satisfaction and expectations of the customers are directly proportional to the goodwill of the company. Corporate sales and positive image may take much time to get produced. In addition to this, a corporate reputation may get affected as it is a bit frail in nature. For example, any act that is not in conformity with the image and reputation are the usage of health hazardous chemicals in eatable items or products like rumors of Maggie (Cutlip 2013).
Moreover, the corporate reputation can be considered as collective concepts that are being hold by the public about that organization. On the contrary, corporate image are the collective visuals, cognitive and emotional associations that is being hold by the public about the company. The corporate reputation is regarded as a concept that covers the viewpoints of the customers, communities, regulators, partners and employees regarding any business. This may extend far beyond to the way the customers are going to accept the brand and choose it for them. For example; the company’s reputation can have an impact on their financial stability as well as the capital costs. On the contrary, the corporate image is more alert with its marketing factors such as feelings of the consumers, their experiences and brand recognition (Cutlip 2013).
The explosion was considered as the segregation of the mistakes which was committed before the fatal incident took place. It was immensely important for the Public Relations personnel to handle the situation, without any further mistakes. However, being the CEO of BP, I would have taken some proactive methods for combating with the crisis situation. I would have been more vigilant as well as attentive regarding the data that was getting leaked. It was important to take appropriate care of the internal and external publics of the organization. Hiding or concealing facts will never yield positive outcomes (Dozier, Grunig and Grunig 2013). Therefore, it falls under my responsibility to notify the employees, stakeholders and administration of the company, regarding the crisis situation. In addition to this, it is my duty to inform the rescue team beforehand. Furthermore, media plays a major role in any crisis situation (Grunig 2013). So, in order to save the company’s reputation, I would have informed the media personnel beforehand.
Apart than these, I would have also ensured that the announcements made in front of the media are quite compassionate as well as apologizing. The silly mistake made by the company was that its leader was misleading the public with wrong information. It should be always kept in mind that being arrogant is never the solution. Furthermore, the cultural nuances were needed to be taken care in the most responsible way. So, being the CEO of the company, it is my duty to take care of the management team in a sensible manner for dealing with such sensitive issues. It falls under my duty to be more conscious about such situations, so that it does not malign the image of the organization, any further. If more sensible initiatives were taken beforehand, then such crisis would not have occurred. It is immensely important to have a vigilant and trustworthy team, for being more equipped and prepared to deal with emergencies. Companies should come up as fighters rather than running away like cowards (Guth and Marsh 2016).
It is important to mention that there is barely any major distinction between corporate reputation and corporate image. The corporate image is considered to be more of a cognitive image which a person draws regarding a particular enterprise. It is mainly done based on the available data that he/she manages to gather from public. The corporate reputation, on the contrary, is regarded as the company’s abilities and qualities. To maintain a good image, it is important for the public relations personnel to use mass and social media consciously. The total summation of these images is referred to as the reputation of a company. It is evident from the fact that there is a thin line of difference between both the corporate image and reputation (Heath 2013).
In recent days, digital media acts as a very powerful mode of portraying a positive picture of any company. Along with the assistance of these built images, the companies can easily form a positive perception in the minds of the public. Non paid measures are more used in such cases, for publicizing the company. Such measures include; house journals, video clips or press releases which are being uploaded at free portals such as YouTube, Facebook and more. Adopting such ways can help in improving as well as increasing the publicity of any company’s events. Furthermore, it can be said that through such promotional activities the company can achieve huge returns (Hendrix, Hayes and Kumar 2012).
The reputation of a company is basically a play of these corporate images. If these images are put together in an interesting manner, it has the power of attracting many and if it goes wrong, the whole situation will spoil the entire business. This is referred as pragmatic operational model. Considering the case of British Petroleum, it is seen that the publicity run was wrong and it resulted into devastating outcomes. The company’s reputation was marred in few seconds. The company had a very good image, after years of consistent services, but the devastating event changed people’s perception about the company. It takes many years to bring back any company’s reputation, if it gets ruined once (Hinson 2012).
The example of an organization taken in this scenario is Odwalla Foods Company of the Washington State. The company has its worst nightmare at the time, when the state got linked with an outbreak of e-coli. The rumors were, Odwalla’s unpasteurized apple juice was affected by the outbreak and the company was keeping on producing it. The entire incident caught media attention and the outcome was severe. The Chief Executive Officer of the organization, Stephen Williamson promised to offer the impacted ones with medical costs as well as compensations. The organization spent their next few weeks in building a better image as well as reputation. They focused on various means such as, conducting press conferences, advertising and more. However, the measures went in vein because of their ineffective public relations practitioners (Kent 2013).
The company lost their battles against the media claims and it resulted in enormous losses. Gradually, the organization was being overtaken by Coca Cola Food Company as they bought Odwalla for around 186 million dollars, in 2001. The company’s image got depleted such extent that it became difficult for them to restore the reputation, even after years of service. It is evident from the fact that due to such stupidity of the public relations practitioner the organization lost their brand value and image. The company could have taken some necessary steps for regaining the trust of the customers. It does not matter, what the situation is, companies must always keep their public relations practitioners at place (Kunczik 2016).
The Odwalla Company lost its battle because of ineffective public relations managers. It is immensely crucial for any organization, be it small or big, to have their public relations manager at place for dealing with such crisis situations. The company should have easily taken some steps for producing the original reports in front of the media. They could have tied their strings with the FDA and produced authentic reports; those were in favor with the company (Olasky 2013). In addition to this, the organization should have conveyed the true facts, without any fabrication. This could have taken the situation on a different level. Furthermore, the CEO of the company could have been sympathetic. However, sales did fall at that crisis moment, but effective management skills could have been advantageous for the organization on the long run (Newsom, Turk and Kruckeberg 2012).
An organization builds its corporate image and reputation after providing to its customers with years of consistent services. The corporate communications, corporate branding, public relations and others are regarded to be the most crucial branches for any organization’s success or betterment. This concept is a bit fragile in nature and any mistake can mar it anytime. It takes several years for a company to build its image and reputation, but silly mistakes and wrong decisions can malign it in few seconds. Therefore, the company should handle such situations and appoint skilled public relations managers for dealing with such dangerous situations.
References
Austin, E.W. and Pinkleton, B.E., 2015. Strategic public relations management: Planning and managing effective communication campaigns (Vol. 10). Routledge.
Coombs, W.T. and Holladay, S.J., 2013. It’s not just PR: Public relations in society. John Wiley & Sons.
Culbertson, H.M. and Chen, N., 2013. International public relations: A comparative analysis. Routledge.
Cutlip, S.M., 2013. Public relations history: From the 17th to the 20th century: The antecedents. Routledge.
Cutlip, S.M., 2013. The unseen power: Public relations: A history. Routledge.
Dozier, D.M., Grunig, L.A. and Grunig, J.E., 2013. Manager’s guide to excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge.
Grunig, J.E. ed., 2013. Excellence in public relations and communication management. Routledge.
Guth, D.W. and Marsh, C., 2016. Public relations: A values-driven approach. Pearson.
Heath, R.L. ed., 2013. Encyclopedia of public relations. Sage Publications.
Hendrix, J.A., Hayes, D.C. and Kumar, P.D., 2012. Public relations cases. Cengage Learning.
Hinson, M.D., 2012. Examining how social and emerging media have been used in public relations between 2006 and 2012: A longitudinal analysis. Public Relations Review.
John Gleeson, D., 2014. Public relations education in Australia, 1950-1975. Journal of Communication Management, 18(2), pp.193-206.
Kent, M.L., 2013. Using social media dialogically: Public relations role in reviving democracy. Public Relations Review, 39(4), pp.337-345.
Kitchen, P.J., 1999. Marketing communications: Principles and practice. Cengage Learning EMEA.
Kunczik, M., 2016. Images of nations and international public relations. Routledge.
Macnamara, J., 2012. The global shadow of functionalism and Excellence Theory: An analysis of Australasian PR. Public Relations Inquiry, 1(3), pp.367-402.
Newsom, D., Turk, J. and Kruckeberg, D., 2012. Cengage Advantage Books: This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations. Cengage Learning.
Olasky, M.N., 2013. Corporate public relations: A new historical perspective. Routledge.
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