spacer

Home > Business Continuity Resources > Business Continuity Case Studies > BP Oil Spill > Transcript - Martin Langford

BP Oil Spill Transcript

Interview Transcript - Margin Langford on the BP Oil Spill from a Crisis Communications perspective

Iris: So, Martin, as a crisis communications expert what did you think overall of BP's handling of the situation?

Martin: Well from an operation point of view they did as well as they possibly could. They put a lot resource, a lot of financial resource and expert resource into capping the well, which they finally did, as you would expect from a company with this strong engineering background. They did pretty well from that perspective.

From a communications perspective though, they were not far from appauling, because this whole crisis has been characterized by comments such as, from Tony Hayward, "I would like my life back." Then another comment trying to put the whole issue into perspective, "the amount of oil and dispersants we are putting in the ocean is tiny in relation to the total water volume, which of course the media wrote up as, "BP Chief says the oil spill is just a drop in the ocean."

Then, you know, it's trying to rescue this situation, BP's chairman comes back and says, "We care about the small people. Because oil companies don't have a reputation for this, but we care about the small people." Each of those comments are totally and utterly inappropriate to the severity of the situation BP found themselves in.

Iris: Now, Martin, speaking of reputation in your opinion what kind of reputational damage has been done to BP?

Martin: Well I think that's frankly the most significant issue of all. I mean the billions they're going to have to spend on clean up is probably, in comparison to reputational damage that they suffered, not just in the US but around the world, because the whole handling of the situation has become almost a catalog of how not to do it, communications-wise. And the reputation with no question has had very severe damage.

When President Obama comes out and says, "I couldn't employ that guy. I wouldn't employ that guy. That guy should be fired," that says something ...

[laughter]

... when he takes it so personal.

But I think it will be a long time before BP is trusted as a business partner, BP is trusted as a company to do business for governments around the world. To say, "Oh, this is a first. This is uncharted territory. We've never drilled so deep before," that is far from a reassuring answer.

Iris: And, Martin, what are your thoughts on how Tony Hayward appeared in front of the press?

Martin: Tony Hayward is a spokesperson, and as criticized roundly for a lot of the things he said. It was also the way he looked, because he has this enigmatic smile that is there when they're talking about the worst of news or the best of news, and he doesn't seem to be able to turn it off. So, to say Tony Hayward can look serious and concerned about all the life either that has been lost, or put in jeopardy because of BP, I'm afraid he just doesn't look as if he cares.

Continue reading:

Go back: