BP slips out of the top 100 brands

In a recent report on best global brands 2010, BP fell out of the top 100 rankings after being on the list for nine years.".

Coca-Cola topping the list for the eleventh straight year as they consistently perform very well, online and offline.

The Top 10 (value in millions)

1. Coca-Cola $70,452

2. IBM $64,727

3. Microsoft $60,895

4. Google $43,557

5. GE $42,808

6. McDonald's $33,578

7. Intel $32,015

8. Nokia $29,495

9. Disney $28,731

10. H-P $26,867



BP on the other hand failed to remain on the list after the oil spill incident. I feel that it is not the crisis that actually out them out of the top 100 list, but rather the way they handled the crisis.

They failed to give a clear direction on where BP is going in the long term. In terms of strategies and tactics used during the oil spill, it is clear that they obviously did not handle the situation well, and yet they tried to cover some of the facts, which will lead to a loss of trust.

Brands are build on trust and relationship. When you lie about something, and there is no transparency when a crisis happens, people tend to speculate and the results are much worse than the truth itself. (see Tiger Woods Case) The damage to the brand is often not considered when strategies are formulated, and it does cost the company billions and a long time to repair the damage.

Companies are only as good as the people that work for them. Giving a clear vision to people inside and out is very important to them right now. BP was unable to give a clear direction, and it makes the employees uneasy, and it is hard to perform well if the future is uncertain.

In contrast to BP, Toyota was able to better manage its recall scandal, although the carmaker did drop to number 11 in the rankings vs. number 8 in 2009.

With Digital Media getting more popular, it is important to manage and engage with the public as comments online can influence people when they are making decisions. News are happening almost in real time, and time to respond to crisis is shorten drastically.

Getting your presence on social media, and building a good base of supporters is a good way to help brands build trust and support, and in turn it may help too in times of crisis.

-- Robin Low