What did BP do wrong?

I mean, apart from the obvious.

Clearly the company failed at times to take proper safety precautions, valuing cost savings over safety, according to a number of critics. As a result of the Gulf accident, 11 people lost their lives; the gulf shrimp and fishing industry has been crippled; many families have paid a tremendous price; thousands of miles of coastline have been damaged. Recovery may take decades.

It’s a heartbreaking story, of course. But that’s not why I’m writing about it here. The BP mess also provides an important lesson in branding. It reveals the importance of aligning message and action.

A recent article by TalentZoo provides insight into how message and action became disconnected at BP:

“Branding is all about creating alignment of your company’s business processes with its corporate culture. British Petroleum (BP) provides a case in point of a brand that got way out front of its business process and culture to produce tremendous exposure to risk.”

Let’s unpack those statements a little…

Branding is all about creating alignment of your company’s business processes with its corporate culture.

A company’s corporate culture is ultimately an expression of its values, a reflection of the company’s beliefs and ideals. For example, how does it value profit relative to employees? Does it value revenue over sustainability? Does it value transparency, openness, and trust above market share? How does it balance social responsibility with shareholder value? Where do customers fit in the company’s value system? Those are the kinds of questions that get at the heart of a company’s corporate culture.

Business processes, in this case, is really about behavior. Is there alignment between the company’s actions and the values it discusses in its annual report? Does the company act on its principles? Or is there a disconnect? A lot of companies, for example, talk about being customer-centric; but when you call them to get help, does the person who answers the phone attempt to resolve your problem to your satisfaction and show you that you’re important to them?

BP provides a case in point of a brand that got way out front of its business process and culture to produce tremendous exposure to risk.

What the author of this article is referring to here is BP’s ad campaign and brand strategy, “Beyond Petroleum,” which it launched in July 2000 as an attempt to project an image of the company as environmentally responsible, dedicated to alternative energy sources, fundamentally a “green” company. The problem, as the author suggests, is that these values were at best stretching the truth.

You might argue that BP was doing what every company does in its ad campaigns: projecting an image of itself that the company hopes will influence how people perceive it. Isn’t that what branding is all about?

Indeed, that is how many marketing organizations operate – but it’s a misunderstanding of the true purpose of branding. And it’s a risky approach.

It’s risky because it can backfire and create distrust. For example, when you talk about yourself as being concerned about the environment, but you do things like cutting corners in safety and even paying off inspectors to avoid fines, your message may come back to haunt you.

People lose faith in your company. They realize your message doesn’t align with your company’s true values, and they see your marketing message as hollow and insincere.

How do you avoid this situation?

Start by taking a hard look at at what you do, who you are, and why that matters. “Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself what you stand for,” says Rodger Roeser, president of Cincinnati-based Eisen Management Group, a public-relations and brand-development firm.

After you figure out what you really stand for, what values you hold as an organization, tell that story. Base your message on that idea. When you do that well, your message will ring true with your external audiences as well as with your employees.

If you really are a responsible steward of the environment, if that truly is a core value for your company, you won’t create the kind of disaster that BP did. And when a disaster does occur, one that’s truly beyond your control, you’ll respond to it in a way that demonstrates genuine concern – and doesn’t sound like a press release.