Thursday, April 14, 2005
Clay Timon - Beyond Petroleum - CU Leeds School of Business Presentation
In my article titled Clay Timon - Retired Landor CEO - CU Marketing Presentation I discussed a company called Landor which helps other companies reposition their brand and ultimately keep from dying off as markets change. Clay Timon is a retired CEO from Landor who visited my Advertising and Promotion Marketing class at the Leeds School of Business at CU on April 14th. I wanted to do another article about Clay and one of the companies he worked with at Landor because I think a lot of people interact with this company. BPAmoco, which recently changed it's name to bp is one of the most widely recognized brands worldwide and the subject of this article.
Lets start off with a fun fact. There are more bp gas stations around the world than there are McDonalds outlets! Unfortunately, those dirty polluted gas stations represent what bp thinks of as "the old side" of the energy business. That's one of the main reasons bp has adopted a new tag line "beyond petroleum." Aside from just being dirty, one other problem has been waiting for bp (and other oil companies) for a long time and according to some estimates this problem may be realized within our lifetimes (I am 21...). Gasoline is running out, even Saudi Arabia, a country which continues to discover new oil resources and is believed to have one of the largest supplies of oil in the world estimates that it will run out within 65 years!
bp wants to continue supplying energy and if energy is changing then it will have to change too. Saudi Arabia, like bp, wants to continue being successful in terms of income. That means they are going to have to discover an alternative to oil. It is unknown how Saudi Arabia will continue its monetary success without oil but many countries who are in the same position are turning to tourism. This has begun to work in some situations, Dubai is one example of a city that wanted to become independent of oil and tourism has been their solution. In order for Saudi Arabia to attract tourists however, they will have to construct a lot more hotels, not just the ones reserved for "royals" that are currently in existence today. We will keep an eye on this situation, but for now, back to bp.
So if oil is running out and you are in the business of selling oil "energy" what should you do? bp has faced this question and decided to start moving towards alternatives. Sure they still sell oil at all those gas stations around the world but they have begun changing their image. They are positioning themselves as the "future of energy" and that's where Landor and Clay Timon come into the picture. Clay got to work with bp CEO John Browne to take the first steps in this transformation. Clay explained to my class that employees are one of the keys to success in shifting a brand identity. In the olden days companies didn't understand that employees are really a part of the brand, the employees interfaces directly with customers and it's sometimes easy for a CEO or COO to forget that. In order to begin the change, bp employees of all levels were asked three simple questions. What is it you do in your job that supports this new idea, what do you do that does not, and why not. Clay and John received a lot of "it's my boss's fault" responses, but the truth is it was their fault! The next step was to approach the "boss" and communicate the new vision. This program has been ongoing for sometime now and it includes more than just the employees but it is working. What really makes this successful at the employee level is the realization by workers that their concerns are being addressed, it really motivates them. Clay told our class that he believes nearly every employee at bp can describe at least part of the new "beyond petroleum" identity. They may not all have it perfect but the company is slowly turning in this new direction.
In order to further motivate employees of the changing image and service that bp is becoming physical changes are beginning to take shape all over the world at every bp petroleum outlet. These gas stations still serve as bp's primary income but when gas runs out bp needs to be prepared. New fuel types are the product solution and bp is working on that. Differentiation is the consumer solution to getting people to identify bp as the leader in energy. New bp gas stations feature a clean white look with a green "energy helio" logo (which looks a bit like a flower). These two upgrades give the company a new look and also support the idea of bp as being a successful company which can afford new technology. Digital pumps where you can pay at the pump are becoming more common, and bp certainly has these but what bp has that others don't is solar power. New bp stations cover their gas pump canopies (the roof over the gas pumps) with solar panels that actually provide enough energy to completely run the pump! The goal is to provide all the energy needed to run the entire station someday. To cap it all off BPAmoco has adopted the "beyond petroleum" tagline as discussed earlier and simplified or "purified" thier name to bp. The tagline really communicates that bp is committed "beyond" the current age of gasoline and into future cleaner sources of energy.
One of the biggest keys to bp's success has been working hands on with every level of employee. Group sessions are small and employee concerns are taken seriously. bp makes it all work because their new image is backed with actions like the solar pumps and investments into new technology. As an environment conscious gasoline user myself, I have noticed the bp campaign and it has had an affect on my consumer behaviors. bp has a great website that really communicates the movement towards simple, efficient, pure sources of future energy at: http://www.bp.com/
One last note. Certainly bp isn't perfect, Greenpeace refers to them as "burning the planet" rathar than beyond petroleum but I am convinced that a positive effort by bp to move towards a cleaner tomorrow (even if it is mostly marketing at this point) is better than nothing. Sure they spent a lot on the new image, the logo, the branding etc. but you have to spend money to make money and it's hard to lead change in a distribution channel oriented industry unless you are a current leader in the industry to begin with.
I want to thank Clay Timon once again for his outstanding presentation at the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business and I look forward to the transformation that bp is striving for to provide energy beyond petroleum.
I want to thank Clay Timon once again for his outstanding presentation at the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business and I look forward to the transformation that bp is striving for to provide energy beyond petroleum.
posted by Court @ 4:59 PM
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