Oil Watchdog

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Chevron Oil decided it wanted to win points
with the public late last month, so it rolled out the red carpet on a
lushly produced TV, print and online campaign and gave the marketing
industry a great lesson in what not to do.

The anchor ad was two-an-a-half minutes long, chock full of
sweeping aerial shots filmed in more than 13 countries and ran on CBS’
60 Minutes.

The core message in the $15 million "The power of human energy"
campaign is that Chevron is not made of "corporate titans, but men and
women of vision." But ad campaigns like this are exactly how corporate
titans talk to the masses. Anyone in Chevron’s organization with half
an ounce of vision would have noticed that the world of communications
has changed lately; to persuade people, you don’t read platitudes from
the mountaintop anymore.

Almost as quickly as the ad hit the airwaves, the bloggers and
commentators were shaking their heads over Chevron’s arrogance and
crying "Greenwash." Not exactly the outcome that Chevron wanted after
spending $15 million to achieve the opposite. And it wasn’t the fringe
element doing the talking. In his Businessweek.com blog, David Kiley
wrote, "the effort has a refreshing tone of frankness while at the same
time espousing mission-statement-like bromides about conservation and
responsible exploration that many an environmentalist could argue with.
Not corporate titans?. …this line is ridiculous. Executives who make
hundreds of millions of dollars are rich corporate titans. And I think
most gas-pumping consumers who have never met one will have a hard time
swallowing this one."

Jamie Court on the Huffingon Post, wrote, "Chevron’s latest
advertising campaign is a classic study in how large rogue corporations
try to show themselves as having a soul and human meaning."

Not surprisingly, the environmental activist crowd had a field
day. A column in The Daily KOS (with 600,000 visitors a day) took the
opportunity — while bashing the Chevron ads — to remind people of the
anti-SUV messages secreted in the user-generated ads for the Chevy
Tahoe and share some of those videos, which the oil and auto companies
no doubt wish would just go away.

Watching the hubbub, I have a few observations.

First, self-awareness is a wonderful thing. Chevron should know
it is Big Oil, with Big Oil-generated profits. It should also
appreciate that people are spending a lot of money at the gas pump
these days, so they are not in great moods.

BP tried this route back in 2000 before blogs and search
engines gave critics the reach and the teeth they have today. BP
re-branded itself and launched its global "Beyond Petroleum" campaign,
trumpeting its support for alternative energy sources. The ongoing ads
and sunny green-and-yellow logo aim to set it apart from the other
"dirty" oil companies, like Chevron. But over time, those same ads have
been used to bludgeon the company in the press and blogosphere for
every anti-environmental step BP has taken, including the company’s
2005 lobbying push in Washington, D.C., to allow greenhouse emissions
to continue and its 2007 efforts to dump more refinery toxins into Lake
Michigan.

Sometimes it’s better to keep your brand profile low and
actually take actions that reinforce your message rather than preach
about your new identity.

To Chevron: What makes you think you should be the teacher?
Perhaps a single parent who can’t afford to get her car tuned so it
uses less gas could teach you a thing or two. In a digital age in which
the online public has a channel to discuss your every move as much as
they want, it is a good idea to think twice about grabbing the lectern.
Expect push-back.

Second, if your message is that you are not a pompous corporate
entity, then don’t act like one. Before starting such a
reputation-burnishing "educational" effort, ask yourself, "If we were
an uncaring corporation, what would we do to convince people that we
aren’t one?" Then don’t do that. Chevron is telling us it is not Big
Oil, but then acts in precisely the way a greenwashing Big Oil outfit
would act.

All brands, including oil brands, should remember a key
communications fundamental, since they are now in a give-and-take
conversation: Honest people don’t tell you they are honest, visionaries
don’t need to tell you they have vision and caring organizations don’t
keep telling you how much they care.

Expensive ads won’t convince people how fair and reasonable you
are; such efforts only underscore that you have plenty of money to
spend on expensive ads.

Chevron: Think about the company you’re keeping. Otherwise you’ve lost the argument before you’ve opened your mouth.