Obama vs BP: what a PR fight!

I am really impressed by the way both Barack Obama and BP executives are trying to manage the crisis of the Gulf of Mexico. They are both facing an immense challenge: to win the opinion battle.

On one side, Barack Obama has to demonstrate that he is able to manage an enormous crisis. On the other side, BP has to demonstrate its ability to take its responsibilities in order to solve the problem and compensate for the dammages. Both want to save some of their image attributes and it is a giant public relations battle.

We all remember how hurricane Katrina damaged the perception of the Bush presidency in the US. Obama remembers it and he needs to be appear fully concerned. Unlike his predecessor, he travelled quickly onsite and came back several times (he has planed another trip these days). He multiplied the addresses to Americans and he is about to give a speech to the nation, the kind of speech that is dedicated to very exceptional situations (ie. Wars, terrorism,...). Beyond the efforts of its administration to help the citizens, it is obvious that he is managing a PR fight where the enemy is BP.

BP is working hard to appear as an organization that faces its responsibilities and that is fully committed to find a solution, no matter how much it may cost. Everybody is on board and all executives are maintaining a communication flow to demonstrate the ongoing efforts of the entire company to fix the oil spill. BP has no choice. It has been accused since the beginning. In his very first speech, Barack Obama has clearly stated: "BP will pay."

The U.S. administration has then created a second fight. It is not only to fight against the oil, but the purpose is also to fight against BP to demonstrate the effectiveness of the authority.

Hopefully, they will stop oil. But there is no doubt in my opinion that either Obama or BP will loose the second fight.