Ch. 17 - Advertising and Public Relations

Bp standing for ''Beyond Petroleum'' was founded in Britain. The first ad for Bp ''Motor Spirit'' appeared in the UK in the 1920's, when driving was only enjoyed by the wealthy. So therefore, when Bp was first getting started there were very little advertising planning because there were hardly any drivers to advertise to. The 1930's and 40's car ownership in Britain became more affordable so that now Bp advertising plans were able to take a much more wider appeal, with eye catching illustration to give new drivers imaginations; with ideas for exciting places they might go in their new automobile.

Service with a Smurf’ 

In the 1960's and 70's, Gas station's in Europe had stiff competition, and brands offered some unusual extras to attract customers. Bp stations in Netherlands gave customers a free ''Smurfs'' figurine with every fuel purchase. The smurfs, the creation of Belgian Cartoonist, had been enjoying a growing, underground celebrity in Europe.Using with the Book state's as common appeals, in the use of 'Admiration' Bp called on well-liked celebrities to do its promotions like Stirling Moss the celebrated British race car driver. 

''Commitment''

As Bp worked to stop the oil leak in the Gulf Of Mexico, the company was also spending $50 million on television adversting. One advertisement featured CEO Tony Hayward apologizing for the spill and promising that Bp would pay for the cleanup without any tax payer dollars. Bp hoped to quell some of the anger against the company by positioning itself as a group that made a terrible mistake, but one that is working very hard to correct this mistake. Using the techniques of both product adversting and instutional adversting to get consumers to buy into there product. Focusing more on the identity of the company especially after various incidents that brought the company negative critics Bp had found themselves in the position to fix there image. After getting over sort of a hump in this time period Bp decided to be front runner's in promoting tourism back in the Gulf. It's tourism commercial had many states around the Gulf explain why should people come back to the vacationing areas. Stating that places like Alabama were back and better than ever so is Florida, Mississippi  and Louisiana . ''These ad are not just a lot of fun, but as evidenced by the record number of visitors in some areas, extremely effective at letting people know the Gulf Coast is still a premiere tourist destination ''said Mike Utsler, head of Bp's Gulf Coast Restoration organization. Taking advantage of the Internet as most company do Bp ran an online campaign, known as ''My Gulf'' series, featuring a variety of people who live and work in the Gulf.

Also as a part of the Gulf Coast Tourism commitment, Bp in 2010 provided a total of $87 million in block grants to the states. Adding another additional $97 million over a three year period for the states to use to promote tourism, this was and still is an essential part of the Gulf Coast economy. Local and State reports now indicate tourism is rebuilding in many areas across the Gulf. In the Florida Panhandle for example, tourism officials reported some of the best month's on record in 2011.