1. Crisis Communication & Social Media – A Simulation Game
Learning Experience
(International Summer University Program 2013 – Copenhagen
Business School)
Crisis
Communication:
The BP Oil Spill

2. The Crisis – Explained & Analysed
o Overview of the Crisis – Timeline p. 4
o Stakeholdermap p. 6
o Results/outcomes of the crisis p. 7
o BP’s Crisis Plan p. 8
o Aftermath for BP p. 9
The Crisis Simulation Game
o Q&A Questions p. 11
• White House Representatives p. 11
• BP Media & Social Media Representatives p. 12
• Sierra Club & Greenpeace Representatives p. 13
• Local Representatives p. 14
o Our Experience of the Q&A-Session p. 15
o Social Media Training p. 16
o Learning Outcomes p. 18
o References p. 20
Table of Contents

3. Explained & Analysed
The Crisis

4. 20 April: An explosion at aboard the Oil Rig Deepwater Horizon kills 11 workers.
22 April: the Deepwater Horizon sinks into the ocean.
26 April: BP’s first effort to stop the spill, by activating the blowout preventer. – effort failed
28 April: The spill is claimed to become the worst in US history.
30 April: Despite efforts to stop the oil from reaching the shore; oil starts washing ashore at the
coast of Louisiana. Obama names BP America responsible for the damages.
2 May: Obama’s first trip to the Gulf Coast.
8 May: BP’s second effort to stop the spill, using a giant metal box to contain the oil. – Effort
failed
10 May: BP’s third effort to stop the spill, pumping debris/junk into the well in order to clog the
wellhead. – Effort failed
11 May: BP, Transocean and Halliburton blames each other for the disaster.
14 May: The amount of oil leaking from the well is proved to be much greater than first
estimated.
-Continued...
Timeline 2010

5. 26 May: BP’s fourth effort to stop the spill, using the method ’Top Kill’. –
Effort failed
2 June: The US announces a criminal inquiry into the BP oil spill.
4 June: BP places a cap atop the leaking wellhead. Which allows them to
pipe most of the oil and gas onto ships on the surface.
17 June: BP announces it will place $20bn in a fund to compensate victims
of the oil spill and says it will not pay a shareholder dividend this year.
6 July: Oil from the spill reaches Texas, meaning it has affected all five US
Gulf Coast states.
4 August: The US government says three-quarters of the oil spilled in the
Gulf has been cleaned up or broken down by natural forces.
19 September: The ruptured well is finally sealed and "effectively dead‚.
Timeline - Continued

6. Stakeholder Map
BP
(Deepwater
Horizon)
BBC
The White
House
The Sierra
Club
Greenpeace
Local
Communities
BP Media
BP Social
Media

7. • Ongoing negative effect on the
environment and wildlife
• Ongoing negative effect on the
local communities vis a vis
economy and health
• Reputation of BP impacted
negatively
• Expenditures of $40 billion in
the aftermath of the Deepwater
Horizon.
• 11 deaths caused by the
Deepwater Horizon explosion.
Results/Outcomes of the
Crisis

8. • The original BP Crisis plan was
out of date
• The original BP Crisis plan was
needlessly complicated (582
pages)
• The ‘Deepwater Horizon’-part of
the crisis plan was only 52 out of
the 582 pages
• The BP Crisis plan was not as
accessible as it should have
been, or as well understood by
everyone involved as it should
have been.
BP’s Crisis Plan

9. • BP won the Consumerist ‛Worst Company in America‛
award in 2011
• Three Years Later: 43% of Americans have an
unfavourable view of BP (another 43% claimed to have a
favourable view of BP) according to a Huffington Post /
YouGov poll
• BP has spent billions of dollars on recovery after the
Deepwater Horizon disaster
Aftermath for BP

10. From BP America Stakeholder:
BBC’s Point of View
The Crisis Simulation
Game

11. • The reason we asked this was
to find a relevant question as
to how the White House could
have helped prevent a disaster
such as the Deepwater
Horizon. This kind of question
might open up possibilities for
debate about big business and
regulation in America.
Reason for, and Analysis of
Question:
• ” Is this the kind of disaster which
must take place in order for the
United States to pass more laws on
regulation of big business, and oil
companies in particular?”
For the White House
Representatives:
Q&A Questions

12. • We asked this question of BP Media
because of the poor initial handling
of the crisis, including the somewhat
unlucky statement by then CEO
Tony Hayward about wanting his
life back.
• The social media department of BP
seemed to be faring better in
interactions with angry consumers.
We wanted to know if activism
staged on the social media had any
effect on BP.
Reason for, and Analysis of
Question:
• “Was BP properly prepared to interact with
the media in an event such as the Deepwater
Disaster? How could BP Media have handled
the situation better?”
• “How did social media protests against your
organization pan out? Did the protests
influence BP and / or its modus operandi in
any meaningful way?”
For BP Media & Social Media
Representatives:
Q&A Questions

13. • The first question was relevant in
order to highlight some of the things
BP might have done properly, as
apposed to the constant criticism of
BP’s actions. Furthermore, BBC had
been accused of one-sided
journalism, not showing BP’s point
of view.
• The second question was relevant in
order to have GreenPeace take
responsibility for their sometimes
violent plans of action.
Reason for, and Analysis of
Question:
• “In the aftermath of this horrific event,
how has co-operating with BP been?”
• “Do you feel that your involvement in
the Deepwater Disaster aftermath
reflects on the fact that you signed an
Accountability Charter?”
For the Sierra Club &
Greenpeace Representatives:
Q&A Questions

14. • This question was
relevant in order to
uncover how well BP’s
actions were received in
the local communities
that were affected by the
disaster.
Reason for, and Analysis of
Question:
• “How has BP handled the aftermath of
the Deepwater Disaster? Is the support
to local mental health centres and the
research group lead by Associate
Professor Stefan Schulenberg helpful to
the recovery of the local community and
environment?”
For the Local
Representatives:
Q&A Questions

15. Q&A-session in General:
o Overall there were good, well-prepared
questions and good answers.
o The variety of questions was greater than
expected
o It was clear that everybody’s focus had been
on preparing questions to other stakeholders,
more so than answers to questions.
Q&A-session from BBC Stakeholder
Point of View:
o As we were representing BBC it was most
important for us to prepare answers about
ethics and morality in journalism.
o The questions were more of a general nature,
and not as in depth as the other groups’.
Our Experience of the
Q&A-session

16. • BP America tries to frame ‘the
Good Story’
• Their general approach is to
inform the public of how great
a place BP is to work
• BP America advertises their
engagement in local
communities
Social Media Training

17. • All mentioning of the Oil
Spill is answered with links
to their homepage about the
Gulf Coast restoration
process:
http://www.bp.com/en/glob
al/corporate/gulf-of-mexico-
restoration.html – turning
negativity into a positive
progress.
Our Question to BP America:
Social Media Training -
Continued

18. Learning Outcomes

19. Learning Outcomes -
Continued

20. • Anthonissen, P. F. (2008). Crisis Communication - Practical PR Strategies for Reputation Management and Company
Survival. London: Kogan Page.
• BBC. (8. February 2012). NEWS BP Oil Disaster. Hentet fra www.bbc.co.uk:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special_reports/oil_disaster/
• BBC. (19. September 2010). News US & Canada. Hentet fra www.bbc.co.uk: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-
canada-10656239
• Smith, D., & Elliott, D. (2006). Key Readings in Crisis Management. Oxon: Routledge.
• Ulmer, R. R., Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2011). Effective Crisis Communication - Moving from Crisis to
Opportunity. London: Sage Publications.
• White, C. M. (2012). Social Media, Crisis Communication, and Emergency Management. Taylor & Francis Group.
• Wikipedia. (2013). Journalism Ethics & Standards. Hentet fra www.wikipedia.org:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism_ethics_and_standards
• www.biasedbbc.org. (2010). anti-BP. pro-Obama. Hentet fra www.biasedbbc.org:
http://biasedbbc.org/blog/category/anti-bp-pro-obama/
References

21. Anaab Begum, Bsc. in Global Business Engineering, DTU: Technical University of Denmark
(@Anbe90 )
Iqrah Afzal, Bsc. in Global Business Engineering, DTU: Technical University of Denmark
(@Iqrah01)
Maimona Afzal, Bsc. in Global Business Engineering, DTU: Technical University of Denmark
Mikkel Zangenberg, BA in English & International Business Communication,
Copenhagen Business School (@MinitruDK)
Stine Kyhn, BA in English & Organisational Communication, Copenhagen Business School (@Stin3K)
Instructor: Betty Tsakarestou, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University,
Greece (@tsakarestou)
Academic Director: Patricia Plackett, Department of Operations Management at CBS (www.cbs.dk)
Academic Writers