The document outlines a simulation role-playing exercise where students take on the roles of stakeholders in the 2010 BP oil spill crisis, including Greenpeace, BP, the media, and local communities. It covers analyzing the crisis situation, conducting a press conference with questioning between stakeholders, training on social media strategies used by different groups, and learning outcomes around crisis communication and engaging on social media platforms.

1. International Summer University Program
2013 - Copenhagen Business School
Crisis Communication and Social Media - A
Simulation Game Learning Experience
BP OIL SPILL CRISIS BY GREENPEACE

2. Table of Content
1. BP Oil Spill Situation Crisis Analysis 3
2. Press Conference and Media Training 6
3. Social Media Training 11
4. Social media learning outcomes 15
5. Good Practices: Parallels between CC and SM 17
6. Key Learning Outcomes 18
7. References 21
8. Presentation By 22

3. BP Oil Spill Crisis Situation
ANALYSIS
● First of all, the oil industry should not exist.
● BP is damaging our environment
When the Crisis happened
● Supporting independent scientists
● Investigation about the environmental damages
● Investigation about the crisis - how could it happen?
● Contacting the White House to get data/facts/photos.

4. · What are the key “stakes”/ issues/ challenges/ priorities that you face as BP oil spils
stakeholder
BP Oil Spill Crisis Situation
ANALYSIS
The key issues/challenges/priorities:
● Environmental damages
● Animal life
● Eco system
● Oil industry

5. BP Oil Spill Crisis Situation
ANALYSIS
How we intervened/acted after the oil spill environmental disaster
● Demonstrations against all oil rigs companies
● Actions against BP gas stations.
● Actions against BP and other oil firms - publicity - our values came out to the people
● We will keep our work against the oil companies/industry

6. Press Conference
Questions to Greenpeace during media conference:
● Have you used the crisis as an advantage?
● On their Facebook page, BP says that beaches in the gulf have never been cleaner. Do you agree with this
claim?
● You focus a lot of your efforts on the environmental damages, do you not think there are more important
aspects to this, such as damages to local businesses, communities and economic implications?

7. Media Training:
● The questions asked during the press conference was not at all as expected. We had prepared ourselves to
answer more critical questions, and though the other stakeholders, especially BP would try to accuse us of
making false accusations against them.
● Before the Press conference, we made research about Greenpeace and their position in this conflict. We
found it important to also search for negative publicity concerning Greenpeace, as we thought people at
the press conference might questioning our intentions.
● We did this as a way of preparing for all the questions we would be asked. Since there were only three
questions directed at us, we did not receive a question we were not able to answer. However, this scenario
was something that we had discussed before the media training and concluded that if there were questions
asked that we did not know the answer to, we would say that this was something we had to look deeper
into, and then get back to the one asking the question.
● We also found it important to attempt to lay out the perspective of the different stakeholders present at the
conference. By doing this we had an idea of which parties would act favourable and which ones would act
unfavourable to the problems and issues.

8. Press Conference
Our Questions for BP and other stakeholders:
The local community:
● Do you feel BP has done enough to cover the damage?
● Do you feel the White House has done enough to cover the damage?
● How can we together help the damage done?
The White House
● Are you going to put up more regulations in the future?
● How are you going to make BP responsible for this?
BBC
Are you pleased with how you covered the story?
● Do you think the right angle came out to your readers?

9. Press Conference
Our Questions for BP and other stakeholders:
Sierra Club
● What have you done to help the damage?
● How can we work together to bring out a clear message about the world should be more green?
The BP Media Group
● It seems as though you are trying to buy yourself out of this crisis. Are you actually willing to take full
responsibility of this situation, and how will you do that?
The BP social media group
● The social media is the new media, how will you prove that you take responsibility for the crisis on the
social media, and how will you tackle the negative responses?

10. Media Training:
Before asking questions to BP and the various stakeholder groups, we found it important to:
● Make research on all represented parties
● - How did they relate to the issues, and what was their agenda?
● Think about what would Greenpeace benefit from knowing, then ask the questions
● Focus most on questions to BP, a way for us to ask questions to get some answers
● Media representatives was also important, since it if mostly through the media, Greenpeace makes people aware of the issues.
- Important for us, to retain a good relationship with the media and ask questions to our own benefit.
- By fostering a good media relation, it will become easier when protesting or speaking up to attracting authorities' attention to the most burning
issues
● We should, when BP is concerned have been more critical in our questions and pushed them to answer, but more importantly make
them elaborate on the issues, and provide facts about what they are actually doing to clean up the environment they have destroyed.

11. Social Media Training
HOW BP PERCEIVES THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook
- Get in touch with citizens
- Showing how much they do for America (Charity, science, and jobs)
- Using the social platform to create a better picture of the company
- Not possible to post on their wall – but they approve 96 % of the comments
- Very positive site
- Negative comments are either ignored or they try to explain and address the problem
- They are trying to make it personal with replying with names
Twitter
- Uses Twitter for trying to make a better image
- Same focus areas as on Facebook (Charity, science, jobs)
- Tweeting about what they are doing
- Trying to reply to many tweets
- All about bringing BP in a better light

12. Social Media Training
BP'S STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND SOCIAL MEDIA TRAINING
● When connecting, they put the person in focus and the story he/she has.
● They use different angles:
■ Safety
■ Security
■ Jobs
■ Charity
■ What they in general do for America
● Want to be trustworthy, so they put emphasis on safety
● Modernization is a big part of getting a better image
● Charity is furthermore a big part of getting a better image

13. Social Media Training
HOW THE OIL SPILL CRISIS IS FRAMED
● Oil spill crisis is not playing a big role on their sites anymore
● Back in 2010 there were many negative comments
● Focus is now on how good the beaches are looking
● BP is good at framing themselves in a positive way
● They are making it more personal, with a face that is nice and trustworthy

14. Social Media Training
Our perspective
● They control all the framing
● They have taken their own visions and putted them on Social Media sites
● It is very one-sided
● There should be a better balance between the positive and the negative
● It can seem very fake with only the positive
● There is not enough emphasis on the consequences it had for the nature and animals
● They only focus on jobs, charity etc. We want more focus on the animals and what they are doing for them
What we have been doing
● We posted a comment with a question to their Facebook page:
■ “We would like to ask if you could prove or be more specific concerning your strong
commitment to America? Thank you”
● It was also posted on twitter
● We have not received an answer

15. Social media learning
outcomes
● The first thing a company has to consider when using social media is not the need
to be present in specific platforms (“A lot of people use Facebook - we should
probably make a page”), but what its objectives of engaging in social media are.
They should ask themselves who they are targeting with their social media efforts,
how they want the stakeholder relationships to change/improve, to what extent
they intent to engange and be engaged in the social media communication .
● One of the issues with BP’s soical media situation during the crisis, was that they
failed to utilize their social media activities to create strong realtionships prior to the
oil spill, thus making the aforementioned mistake.
● BP’s inicial approach as a victim of the crisis (“I just want my life back”) denying
responsibility, was catastrophic on its own, but adding social media to the mix
makes it a particularly bad move. In the days before social media, where news
where administerd by few people and were thrown away with yesterdays paper, an
organizaiton could perhaps deny fault and more easily convince the public.

16. Social media learning
outcomes
● BP’s lack of social media engagement reflects a one-way/asymmetrical
communication mindset which is very impractical in today’s communication
environment. BP’s initial denial strategy, attempting to make the accident seem less
serious and posing themselves as a victim of the crisis , is particularly inappropriate
in the light of the difficulty with which an organization is able to control information
in the social media environment.
● Although regular social media updates on the situation was provided by BP, the
organization failed to engage in the two-way communication that is the essence of
social media presence. An organization should strive to engage with stakeholders
and reply to comments, even negative ones. Naturally, harmful discussions on social
media platforms should be avoided, but a simple recognition of the unhappy
stakeholder can go a long way in creation relationships and making BP appear more
approachable and human.

17. Good Practices: Parallels
between CC and SM

18. Key Learning Outcomes
● Generally, it is important to be welcoming or understanding
to accusations and negativity on social media.
● Aim for openness, interaction and making communication as
personal as possible.
● BP had hard lessons to be learned in the crisis, but have
chosen to use a strategy where they frame BP in a positive
way on the social media (Facebook).

19. Key Learning Outcomes
● Avoid misconceptions → Do not ignore the crisis or hesitate
to respond.
● BP keep answering issues concerning safety. They want
people to trust them again; therefore they are putting
emphasis on modernization and security.
● But the oil spill seems like an unspoken event on BP's
Facebook – we only get reminded of the crisis by a few
“haters”.

20. Key Learning Outcomes
● Not dwelling on the negative.
● A distorted impression?
● BP's responses only show their own perspective and their
self-promotion.
● Their way to manage the crisis aftermath on the social media.

21. References
https://www.facebook.com/BPAmerica?fref=ts
https://twitter.com/BP_America

22. Presentation By...
Felicia Lolk Vester - Intercultural Market Communication- @FeliciaVester
Julie Jensby - BA in Information Management - @JulieJensby
Mette Offersen - BA in Service Management - @MetteOffersen
Nanna Helene Lillelund - BA in Information Management - No Twitter Account
Tine Gutfelt Andreasen - BA in Information Management - @tinegutfelt
Instructor: Betty Tsakarestou
Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Media and Culture
Panteion University, Greece and twitter: @tsakarestou
Academic Director: Patricia Plackett
Department of Operations Management at CBS
CBS Homepage