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A Line in the Branding Sand
An article by Merlin Edge Vice President George Koch from the August 2010 issue of Alberta Venture magazine:
The BP disaster shows that advertisers ignore authenticity at their customers' peril
It was a widely hailed marketing coup, a much-talked-about case study and the biggest antler rack on the ad agency's trophy wall. BP would no longer stand for the storied brand British Petroleum, but for Beyond Petroleum. In a world of climate change angst, becoming one with the green zeitgeist seemed a winner. Applying it to BP - new name, neo-pagan sun-disk-style logo, a prolonged PR campaign by the urbane English CEO, millions shovelled into politically correct foundations and lobbying to buy new friends and convey positions at odds with a global oil giant - was outsized in audacity, but not in concept. Pointing out it was BS wasn't just in poor taste, it revealed your deafness to the era's sensibilities.
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