How the new BP CEO is killing it on social media
The new BP chief executive Bernard Looney has had a busy week, announcing that the 111 year-old company would be “reinventing” itself for the green era.
His press announcement, detailing the company’s commitment to going "net zero" emissions by 2050 and investing in green technology, was made in front of hundreds of journalists and the coverage has been widespread.
But a few weeks ago, before this big media event, I noticed something else.
Bernard Looney was making a serious play on social media.
In fact, he’s given us a masterclass in what it means to be a connected leader.
I wrote about what it means to be a connected leader recently and why it is now essential for brands.
I believe connected leaders adopt five key behaviours. They are…
Authentic – They are “real”; in other words, genuine, believable human beings that you warm to. It’s one of the reasons why leaders are increasingly outperforming brand social media channels.
Conversational – They get involved in the conversation, by replying to comments and questions. “Likes” aren’t enough. And, it’s not just a broadcast all about them. Connected leaders listen.
Have a purpose that inspires – Connected leaders’ content isn’t just there for the sake of it, rehashing posts from the PR team. It has a purpose that relates to their core beliefsand mission.
Share insights – Leaders haven’t got there by accident – it’s because of a lot of hard work, commercial acumen and talent. People want to know how they got there. So their insights and opinions are invaluable.
Present – This is both about having a regular cadence of posts and activity (no drive-by Likes) and thinking holistically about their digital footprint and public profile. For top leaders it’s not enough just to be on LinkedIn. They need to think bigger and more broadly.
So how does Bernard Looney stack up against these measures? Pretty well, I would say.
Let’s face it, BP is a target for environmental campaigners – Greenpeace, in particular. So, some might say he’s brave or naïve for using social media so overtly.
I disagree. I don’t think you can truly get people on board with your ideas unless you put yourself out there. A CEO is the ultimate guardian of the brand and should adopt the behaviours that support this.
From set up to delivery – he’s making a storming start
Bernard Looney is new to the job of CEO, but he set his profiles up properly and can be found on LinkedIn and Instagram (he loses a couple of marks for not covering Twitter too). He’s also on Wikipedia, but I’m hoping he didn’t do that one himself :-/
The set up part is really important. Just look at how his LinkedIn profile page is so well crafted.
And when it comes to his posts, you can see that he’s engaging with his audiences. OK, he's not answering every question and point of view, but he's covering a lot more ground than many other senior execs.
Crucially, he seems genuine and has done all of the upfront work, before his big press announcement.
Look at his first LinkedIn post and the response he had to it.
The others he’s done have also done well (although not surprisingly the one with the corporate promotional shot performed worst).
A question I get asked a lot is, “do leaders do all this all by themselves?”
I can’t speak for what Bernard Looney's approach is; although his Instagram page does say he’s supported by colleagues. But I would find it hard to believe that a CEO of a company as big as BP has the capacity to do everything personally.
This is where the idea of co-management comes in. I’ve worked with senior executives in this capacity many times. The process starts with formulating the strategy, getting the story right and sorting their profile out. I’ll return to this in a future post.
But after that there’s lots more that communications partners can do to support the programme, whether that’s just doing some of the heavy lifting on content curation, or helping to produce video content (a vital element nowadays).
The key thing, though, is that it isn’t completely outsourced – hence the point about being a “co-management” job.
At Brightside, we’ve been helping executives and business owners in this capacity and, even though they’re not the size of BP, they find this exercise incredibly effective.
In my view, this is actually a collaboration between the leader and his or her comms team. Both need to be involved to make it truly effective. Agencies like ours can add expertise and support, but it’s essential to have true buy-in at the highest levels internally first.
Who do you think is a good connected leader?
So, what do you think of Bernard Looney’s social media efforts? Is he delivering a masterclass, or is he being rash to put himself so plainly in the public eye? I’d love to know your thoughts.