Mark Hurst notes that while energy company BP

“has everything: a nice, new, clean logo; a brief but intelligent tag line; and a global advertising and marketing campaign to spread it to customers worldwide. The same brand promise is being shouted everywhere, globally, by BP.“

their “brand promise” is probably not the deciding factor when people choose where to buy their petrol (gas). It’s great to have a strong brand, but low price or a well stocked mini-market are more likely to influence customers. As Mark says

“The executive-only, top-down approach is going at it backwards. To really understand - let alone lead - any established business, you have to include the customers.”

BP rival Chevron Texaco, with their www.willyoujoinus.com campaign is doing just that. Advertisements in publications such as The Economist encourge people to join the online debate on how to meet the world’s energy needs in the future. While some argue that this is an attempt by Chevron Texaco to control the parameters of the “Energy Debate”, I think it’s great to see large enterprises be open about the challenges ahead for their industry. This issue will effect everyone sooner or later, so why not harness the world’s brainpower to find innovative solutions?

The “will you join us?” campaign might not make customers choose a Texaco station over one which sells fresh crusty bread, but it might raise awareness for the importance of energy conservation.

And that can’t be bad … after all, according to the site, since I began writing this post, the world consumed 3,484,035 barrels of oil & gas.

[Cartoon courtesy of Hugh Macleod]