BP: Branding Petroleum

How does British Petroleum, which branded itself BetterPetroleum, overcome its Bad Publicity and solve its BrandingProblem?

One thing they could do is switch back to using the name Amoco, which the Bad Parent-company bought in 1998 and eventually absorbed.

Originally founded as Standard Oil Company in 1889 by JohnD. Rockefeller, Amoco was later absorbed into the American Oil Companyfounded in Baltimore in 1910 and incorporated in 1922 by LouisBlaustein and his son Jacob. While most oil companies were switching toleaded gasoline during the mid-to-late 1920s, American Oil chose tocontinue selling its premium-grade lead-free gasoline, decades beforethe environmental movement of the early 1970s led to more stringentauto emission controls.

If BP (Better Punished) does reclaim Amoco, it will doubtless look to its legacy of corporate identity. Amoco’s logo was originally designed in the ’20s by Lucian Bernhard, and later transformed into the Standard logo (not designed by Bernhard).

Since BP (Back Pay) may not be able to afford a new logo, here aresome of the vintage Amoco logo applications you may be seeing at a gas station near you.

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