Ok. Suffice it to say, BP is faced with a brand perception problem of epic proportions.

So like most companies that have had a crisis in the Social Media Age, BP has used their Facebook and Twitter profiles to reassure the public with canned messages about “solutions” and “responsibilities.”

However, BP is facing a large online community that is united in their frustration over the company and the damages the oil spill has caused. Facebook fan pages and fake BP Twitter profiles have sprung up to humiliate and direct anger towards BP.

Ultimately, as people become more social media savvy, companies, like BP, will have a harder time monitoring and responding to a crisis online.

BP will have a better chance of capping the oil leak than capping the overflowing hate in the online space.

Last month I had the privilege of taking part in a panel discussion at a Business Marketing Association breakfast in Chicago. The presentation was lead by Ray Villares from Symmetri Marketing – and the theme was the integration of search, social and mobile marketing. From a digital marketing perspective, this is really the holy trinity. Customers can now find you, and engage with you at anytime, from anywhere. Ray stated that mobile is the most intimate kind of communication – and I think that has some implications from a social media perspective. When a user is interacting with a brand via a mobile device, there is a real singularity of purpose in that moment. There aren’t 10 different windows open and programs running in the background. It’s just the two of you, and the soft glow of that tiny screen. Intimate indeed!

The opportunity is to take that relationship with the consumer to the next level. To provide something unique, something special. Maybe it’s a branded iPhone app. Maybe it’s the ability for a customer to text a keyword to enter a contest or receive product information. Maybe it’s the chance to submit a review of your product, service or establishment in nearly real-time. In any case, we have to ensure that the engagement is special. And at the very least – that our sites are optimized for mobile devices.

The biggest challenge is cutting through all the mobile noise. 100,000+ apps are available for download in iTunes, with thousands more for Android, Nokia, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry. And let’s not forget about the mobile web, text messages, and, oh yeah, phone calls. The most effective mobile marketing efforts seem to go beyond pure entertainment or gimmicks, and actually do something useful. I’m thinking of the AT&T “Mark the Spot” app and the Dunkin Run app. Both address a need in a unique way that can really only be offered by the companies themselves. So the questions to ask when considering mobile are 1) What can you offer your audience that no one else can, and 2) Does it make sense to explore mobile devices as a platform to address their unmet needs?

I’ll also add that I think marketers and communicators are going to have to start thinking about how to become a digital triple threat when it comes to search, social and mobile. Traditionally, these channels/platforms have been the domain of “specialists” (and I guess I’m one of them), but with the move to real-time, location-based engagement, these specialties represent the future of almost all digital interaction. This goes for advertising, PR, CRM, you name it. So how are you thinking about mobile when it comes to your 2010 marketing and communications strategy?

The idea sparked a good old-fashioned watercooler debate yesterday on whether or not certain digital trends are here to stay. One colleague claimed to know enough about Twitter without being on it. That might indeed be enough. As we saw from a Harvard Business School study last week, 90% of tweets come from just 10% of users, and average lifetime number of tweets per user on Twitter is 1. The vast majority of Twitter users, it would seem, are “just looking.”

Maybe “just looking” at social media is enough to cut it in today’s PR world.

We can all survive without the latest tech, sure (he said writing a digital trends blog post on his BlabkBerry on the subway). In many cases, we’re probably better without it – Hulu even advertises that it rots your brain.

But, much like my grandmother who is opposed to getting an answering machine because it’s too newfangled, my colleague might do just fine, thank you very much, but will be missing out on a whole world of possibilities. She’ll be missing out on the virtual watercooler conversations taking place at Ruder Finn on Twitter, missing access to journalists who prefer 140-character pitches, and being behind on what’s going on with Shaq.

Another colleague was considering leaving Facebook, failing to see the point of it all. Her argument was that Facebook replaced prevailing technology that came before it, and something else will be along soon to replace it as well.

Without a doubt, there will be something to replace Facebook, and the question today is, “will I someday look back and wonder how I survived without Facebook?”

Is Facebook like the cellphone – a tool that has become so pervasive in our culture that some people don’t communicate any other way? Is Facebook like email – a tool that many people can’t imagine their work lives without?

Does your business live and breathe social media, or can you do without?

Have already been posted, and another one is due up Friday. I encourage you all to comment.

Also, Ged Carrol, Ruder Finn UK‘s new director of digital strategy has been hosting a blog on PR Week’s UK site:

Kittens, babies, sunsets or flowers? Life online

Some recent posts:
That ain’t Digg bait, it’s just good PR

The name of the game

Interview with Matt McGinnis of Dell Global Comms, Enterprise Products

Enjoy!

Extremely hilarious video on integrated eye-popping web placements to leverage buzz for up-leveled cascading paradigms.

Intel’s chairman on antitrust silliness and the secrets of high-tech success. He say

- The business is bigger than the business.
- Don’t mess with Moore’s Law.
- Invest during hard times.
- Consensus is good — except when it isn’t .
- Follow the business, not Wall Street.
- When something works, don’t re-invent it, reproduce it.
- It pays to have good competitors.

50 CEOs who find tweeting a personal and professional delight.

Here’s the list boiled down: http://is.gd/BkPv

It has a great interface, and helped me find @alansmurray‘s great feed.

The May 11 issue of Fortune Magazine is a perfect demonstration of what the three largest business magazines have done for decades. Its cover story, “How Bernie Did It’ is the culmination of a four-month investigation into the details of Bernie Madoff’s life and business operations written and reported by three of Fortune’s best editorial staff members, one of whom is a Pulitzer Prize winner. This issue of Fortune is also an example of why the magazine and its competitors Forbes and BusinessWeek, will soon no longer be able to publish these kinds of stories. The May 11 issue has 92 printed pages and covers. There are only 21 pages of paid advertising compared with more than a hundred pages in a spring issue 20 years ago.

Written by Russ Daniels,  CTO of Cloud Services Strategy at HP.

In light of all of the historical comparisons about the current economic situation and its proposed fixes, I’d like to offer my own perspective based on technology trends that have the potential to re-ignite growth for decades. My analogy comes from what at first sounds like an unlikely source: the automobile industry.

Can a lawyer hire a third person to send a “friend request” to a witness? According to an opinion from the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Professional Guidance Committee the answer is no.

Larry Page’s grandfather was an assembly worker at the Chevy plant in Flint Michigan, and his dad thought that computers were a fad. A touching story about his dad.

Rupert MurdochRupert Murdoch took a swipe at MySpace rival Facebook Thursday after News Corp. reported weaker-than-expected sales at its Fox Interactive Media unit, which consists mainly of MySpace. FIM online ad revenue during News Corp.’s fiscal third quarter ending Mar. 31 dropped 16% while the unit’s revenue overall fell 11% to $187 million.

The IT organization and the business units should be much more in tune. Here’s one way to make that happen.

Many thanks to Ruder Finn head of HR and avid horse fan Cathleen Graham (@cashcat1969) for some of these links.

Alex Brown’s love of horses started long before he launched the blog, Alex Brown Racing, but it was Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro that pushed the blog into prominence — and eventually established it as a site dedicated to the welfare of horses. Along the way, Brown learned many things about creating and nurturing an online community by using tools like wikis, Facebook and Twitter, and following certain principles, such as: Be authentic, be transparent, be consistent and build trust. Brown, one of whose goals is to rescue horses destined for the slaughter house, talked with Knowledge@Wharton about his strategies for bringing attention — and money — to the cause.

A group for all us business folk who outside the world of hi-tech and commerce like to unwind and get back to nature with horses. No matter your discipline (Dressage, X-Country, Trail riding, Polo, etc.), or even if you don’t have a horse but like Equine events, then come join in and get together.

Other than the fact that he’s already won $4 million in purses and may be on the verge of becoming one of the most famous faces in the sports of horse racing, Joe Talamo is like a lot of guys his age.

His horse is also tweeting! http://twitter.com/I_Want_Revenge

• www.thehorse.com
• www.chronofhorse.com
• www.horseshowspy.com
• www.ntra.com

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Executives exploring Twitter as business tool

Todd Brink’s cigar-bearing image and his thoughts about music, chick flicks and process improvement have made him a Twitter rock star of sorts.

The Wisconsin executive has nearly 3,000 Twitter followers. What’s more, he is ranked No. 1 among the Twitter Elite in Milwaukee on Twitter Grader, a free service that lets people measure their power and reach on Twitter

It may seem an unlikely classification, but Brink represents a growing breed of executives who recognize the power of the tweet as a way to connect with customers and build brand loyalty.

Brink (@toddbrink) is director of process improvement for Boldt Construction Co., a national contractor with 1,500 employees based in Appleton. Brink stressed he is representing himself on Twitter and not Boldt Construction, although many of his tweets are work-related.

He also sent a friend request to Iran, became a fan of Stimulus, and deleted the group Guantanamo Bay Detainees 4EVA.

They are:

1. Ego
2. Money
3. Travel
4. Business Speak
5. Meetings
6. Business Books
7. Time

The first point can probably apply to many in the digital business trends blogger industry.