There has been a lot said and written about BP’s public relations performance in the aftermath of the Gulf oil disaster.  Frankly, it’s premature to cast a verdict.

Oil from the Gulf of Mexico disaster floats ashore in Venice, La.

To the company’s credit, BP came out immediately to accept responsibility for the cleanup and made its CEO and other company experts available to the media whenever the media wanted answers.

BP also deserves high marks for its use of the social media space. The company set up a designated section on its Website to provide regular updates, photos and videos of its personnel explaining the actions it was taking to slow the leak on the Gulf floor, and the steps it was taking to reimburse fishermen, business owners and their employees who were facing economic losses as a result of the spill. The company also provided up-to-the-minute updates through Twitter and asked for the public to report any sightings of oil that had washed ashore.

There were also some missteps, particularly early on. BP’s miscalculation of the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf may have cost the company some credibility. There was also a battle played out in front of television cameras in which BP tried to shift some of the blame to Transocean, the company that owned the oil platform. While it’s true Transocean owned the platform, it was BP’s oil that was spilling into the Gulf. It would have been far better from a communications standpoint for BP to accept full responsibility and settle any recriminations with Transocean behind closed doors.

How BP’s reputation will fare long-term will depend more on what the company does from here on out. How fast can the leaking well be plugged? How well does the company handle the cleanup of the Gulf and the protection of the Gulf Coast ecosystem? And most importantly, will the businesses, their employees and property owners receive fair compensation for their losses?

Only when all those questions are resolved should the company’s crisis communications be put to a verdict.

From cars, to foot warmers, to toys, prescription drugs and any number of food products, hardly a week goes by that we don’t learn about several product recalls. In fact, the agencies that issue product recalls have never been busier. One reason — social media. In the UK, for example, the number of recalls of pharmaeutical products has jumped five-fold since 2005. The British government says the driving force is the Internet.

Thousands of bloggers devote  full attention to scouring the Internet for consumer product complaints. Before long, scathing posts appear on their blogs. Tweets draw millions of followers to them. After a few tweets, the mainstream press catches on and ultimately, a government agency steps in. That’s not necessarily bad. No country could ever maintain a sufficient army of product police to look over every item sold to and used by consumers. The Internet gives those agencies millions of additional eyes and ears.

The unfortunate part is that while many companies have turned to social media to promote their products, too many businesses invest too little time and energy in using social media to discover and resolve problems before they explode into a crisis. 

A sound social media strategy must start with listening and learning.

Suggest your 13-year-old  shut down the X-box and exercise, or drink a glass of milk instead of Mountain Dew and you’re in for a battle.

But if the same suggestions come from one of his friends, it’s an entirely different story. For young teens, peer pressure is everything.  

That was the idea behind the Super-Power Summit — a youth wellness initiative that we managed for the Midwest Dairy Council, the Iowa Department of Education’s Team Nutrition Program and Iowa State University Extension for Families and 4H.

The day-long summit feature inspiring speakers such as Charlie Wittmack, who climbed to the top of Mount Everest, and Tim Dwight, an All-American from the University of Iowa who went on to become a leading kick returner in the NFL.

The event also featured a street marketing events that engaged the downtown lunch crowd with physical activities and important messages about eating healthy.

ZLRIGNITION has promoted Nick Grant and Sara Horstmann to Account Manager.

Grant joined ZLRIGNITION in 2007 as an account- and street marketing coordinator and has played a vital role in managing special events and activities for Just Eliminate Lies, (JEL), Iowa’s teen-led tobacco counter marketing group.

A native of Washington, D.C., Grant holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from Drake University, where he also was co-captain of Drake’s 2006-2007 men’s basketball team.

“Nick will continue to play a critical role in helping our clients’ engage teens and young adults, and in utilizing social media to help clients achieve their communications and marketing objectives,” says Louie Laurent, president and CEO.

Horstmann joined ZLRIGNITION in 2008 as a media planner and buyer. Before joining the agency, Horstmann worked at Heartland Financial USA, Inc. where she coordinated major marketing projects including special events and media buying.

“Sara brings a sharp focus on producing results that meet or exceed client expectations. She is a valuable addition to our account service team,” adds Laurent.

Horstmann, who resides in Urbandale, holds a bachelor’s degree in art & design from Iowa State University.

When we talk to teens, and we talk to them a lot, they tell us their biggest motivation for doing anything is fun.

They go to shopping malls for fun.  Football games for fun.  Facebook for fun.  MySpace for fun.  YouTube for fun.  They watch fun television programs.  Like fun movies.  Come to think of it, it’s not much different for adults.

Nothing supports the need for a fun factor more than social networks and YouTube is a prime example.  Marketers lust after the views that amateurs get by accident.  The “Charlie Bit Me…Again” video above had 118 million views.  But not all amateurs are any more successful than the pros who think they can make their YouTube channel the next NBC.

Without fun, your video will be limited by those searching expressly for you.

Facebook is much the same.  Take the State of Nebraska’s Facebook page.  It has 1,587 friends and fans.  Not bad.  But when you look at the page it is a never ending list of governmental announcements.  Should Nebraskans be interested?  Probably, but it’s not fun.  Contrast that with the fan page for Nebraska Football.  It has over 52,000 users who access the page at least once a month.  Fun, as well as life and death.

The fun factor influences our job satisfaction, life, marriages and leisure.  It’s why we spend mone on vacations, dining, dancing, concerts and sporting events.  It’s why we celebrate when we win and cry when we lose.

If we can harness fun in our communications, they become far more effective. Hopefully, Charlie helped this post be a little more fun.