How to sell Big Oil on the Web

[BridgeTheGap]

The oil giant Chevron, with $6.2 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2011, has for the past year been engaged in an intense branding campaign called "We Agree," which presents Chevron as a model corporate citizen and steward of the environment. Trying to soften the public image of a company without actually changing destructive business practices is known as "greenwashing" -- and Chevron has been at it for a while.

But in today's media universe, billboards, TV ads, and even Web videos, are no longer enough. That's where the New Jersey firm Social Media Today steps in. I was accidentally sent a confidential presentation for Chevron from a Social Media Today representative I'd earlier corresponded with on another story. It pitches the oil company on a project to build an entire website that apes journalistic outlets in form and appearance but is ultimately committed to advancing Chevron's goals. The presentation offers a window into the frontiers of greenwashing and corporate messaging on the Web.

The website would be called "Future Mobility" and provide a forum where interested bloggers (and Chevron executives) can discuss transit issues like high-speed rail and urban infrastructure. As part of the pitch, Social Media Today even offered Chevron "recruitment and access" to a top official at the environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The slideshow sent to Chevron, which I've posted below in full, is a jumble of buzzwords. But here's the gist: Instead of having to duke it out in the comments sections under news articles or in other neutral online forums, the company bypasses all that by simply creating its own forum. It will be open to writers with a range of perspectives (and much of the site would be aggregated material from elsewhere), but the overall mission of the site is to advance Chevron's messaging efforts through so-called "premium content." Articles from the site will show up on Google searches. "Influencers" in the field will be influenced. And Chevron will come across as "innovative, open, responsive, investor in the future."

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/07/19/chevron_social_media_today