Buzz In... Buzz Out...

Chavez anti-American sentiments
have undermined Citgo's image.

The buzz in social media about most companies presented in our class' monitoring assignment originates from situations related to customer service. In the case of Citgo, the root of its not-so-good public image relies in the continuous anti-American slogans by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his threats of suspending the flow of crude to the US.

The Citgo sign over Fenway Park has
been a Boston landmark for decades.

Citgo is a formerly American company headquartered in Houston. It is a refiner, transporter and marketer of transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and other industrial products. It has been wholly owned by PDV America, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) since 1990. PDVSA is Venezuela’s state-owned petroleum company.

Citgo’s public image took a nosedive when Venezuelan President Chavez called then President George W. Bush a devil and an alcoholic during a speech in the United Nations. Immediately after Chavez's speech, a groundswell emerged urging a Citgo boycott, the removal of Citgo service stations from the Florida’s turnpike, the cancelation of 7-Eleven contracts with stores with Citgo and even the removal of the famous Citgo sign outside Fenway Park.

Since 2006, the buzz about Citgo has steadily decreased.

To alleviate the social media turmoil, Citgo issued press releases and invested heavily in an advertising to portray it as a good corporate citizen. For example, Citgo ran several full-page ads in two major newspapers in Boston, advertising its deliveries of free oil to poor New England residents, promoting the move as “humanitarian aid” and a “simple act of generosity.” Although those good deeds appeared to not be enugh to convince everybody in the US to continue their support for the company, following Chavez condemnation of all things American, they did help diminish public criticism of the company.

Fueling Good campaign helps Citgo create a positive buzz,
before winter cold, as evidenced by Compete.com.

This strategy has worked, as the buzz about Citgo has diminished since steadily since 2006 (the year of the incident at the United Nations), as reported by Icerocket. It can be said that the campaigns against Citgo did not have much impact. The company didn't have to deal with a boycott and it gasoline sales continue to do well as most consumers base on price and convenience their purchases of gasoline.

Many critics suggest the Fueling Good campaign is simply a ploy to take consumers’ minds off of record high oil prices and its anti-American tendencies, but at the same time the campaign has achieved to reduce negative comments about Citgo as it is portrayed as helping underprivileged people. Fueling Good is a campaign that gives non-profit organizations a chance to win Citgo fuel simply by telling their do-gooding stories on their website. The success of this campaign can be evidenced by the fact that President Chavez was awarded the United Nations' Jose Marti prize for promoting Latin American unity.This award proves that an intelligent use of social media can help create a positive buzz or mitigate the effects of a negative one, even when a company's top management conspire against the company's public image or do not attempt to embrace the groundswell. It also proves the power of social media, as we have agreed in our class discussions.

Citgo needs to track "people-to-people" activities in order to detect patterns of technology behavior, continuing to target its most loyal customers, employees, political and business allies. 

In the US Citgo has gained support from
customers, business and political allies.

A recent glance at Citgo’s Twitter news feed and Facebook pages show an abundance of self-promotional updates, but not a single acknowledgement of recent image problems.

Citgo promotes its Fueling Good campaign in its
recently designed Facebook page.

Citgo has been cited for its lack of environmental reporting. It does not report its total greenhouse gas emissions (something that every other company reported one way or another). Also, it was charged with negligent discharge of pollutants in two rivers in Louisiana, resulting in the largest fine ever for a criminal misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act, and it faces a lawsuit for conspiring to drive up the price of fuel.

Citgo's old Facebook page

Citgo uses self-promotional updates.

Citgo already tried to avoid the many risks related to social media use by attempting to ban employees from accessing social media on company time or equipment and by retaliating against citizens criticizing Chavez or Venezuelan government policies and officials in social media. However, failing to exploit the opportunities social media provides for building a brand, attracting new customers, and retaining current customers exposes companies to risks, too, especially when Chavez continues to be a big, sloppy elephant in Citgo’s room.

Attempting to ban people’s participation in social media ignores the positive effects of using a powerful channel appropriately to build relationships with stakeholders, customers, potential employees, and other affiliates, as we learned while reading the book Groundswell. Citgo would give up the ability to use a potent communication tool and expand its reach a quick and cost-effective manner.

Whether Citgo management and President Chavez want it or not, social media channels have become part of social interaction for an increasing segment of the population and it’s impossible to put the social media genie back in the bottle. As we have learned through the class, organizations that formally assess the risks of social media and implement guidelines that promote its responsible use will be better equipped to reap the benefits of these new tools.

Social Mention reports Citgo generates a steady traffic with small variations.

Although other companies might have worse public images than Citgo (Bank of America, Direct Air, Charter, Wal-Mart and BP come rapidly to mind), Citgo could still benefit from attempting to repair its image.The question is how Citgo can revive its public image. There are several possibilities. 

Citgo has many options to improve its
image by using social media and listening.

The first thing I’d recommend Citgo is to stop worrying about salvaging their public image in the US. I’m afraid that ship has already sailed, as evidenced by the refusal of free home-heating oil by Citgo by natives in remote Alaskan villages or the fact that even many Venezuelan nationals would support a boycott of Citgo to prevent Chavez from receiving more money to support his communist revolution. If Citgo genuinely uses its communications with the public to help ease people’s lives and solve problems, eventually, they may find that ship returning to port.

"Fueling Good" campaign has been costly
but beneficial for Citgo's image

The second thing I’d recommend Citgo is to stop buying ads to tell people how good Citgo is. There is plenty of press out there to cover that. Buying advertising to inform people is self-serving, and a waste of money. It hasn't worked for BP; it won’t work for Citgo.

Finally, I'd suggest Citgo to continue its “Fueling Good” campaign. I think Citgo could do weekly briefings, and give the press abundant access to participants in Citgo campaigns to help the poor. I believe the more forthcoming the target of public scrutiny is, the less suspicious they appear to people. There is some damage that can’t be undone: the insults to US presidents, the aid to countries opposing the US, the threats to cut supply of oil. Revisiting those issues would be like pouring lemon juice over a paper cut.