PR Campaign Boone Pickens Energy

¶ … PR Campaign

Boone Pickens Energy Plan is one of the largest non-partisan public relations campaigns of the current election. The Plan extols the use of natural gas, and the development of alternative energy resources, to help wean America from its dependence on foreign oil (Pickens, 2008). The plan's architect and spearhead, Mr. Pickens, is not a celebrity outside of business circles. Nor is the Plan a public relations campaign about him. Mr. Pickens runs a hedge fund, BP Capital Management with heavy ownership of firms involved in natural gas and alternative energy (Lazarus, 2008). This hints at a dual-purpose element of the T. Boone Pickens Energy Plan. The campaign can be viewed simply as an aging billionaire using his considerable wealth to help bring about a better future for his country. The need for energy independence is widely understood, and Pickens under this scenario would merely be setting himself up as its champion.

Conversely, the campaign could be viewed as an attempt to influence government policy in a direction favorable to BP Capital Management. In that respect, the Pickens Plan campaign could be viewed merely as a creative form of lobbying. The role of lobbying in politics is to influence the forces of government to make decisions that have a favorable impact of the group doing the lobbying. The Pickens Plan campaign appears to have that objective. It is only the motivations that are undetermined.

Those two objectives, however, are downstream from the current campaign. There are many steps that would need to be taken before BP Capital had the opportunity to profit or, for American to become energy independent. While Pickens himself may have such longer-term objectives in mind, the Pickens Plan as it is presently constituted has a much shorter timeframe. The goal of the plan is twofold. The first objective is to raise awareness of the issue of energy independence. During an election year, many issues rise to and fall from prominence over the course of the campaign. The Pickens Plan was designed to keep the issue of energy independence near the top of the agenda by placing the issue on the minds of voters.

The second objective was to move beyond awareness, and spur voters into action. The Pickens Plan seeks to mobilize voters to be communicative about the issue. The intent is to build a grassroots movement in support of the plan, and put pressure on the presidential candidates to discuss this issue more and formulate concrete plans for energy independence. This pressure would in turn raise the profile of the issue in government. The presumption is that such a grass roots movement could result in government taking steps to promote alternative energies. Typically, that occurs in the form of trade barriers and/or subsidies.

The Pickens Plan campaign has utilized many different strategies. At the core of their strategies has been an extensive media campaign. Advertising has been taken out on major television networks, and in newspapers. The ads have been strategically placed for maximum value, and are especially visible during times surrounding key election moments such as debates.

This public relations campaign has also engaged an extensive online strategy. The Pickens Plan has an extensive website that serves several key functions. It further promotes the ideas contained within the plan. The website also exhorts visitors to sign up in support of the Plan. There is a thermometer used to measure the number of signups, in the same manner in which a charity drive measures donations against the target. The thermometer is deliberately set so that it looks as though the number of signups is far below the target, so as to discourage complacency and drive more signups.

The thermometer feeds the other component of the campaign, the grassroots aspect. In essence, it is the online version of a petition, gathering names to show the new president how concerned the public is about the issue.

As a result of this campaign's unusually high level of funding, it is one of the most sophisticated public relations exercises in modern times. Pickens implemented an interactive portion, tied in with the presidential debates. Before the debate, Pickens Plan ads ran, promoting an online chat session with Pickens following the debate. This goal of this exercise was to engage the public in discussion about the candidate's responses to the energy questions during the debate.

In addition to these elements, Pickens has travelled to promote his plan. He has flown across the nation, conducting town hall meetings to raise grassroots awareness and support. He has also given many media interviews on the subject. The interviews reiterated the key themes of information and a call to action.

Analyzed against the core elements of any public relations plan, the Pickens Plan has been remarkably comprehensive. Pickens has employed advertisements in a number of media, an extensive website, a blog, town hall meetings, a media interview blitz. The Plan's publicity is an all-encompassing interactive public relations campaign.

Overall, the Pickens Plan has been an effective public relations campaign in terms of raising awareness of the issue of energy independence. The massive spending during the campaign has put the Plan in front of millions of consumers. Over 1,000,000 have signed up on the website in support of the plan. Moreover, the massive publicity campaign was enough to win the Plan media attention.

The Plan's timing was effective in that it capitalized on a dramatic rise in oil prices. The public relations for the Plan began in early July, at the same time when oil prices were peaking, and right in advance of the busy summer travel season. The Plan also took advantage of the Summer Olympics, with saturation advertising to spread the word about the Plan. This was effective leveraging of the one big television viewing event of the summer. This use of timing increased the resonance of the issue with consumers. The timing also had another impact with regards to the presidential campaign.

The high price of gas was inevitably going to make energy a campaign issue. Yet, before Pickens because his PR campaign, the main approaches put forward by candidates in the primary were summer tax breaks, increased offshore drilling in Alaska and Florida, and other measures that would neither curb dependence nor increase emphasis on alternative energy. As the presidential campaign moved into the fall, the candidates increasingly used the term "energy independence" and the topic of alternative energy sources was raised on numerous occasions.

Another aspect of the plan that has been successful has been the deflection of conflict of interest claims. As with any public relations campaign, a certain amount of spin is required so that the audience views the issue in the way that the public relations people would like them to see it. There is considerable conflict of interest inherent in the Pickens Plan, because of BP Capital's huge financial interest in the development of wind and natural gas resources. Estimates put the potential cost of the Pickens Plan at $500 billion for the private sector and another $150 billion from the government. A substantial portion of this government subsidy would go to firms in which Pickens is invested. The spin used by the Pickens Plan is that Mr. Pickens is sufficiently wealthy as to not need any more money, and that he is conducting the campaign for the good of the nation. Another aspect of spin is the concept of Pickens - who played a key role is scuttling John Kerry's presidential bid four years ago - as non-partisan. This particular line of spin seems to have resonated, as whatever potential conflict of interest that may have been raised has been ignored by major media outlets examining the Plan. Consumers are in general curious about the plan, and few are skeptical of Pickens' motivations.

For its successes in raising awareness and shifting the tone of discourse amongst presidential candidates regarding energy, the Pickens Plan has not yet demonstrated success in terms of action. The action desired has two forms - the grassroots action, and governmental action.

At the grassroots level, the Plan has achieved some success. They have signed up over 1,000,000 names on their list. The number is impressive, but given the campaign's $58 million budget and high level of sophistication, that level of success can be considered lukewarm. Yet, there is little evidence of any further successes. The Plan appears to be viewed largely as a curiosity.

At the governmental level, the plan has also had some success. The change in the tone of energy discourse is evidence of some success. The PR campaign being as visible as it was in the summer, during the Olympics especially, helped Pickens secure face time with both Senator McCain and Senator Obama. These meetings aided with the tone change, and brought significant legitimacy to the Plan's PR campaign.

Yet, there have been no demonstrable results. The Plan requires more than just vague promises from government. It requires, for example, unprecedented use of eminent domain, and there has been no indication from either the current government or the candidates that this is being considered. There have not been specific funding promises from the candidates for specific aspects of the Pickens Plan, either.

The final verdict on the Pickens Plan campaign will not be known for months, if not years. The new president will not take office until January, and will require time to formulate a cohesive strategy. In terms of the action plan, the strategy to mobilize the grassroots in order to put pressure on the government has not succeeded thus far. The grassroots will give the new president his mandate, and the supporters of the Pickens Plan will ultimately take a back seat to that.