Strategy update: 'bp week' – selling the vision

BP is embarking on the defining strategic pivot in its 111-year history. From IOC to IEC. Big Oil to Big Energy. Having previously unveiled the vision and the roadmap, ‘bp week’ was, ostensibly, about filling in the blanks and adding depth. There was no big reveal. The +10 hours of airtime were devoted to expanding on ideas and plans that we learned about in February and August – adding colour and context, refining the small print. But this is no criticism. BP has gone as far as it reasonably can in laying out its strategy for the transition – much further than any of its peers. But BP week wasn’t really about the substance. BP week was about selling a vision – persuading stakeholders to take a leap of faith. To look beyond the here-and-now, to a future in which BP is generating bigger, better returns from something completely different. BP week was about a new leadership looking to build credibility, trust and belief in a new idea.