• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, October 12, 2012

Talk about chutzpah: In a presentation to the Association of National Advertisers’ Masters of Marketing, BP CMO Luc Bardin explains how the company’s involvement in the London 2012 Olympics has helped move its battered brand forward. “I’m a big believer in the adage 'What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,’” he told attendees. “And what we’ve learned is to ask ourselves -- 'What can go wrong, and are we ready?’”

But it’s worth noting that Bardin -- who shared the stage with John Seifert, chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather North America, its ad agency -- was the only conference presenter who did not take questions from the 2,000-plus attendees. 

The two walked the audience through the brand’s progress, from its position as an early pioneer in alternative energy, with “Beyond Petroleum” to its industry leadership in admitting the connection between fossil fuels and global climate change. Then on April 20, 2012, the spill happened, resulting in 11 deaths and the worst accidental oil spill in history. “It is amazing how quickly things can change,” Bardin says. “There was nothing we could say at the time to make people feel better.”

Showing ads related to its cleanup efforts, which he says still make him emotional, he says next year’s tourism in the Gulf region is expected to show continued recovery.

From there, the two outlined its Olympic sponsorship efforts, which focused on individual athletes. “Some might argue that the last avenue you’d select for showcasing a troubled brand would be an iconic stage like the Olympics,” Seifert says, adding that the athletes it chose shared “BP’s brand characteristics of honesty and integrity,” and took avid fans behind the scenes with such immersive digital features as all-access Facebook pages, shared content, live streaming and infographics related to each athlete's training preparations.