In which ways environmental and ethical considerations influence and complicate the marketing of Total?

Résumé du document

Total' is the world's fourth-largest oil and gas company, with the largest capitalization in the Paris stock exchange and the Euro zone, 130.5 billion on December 31st, 2004. Total is a leading multinational energy company with 95,000 employees, and activities in more than 130 countries. The company has exploration and production activities in 41 countries. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil, natural gas exploration and production to the gas downstream, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, international crude oil and product trading. Total is also a world-class chemicals manufacturer. Total is very popular in France, but not always for good behaviour. A lot of consumers are now aware of sustainable development, ethical issues concerning the product they buy, and the environment is now a key point of the political campaigns for the presidency candidates in France. Total is also popular because its profits are the most important in the Paris stock exchange i.e, 9 billion euros after tax and many consumers want that profit to be reinvested in sustainable developments. Total had to change, and some events had accelerated the process; Total did not want to be just an oil company anymore, but a company which cares about environmental and ethical issues. And it is not a choice but an obligation of the company. One's study asserts that two-thirds of consumers claim that their purchasing decision is influenced by ethical considerations. The aim of this essay is to discuss in what way ethical and environmental considerations influence and complicate the marketing of the big oil company, Total.

Extraits

[...] All these actions can be used to promote the image of Total in a lot of poor countries. Governments can accept the help of Total in exchange of their oil. But sometimes it is not a very ethical attitude and Total has had trouble. For example ‘Total is suspected of making the payments via Telliac, the Swiss trading company, to gain better access to Iraqi oil during the UN embargo.' (Arnold, 2006) In Burma (also known as Myanmar), Total gives a strong financial help to the government but the country can be considered as a dictatorial one. [...]

[...] In which ways environmental and ethical considerations influence and complicate the marketing of Total? Total is the world's fourth-largest oil and gas company, with the largest capitalization on the Paris stock exchange and the Euro zone: 130.5 billion on December 31st Total is a leading multinational energy company with 95,000 employees and activities in more than 130 countries. The company has exploration and production activities in 41 countries. Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil, natural gas exploration and production to the gas downstream, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, international crude oil and product trading. [...]

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[...] Unfortunately, Total and in fact a lot of oil companies did not have a good image in France and this event had a strong impact on the firm. The boat was old, registered in Malta, and Total did not help to clean the beaches. But marketers have made a good advertising campaign about the creation of the Carapol Team in 2005 “which coordinates pollution control resources and whose experts help us to prepare to respond to spills through strategic and operational procedures for different facilities and operations” (Total, 2006). [...]

[...] Some organisations in France asked a creation of a new tax for companies like Total, to finance sustainable development projects. This attempt failed. They also asked to reduce the petrol price but it failed too. Marketers in response to this request communicated a lot about the tomorrow's biofuel and how the money is invested, by showing new technologies development and renewable technologies. many countries there is a formal way of doing business and there is also an informal way of doing business.” (Ghauri and Cateora, 2006) Oil companies often present in developing countries have to face poor legislation and governments, exploiting oil reservoirs can be very hard without paying some officials. [...]