Name change is one option for beleagured firm

New Orleans: BP gas station owners across the country are divided over whether the oil giant stained by its handling of the Gulf of Mexico spill should rebrand US outlets as Amoco or another name as part of its effort to repair the company's badly damaged reputation.

Some who have seen their sales plunge because of protests say BP has already sought a fresh start by naming an American to replace its gaffe-prone British CEO, so why not change the name on gas station marquees as a further symbol of that culture shift.

Others worry that a name change is a big deal that is risky given all the marketing dollars already spent building up the BP brand.

They also believe a successful turnaround with the existing brand will have a bigger payoff.

In the aftermath of the oil spill, some BP-branded gas stations reported sales declines of 10 per cent to 40 per cent from Florida to Illinois.

BP later responded by offering distributors of BP gasoline cash in their pockets, reductions in credit card fees and help with more national advertising.

The BP name and green-and-yellow sunflower logo took over after BP merged with Amoco in the late 1990s, replacing the Amoco name and its blue-and-red torch inside an oval logo.

There is precedent for such a drastic move to return to the Amoco name or to go with a new name. Think AirTran after the ValuJet crash and Xe Services after the killing of civilians by Blackwater Worldwide guards in Iraq. John Kleine, who heads a trade group that represents distributors of BP gasoline in the US, told The Associated Press that interest in changing names has not reached a fever pitch by any means, but it has supporters and is percolating among station owners ahead of their annual convention with BP executives in October.

"Is it on the minds of people? Sure," Kleine said. "It would not be a topic of conversation if not for the oil spill."

Rebuild the brand

Kleine noted that many distributors would still like BP to try to rebuild its existing brand, and if that cannot be done, then to consider alternatives.

Distributors in many cases also own and operate stations.

Two BP officials said in e-mails that the company is not considering rebranding US gas stations.

BP owns just a fraction of the more than 11,000 stations across the US that sell its fuel mostly under the BP banner. Arco, a BP affiliate, is predominant in the West.

Kleine said the Amoco name is no longer supposed to be used, but says in rare cases it may still exist. Most BP-branded stations are owned by local people whose primary connection to the oil company is the logo and a contract to buy gasoline.

Bob Juckniess, who owns 10 BP-branded stations in the Chicago area says: "The BP brand is very tarnished right now, not just the brand but the reputation as a company is tarnished."