by bgetch.

Here are supporting numbers behind what we all have inherently felt: people are making values-purchasing decisions as readily as value decisions on price, benefits, etc.

According to the survey, 45% of global consumers are identified as advocates, which means they take action on issues, such as “making purchase recommendations, sending a letter to a company or elected official, or organizing a protest or boycott.”

Additionally, 63% of global consumers say they are making judgments quicker as to whether to support or reject issues or companies than they did two or three years ago. WS attributed this to several factors, including a more informed populace, individuals with stronger voices, and easier access to information.

“Advocates are everywhere,” said Gaines-Ross. “Influence used to be that you would [reach out to] analysts, community leaders, and influential journalists. Now you have to find out where these advocates are lurking.”

While advocates are quick to form opinions of companies, “badvocates” or critics, may do so even quicker. The survey found 76% of badvocates express displeasure with a company or issue within one week.

Posted in Companies Tracked | Print | No Comments »

by bgetch.

The Wall Street Journal editorial page recently captured the burgeoning strength and influence of alumni groups and their skillful grassroots mobilization effort. Alumni groups are powerful when they are focused on individual issues as they intersect three of the four spheres of influence in our stakeholder model.

 
Here’s a snippet from the Journal’s take

Consider the recent unrest at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. When the school’s tour guides were informed in an email last winter that a century-old cross was to be expelled from the school’s chapel, alumni and students mounted a “Save the Wren Cross” campaign. Press releases, a Web site, and a petition that collected 18,000 signatures led to a restoration.

This experience has emboldened what might be called the William and Mary electorate. A new organization is now asking if the governing Board of Visitors should renew the college president’s contract. That’s normally a rubber-stamp affair, but now college executives are being forced to defend themselves against charges of poor financial stewardship.

The merits of these disputes seem less important than the fact that there is now earnest and public discussion about the performance of college administrators, who, like career government bureaucrats, are usually adept at avoiding accountability. Stakeholders are suddenly feeling empowered.

That’s certainly true at Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, where alumni have used a petition process for the board of trustees to elect four independent candidates in recent years. These “petition candidates” have run against disciplinary procedures that lack due process rights, speech codes, and an increased budget emphasis on administrative bureaucracy at the expense of academics.

The Dartmouth administration responded last fall by proposing a new set of trustee election rules that would have made these outsider candidacies more difficult. The measure needed support from two-thirds of voting alumni to pass but failed to get even a majority. The year ended with the election of a fourth reformist, University of Virginia law professor Stephen Smith.

Universities would be wise to expand their communication with alumni beyond fluffy news items and fundraising pitches to original research /survey work, particularly before they implement a contentious policy.

Posted in Universities | Print | No Comments »

by bgetch.

The media has always enjoyed teeing up contentious shareholder meetings, but a number of this year’s are billed like heavyweight fights.

Take a look at the AP’s tale of the tape for the Yahoo! shareholder meeting.

Shareholders are certainly embolden to share their disdain for poor results or policies.  And an emerging powerhouse stakeholder group is proxy or shareholder advisory firms like Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass, Lewis and Proxy Governance who are make their recommendations public to stir the pot.

Corporate managers and IR professionals are going to need better ways of monitoring investor sentiment or be prepared to face a major annual crisis event: the shareholder meeting.

Posted in Yahoo! | Print | No Comments »

by bgetch.

Who knew it takes more than 2 litres of water to produce every litre of Coke? That’s more than 75 billion gallons of water per year used by the Coca-Cola company, according to the Wall Street Journal.

That much water consumption raises sensitive environmental and water conservation issues in the developed and developing world. It certainly gets the attention of environmental groups who estimate 1.1 billion people in poorer nations have difficulty accessing safe drinking water.
Look closely at Coke’s timing and supporting points in its announcement of a Coca-Cola corporate pledge on reducing water used, recycling water in production processes and replenishing water in communities. What many companies and their communicators do is make a hollow-sounding statement about corporate responsibility without any data to support it. Or they communicate reactively and allow others to define acceptable behavior.
Coke did three things very well:

1. Strong Stakeholder: They partnered with the WWF (formerly the World Wildlife Fund) to lend 3rd party credibility to their effort
2. Real Data: Coke rolled out its inverted hockey stick to demonstrate its moving in the right direction already (no hollow claim)
3. Momentum: The data, Coke’s partnership with a credible stakeholder, and its pledge to continue to do better, all add up to positive, reputation-enhancing momentum. Coke has insulated itself on the water issue and shown innovation and leadership.

Posted in Coca-Cola | Print | No Comments »

by bgetch.

Between poor earnings results, job cuts and fraud charges, Nortel has had its difficulties.  Look for them to bounce back, however, as they get more aggressive in their marketing with special emphasis on improved operating results.  Chief Marketing Officer Lauren Flaherty is putting an emphasis on reputation.
“Nortel in the recent past has suffered reputation issues, and some customers have lost confidence; we’re still working our way out of that,” said Lauren Flaherty, Nortel’s CMO. “Our goals for the marketing efforts are all [geared toward] building the reputation of the company and getting the news out there about Nortel’s momentum and future.” 

Posted in Nortel | Print | No Comments »