Occupy Wall Street and CSR – a new era

DW Simon Survey Results

DS Simon Releases The Occupy Wall Street Survey

“Occupy Wall Street” has dramatically increased the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in reputation management. More than two in three corporate communicators said the Occupy movement affected their communication plans for 2012 and 55% identified CSR as an area of their communication program that has already been addressed. Those are among the key findings of a C-Suite survey of communication professionals conducted for D S Simon Productions, an Integrated Video Marketing and public relations firm, by CommPro.biz

These findings were driven by the overwhelming media coverage of “Occupy Wall Street” during the last part of 2011. Social media kick started the Occupy movement with the viral video of a New York City police officer pepper-spraying a non-violent protestor and continues to be a driving force. For organizations, social media is playing a vital role as they adjust their communication plans because of the movement. An analysis of broadcast coverage of OWS BY D S Simon during this period found that OWS was mentioned more than 17,300 per week from October, 2011 through Thanksgiving. A survey of the media conducted by the firm found 71% of media outlets expect to continue covering the Occupy story in 2012.

The most compelling finding is that “Corporate Social Responsibility” was at or near the top of the surveys as an area of focus for both businesses and the media. Half of the media surveyed indicated the possible effects of the Occupy Movement on corporate social responsibility would be part of their coverage in 2012. We see there is going to be a significant effort by organizations to expand CSR efforts and to make sure they align with and support business goals. We see a significant increase in spending not only on CSR programs but to promote them across a variety of platforms to media that will be looking more closely at these efforts.