Corporate Campaigns
In the second edition of ‘Horizons’, Eversheds Sutherland partners, Marc Meryon and Thomas Player, review the increasing reputational threat to corporates posed by well-organised protests and sophisticated campaigns.
Protesters outside your CEO’s home, your corporate brand tarnished in the courts by a test case, and your supply chains subjected to criticism on social media – all signs of a business on the receiving end of a corporate campaign.
Increasing in number, campaigns are organised by workers, NGOs, pressure groups or civil society groups. They focus on a company’s relationship with its stakeholders, asserting their demands while applying adverse reputational pressure. Campaigns are typically human rights, employment or environment-related, and are capable of turning public opinion against a business with alarming speed. Yet businesses can be slow to spot the risks inherent in their operating models or the signs of a corporate campaign, and therefore, tend to be slow to respond appropriately.
