占領華爾街運動將向何處去？

 

看到這個周末一個月前從美國爆發的“占領華爾街運動”已經席卷了全球，不僅在美國各地，在歐洲各個主要城市也引發了大規模的遊行集會的一係列新聞報道，讓我想起60年代在美國那影響了一代人，最後導致美國從越南撤軍的反戰大遊行。 

呼喊著“我們代表99％”、“華爾街需為一切危機負責”、“將金錢踢出選舉”、“要工作，不要戰爭”、“重塑美國”等口號，目標直指華爾街毫無節製的貪婪、美國政府不負責任的放縱，以及民生維艱的蕭條現狀。示威者將不滿的怒火噴向深陷貧富懸殊、金權交易、黨派惡鬥、戰爭泥淖的美國政治經濟製度和社會體係。表達著他們要求“改變美國不公平不合理的政治經濟製度”這一明確的政治訴求。 

不過，看到在一些城市的示威遊行引發的縱火，搶劫，暴亂，也讓人深思，這場運動將向何處去，最終會達到什麽樣的後果？ 

有人說這隻是一些烏合之眾的小打小鬧，成不了氣候？我倒不這麽看。 

從這場運動的影響範圍越來越廣，參與人數越來越多；從前兩天很多共和黨候選人對這場運動的貶低和攻擊，到這兩天的紛紛改口；從紐約市被迫收回周五對占領華爾街運動的清場令，到麻省州長去探望這些抗議者；從美國將在今年12月 31日從伊拉克徹底撤軍。。。我看到了這場運動的潛在威力，我看到了它對美國大選，對政府及兩黨政策的可能影響。。。 

當然，如何掌握火候，控製這場運動的方向，讓它不僅僅是一個泄怒的場所，不隻是為了在媒體前露露噱頭，不讓它被少數人操縱變成一場暴亂，而是把它成為一場和平，持久，覺有影響力的運動，讓更多的人參與進來，也是對這場運動發起者和組織者的挑戰。 

今天舊金山記事報有一篇文章“How Occupy can survive winter of discontent”，對運動的發起者和組織者提出了以下一些建議。 

1. Sustaining a movement

2. Leadership first

3. Message clarity

4. Call to action 

   我想如果這場運動的發起和組織者真能做到以上幾點，有明確的領導和組織結構，有統一的目標和行動綱領，這場轟轟烈烈的民主運動就能在大選之年，為早日結束戰爭，減少金權交易，黨派惡鬥，貧富差距，為改變美國不公平不合理的政治經濟製度發揮一定的作用。
   
   
   

   《How Occupy can survive winter of discontent》

   By: Kathleen Pender, Chronicle Columnist

   If the protesters occupying Wall Street and other locales want to achieve something beyond media attention, they might take some advice from America's branding and marketing gurus.

   I know that's asking a lot from a movement inspired by the anticapitalist, anticonsumerist magazine Adbusters. It's like asking a teenager to get fashion tips from her mother.

   But the principles of marketing are the same "if you are trying to sell Coca-Cola or a new idea," says Russ Meyer, chief strategy officer with branding firm Landor Associates.

   Meyer and other experts say the movement needs strong, credible leadership and a simple, clear message that motivates people to take action.

   "Organizations that are powerful and effective, like Greenpeace, are very good at messaging, clarity, being relevant and different," Meyer says.

   Neither brands nor social movements are built overnight, and this one is "very, very young," says Sarah Soule, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University. "I think that anyone would be hard-pressed four weeks into the civil rights movement to have said then which goals of that movement would succeed."

   But with winter approaching, there is some urgency.

   "Any corporate brand stands for something, whereas they don't stand for anything specific. In two, four, five weeks when it gets really cold, if they don't have a reason for being, even the most ardent people are going to go home," says Miro Copic, a professor with San Diego State University who also runs BottomLine Marketing. "What could be a powerful movement" could be squandered.

   Occupiers at various times and places have demanded an end to corporate bailouts, wars, animal testing and lobbying. They have called for student-loan and mortgage forgiveness, single-payer health care, higher taxes on millionaires and corporations, and higher wages for the middle class. They want banks out of the brokerage business and Wall Street criminals in jail.

   Sustaining a movement

   While this come-one-come-all attitude has helped the movement to grow, it won't help it survive.

   "Every brand needs to do two things," says Peter Sealey, adjunct professor at the Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and former chief marketing officer for Coke.

   One is to create awareness. Sealey gives

   Occupy Wall Street

   an A-plus on this test.

   The other is to articulate a promise or benefit. At Coke the promise was "delicious and refreshing," he says. Sealey says the protesters fail this test. "They don't know what they want to do. It's a boiling cauldron of dissent."

   The group needs "an organizational structure, a leader, an ability to say here are all the issues on our agenda, let's start with these two."

   Having no focus "results in more people joining the mob. It also results in more disharmony," he says.

   The Tea Party was successful because "it had one promise - lower taxes and smaller government. If you agreed with that, you could join," Sealey says.

   Leadership first

   Silicon Valley marketing pioneer Regis McKenna says the group needs to first identify leaders who can set goals and then deliver a simple message or find someone credible who can. "The biggest thing you need when you are a new movement is credibility," he says.

   The leaders do not have to be famous, although "the shortcut is to get someone who is known," he adds.

   Many celebrities - including rapper Kanye West, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, comedian Roseanne Barr, and actors Susan Sarandon and Mark Ruffalo - have shown up at protests.

   But Copic says celebrities can be polarizing. He would not make one the face of the movement "unless you could get someone like Tom Hanks," who has one of the highest Q Scores (which measures likeability) of any star.

   "They need a person from within to be the spokesman," Copic says. This person should be "empathetic, articulate, and come across as an ordinary person."

   Message clarity

   Although it's up to leaders to develop a message, experts say some ideas show promise.

   "Great brands can be summed up in three or four words," Meyer says. He sees potential in "We are the 99 percent," because it focuses the discussion on the income gap and how it has been growing. "I'm seeing 'I am the 99 percent' a lot on Facebook and other social networks. I think there is something there," he says.

   Copic says the group's message could be "the American dream is dead," followed by a few facts to support it.

   This sums up the protesters' key points: Wages are low, the median income is down, millions can't find work. On the other side, companies are reporting record profits, CEOs are making several hundred times the wages of the lowest-paid employee, companies are holding billions of dollars offshore instead of creating jobs here, and all these banks got bailouts and are doing nothing with it.

   "We used to be the land of opportunity. Our opportunity is dying. It's kind of like that song 'American Pie,' " he says.

   Call to action

   Finally, leaders need to tell supporters how they can help. Should they write their congressman? Boycott a bank? Donate money?

   "Frustration without an outlet tends to peter out at a certain point," Copic says.

   I asked Phil Radford, executive director of Greenpeace, how he gets supporters to act. He says when Greenpeace runs a campaign, "we ask where is the individual we want to target, what do we want, what message influences them."

   Radford says that movements are different from campaigns. Social change is "often nonlinear. Sometimes people just stand up. It's not exactly how you would plan a PR campaign."

   The student movement in the 1960s didn't have a leader for a long time, he says, even though the media kept asking, "Where is your leader, and what is your one demand?"

   Another TiVo?

   Radford says Occupy Wall Street "should evolve naturally, and the many leaders on the streets will bring more clarity to it over time."

   Copic fears if it takes too long, it could turn out like TiVo. Like many tech companies (except Apple), it had a superb product but didn't know how to market it.

   "Nobody knew how to describe it. If you asked early adopters why it was cool, you might get four different answers," he says. TiVo itself struggled to define it. "Their initial ad campaign was 'Program your own network.' "

   Even though its product is superior to other digital video recorders and its name is used generically, it has a small share of the DVR market.

   "It was a huge missed opportunity," he says.

   Soule advises the group to "leverage their connection to organized labor" because "unions are highly organized and know how to launch sustained movements and articulate clear goals."

   
   
   Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/10/15/BUQP1LHHAQ.DTL&ao=2#ixzz1ay9fI3wX