Forum Post: Beyond Symbolism Occupy the Market. Repost if you Agree.

Original Poster JBS

Forget politics. Forget talk. Occupy the market.

People are waiting to see if Occupy can go beyond symbolism. Occupy-approved products could be the actionable answer.

Several years ago I co-authored a proposal for an NGO to expand its societal relevance by going brand. The original proposal encompassed a strategy to create an open working group for NGOs with compatible objectives. The group would initiate a label aimed at uniting humanistic products into a cool, subversive lifestyle. Adbusters' Blackspot does something similar, but Occupy has real potential to go mainstream and move the market.

Bank Transfer Day was an example in the wild. 600.000 closures and credit unions scrambling to offer tailored packages, but it is just a blip of what could be.

Research a market, like banking. Identify good companies. Identify bad companies. Create a YouTube video and endorse moving from the bad list to the good. Be elegant. Don't shout, don't pontificate, explain.

With Adbusters and celebrity support for OWS, talent to shape an Occupy label and message shouldn't be a problem. The biggest test will be to control an OWS label to prevent saturation and maintain quality standards.