Carolina Palacios
Business Manager APOYO Comunicación Corporativa
Maria Katia Filomeno
Project Director
What do opinion leaders expect of mining companies?
The continuous exposure that different mining companies have had to crisis situations in recent months is just an example of the importance of establishing long-term relations with sectors of the public of interest to the mining sector. Companies currently invest money and effort in building bridges with some institutions. However, which sectors of the public should be given priority?
The recent "Mining Sector Image Study" (qualitative, not representative) conducted by APOYO Comunicación Corporativa, gathers the perception of opinion leaders –journalists, governmental authorities and specialists from civil society– on the manner in which mining companies must optimize their policies on institutional relations. This information enables such companies to redirect or enhance their efforts toward sectors of the public with which they have not yet attained an optimum relationship, or those to which they have not paid enough attention.
The report shows that there are still significant differences between the emphasis perceived regarding what companies should give some sectors of the public and what companies actually provide. Opinion leaders feel that mining companies do not give the communities in the direct area of influence, or even their own workers, enough importance. On the contrary, they believe that mining companies have a policy focused on working with the media and the central government, instead of giving priority to the areas in which they operate and establishing strategic alliances with local governments.
The great challenge facing mining companies is to establish relations based on confidence in an adverse setting, with elections coming up as well. These relations must be built not only to handle attacks from anti-mining opinion leaders or candidates hoping to become regional leaders; they must build ties that make operations sustainable in the long run. Being open to dialogue is not enough. Today the challenge is to be proactive and communicate in a smooth-flowing, simple, transparent manner. The path is already marked.
.jpg)
The study conducted by APOYO Comunicación Corporativa shows the differences that opinion leaders find between the importance they give to diverse sectors of the public of interest to them and the importance they give them.
|