nestle

The Sinar Mas influence map by Salter Baxter

Is it a tube map for spiders? A diagram of the galactic core? No, it's an analysis of our ongoing Sinar Mas campaign, specifically the way it has evolved online.

Communication consultants Salter Baxter have tracked how our campaigns on Nestlé, HSBC, Burger King and their connections to Sinar Mas have been discussed on the web, how those conversations have interacted and what impact they've had on the campaign itself.

Laura from our international office updates on what's been going on since Nestlé's Facebook page went into meltdown.

"Social media: as you can see, we're learning as we go. Thanks for the comments." On 19 March, that was the status message on Nestlé's Facebook fan page - which had already been under siege for three days. The message didn't stay up there for long but it was obviously in recognition of the page administrator's poor handling of the comments and criticisms that had been streaming in since the launch of our KitKat ad spoof.

Those of us following social media/marketing blogs know what happened to Nestlé's online reputation - it quickly became synonomous with words like: "disaster", "kitkatastrophe", "nightmare", "meltdown" and so on. But what did all of those Facebook comments do for Indonesia's rainforests?

Given we've turned our sights away from Nestle towards HSBC, a few more details might be in order about why we've gone from chocolatey giant to banking colossus as the next stage in our campaign to stop Indonesia's rainforests being replaced with palm oil and paper plantations. It's a lateral step but then our intent has always been to tackle the palm oil industry at every level, from production to consumption and all points in between.

You'll never guess what. Nestlé has only gone and agreed to our campaign demands! And you've made this possible. We really, seriously could not have done it without you. Now we need to move straight on to the next big player in the palm oil industry - banking giant HSBC.

Okay, so Nestlé has received tens of thousands of emails, not to mention hundreds (maybe even thousands) of phone calls about the palm oil in its products, but we're still not seeing much in the way of affirmative action. So how about putting a huge advert in a major international newspaper to remind the executives that we're still expecting to see some major announcements very soon?

Nestlé's AGM has broken up and, while shareholders feasted on cup-a-soups and instant noodles (I kid you not), I spoke to Ian and Pat, two of our campaigners who spent all afternoon in the meeting.

According to Ian, the moment our banners popped down was perfectly timed. Nestlé's chair, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, was explaining how well the company had performed over the last fiscal year when noises were heard up in the roof and leaflets began raining down, not at all unlike a shower of cash. The shrieks from those of a nervous disposition as the two banners were unfurled only added to the excitement.

As well as having Greenpeace people in the audience at Nestlé's AGM, we also had a couple of people in a more elevated position - in the rafters of the Lausanne Capitale Olympique, where a couple of climbers were waiting to drop a banner and a cascade of leaflets. According to Ian who's been texting me from the meeting, "everybody shrieked" when the banner dropped.

Meanwhile, outside our orang-utans were being dragged away by the police. Surely they're 'armless?

You've emailed, called and sent Easter cards but Nestle have simply not taken enough action to stop buying palm oil and other products from those companies destroying Indonesia's rainforests. So today we're asking you to send messages in to the heart of their annual general meeting in Switzerland where the shareholders will be gathered.

Add your message on Twitter (make sure you include a #nestle tag) or comment in the window below - our campaigners and activists at the AGM are directing shareholders to see your messages on our website.