Watch Out! Be Careful about the Marketing Strategy during the Politically Sensitive Period!
In times of war, there is no perfect marketing and advertising strategy, but marketers should avoid some obvious mistakes.
As I write down the words and throw them into Grammarly, I realize the crisis of Ukraine has such a tremendous impact on marketing. The color of Grammarly’s logo is changed to blue and yellow. The grammar suggestions on the right-side highlighted all keywords about Ukraine and advised me to learn more about the newest information about the crisis.
What happened in the past 30 days?
The Ukraine crisis is arguably the second round of impact on brands and marketers after the epidemic. If the epidemic was a challenge to the brand’s business model, the situation in Ukraine is more of a challenge to the brand’s public relations.
We have witnessed chaos in the political and marketing area in the past month. Beginning with Ukraine’s president — Zelensky, used social media to gain the public’s attention and the support from many high-tech companies to roll back the Russian. And the sanction between Putin’s Russia and various social platforms. Then, the actions of many big-name brands follow them to stand up for Ukraine. (See all the company list: The Good Lobby — Ukraine Corporate Index.)
Can sanction by big brands really have a dramatic impact on the political situation?
A Gartner Survey of 281 consumers based in the U.S showed that nearly three-quarters of U.S. consumers were concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. And 60% of U.S. consumers believed brands should reconsider doing business in Russia. In this way, it looks like all these companies did the right thing as the customers’ expectations and gave a punch back for Putin.
Personally, it is hard to say that those brands’ reactions to the Ukraine crisis can effectively pull back the situation. When I say these words, I know it seems inhuman.
From the rational perspective - more from a public administrative student (my undergraduate degree) than a marketer. These brands’ actions are more about reducing the pressure from public opinions, maintaining a humane brand image for customers, and also not falling behind their rivals. Thus, helping themselves cut the losses beyond the Russian market. But actually, the sanctions don’t matter much on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, cutting ties with the Russian government and choosing the position quickly even impacts more on Russians (residents) than Putin’s Russia (government). Therefore, it is also not a humanitarian option to some extent.
Some no-fault suggestions for marketers during the politically sensitive period
Admittedly, winding down the operations in Russia and taking a stance for Ukraine seem like the most direct and effective way to deliver the moral message to the public. In reality, it is not easy for all companies to do such fierce sanctions. And it is not because they are feared of sacrificing their sales and revenues, but they cannot do that for a moral purpose. An excellent example of this is the food and the drugs industry.
So, I will give unmistakable suggestions for all those brands and marketers - not the advice about what they should do, but about what they should not do.
No action is ok, but don’t be tone deaf!
A good counter-example for that is Applebee’s Ads on CNN. It was a PR accident for both a media company and the brand. On February 26th, during CNN’s live coverage of the Russa-Ukraine conflict, Applebee’s commercial ads aired at the other half side of the screen with a cowboy wriggling his hips.
If I were there, I would think Applebee wanted to go crazy for the traffic and could even joke about such a serious matter. They even did not show basic empathy for what happened in the world.
No action is ok, but if you have, please be sincere.
Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner have faced backlash for their social advertisement posts amid the devastation taking place in Ukraine. Kylie posted the Instagram story and said, “God protect the people of Ukraine. But less than two hours after she posted that story, she published another commercial ad about her new lip gloss and linked for followers to buy her new products. That sudden change made many online users feel really uncomfortable, and many people said, “Kylie cannot be fxxking serious right now.”
It’s hard to judge whether Kylie’s quick turnaround was at fault or not. But for, Internet users are often demanding of brands or celebrities, especially for such severe and sensitive events. So it’s also important to give viewers more time to digest this information, and it needs to be in a format that makes them feel that you’re being sincere.
Do more, say less.
In such a volatile situation, doing the right thing is always more important than saying the right words. When there is no certainty that you can communicate appropriately with the public, it is probably better not to say anything.
Going back to the example I started with — Grammarly, which is in the middle of an entirely unrelated industry to Ukraine and Russia. I didn’t even expect that such a small grammar-checking site could be so warm-hearted. And when I went to the last part of this week's blog, I went to Google to search whether it has an official statement about the Ukraine war. Surprisingly, it has not said anything about the war, just some tiny and warm actions! But it is enough to make users feel its humane.
