The sane and insane ways brands reacted to Ukraine crisis
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, brands and marketers have been thinking about how to communicate their concerns on the social media in possible ethical ways. Whether to take a stand or no? If yes? then how? how subtle? quirky no quirky? or harsh?.. and so on.
Sensible Stand of Popular Brands
McDonald’s said on 8th March that it would temporarily close all 847 of its restaurants in Russia including its iconic Pushkin Square location. however would continue to pay salaries to its 62,000 employees in Russia.
Coca-Cola after suspending sale in Russia, have committed to €1 million to support the brave efforts of the Red Cross movement operating in Ukraine.
Starbucks “Our license partner has agreed to immediately pause store operations and will provide support to the nearly 2,000 partners in Russia who depend on Starbucks for their livelihood.We condemn the horrific attacks on Ukraine by Russia,” stated the coffee chain’s CEO, Kevin Johnson.
Netflix announced that it would pause all future projects and acquisitions from Russia and shutting down its service entirely. They produced a feature Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom for the public to know about the internal affairs and struggles faced by people.
PepsiCo said it would suspend all beverage sales while keeping essentials like baby food flowing.
Airbnb will offer free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.
TikTok “In light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law. Our in-app messaging service will not be affected”. However on the flip side they say TikTok is still used widely by Ukrainians to share their conditions and war updates. TikTokers are watching the war through the medium. On her way, @Valerisssh shows viewers what “Putin has done to the city,” with destroyed buildings and debris seen lining the streets.
The stand was expected by these popular brands as their reach is humongous and hence other brands would follow the same stand as these popular brands do. However none of these brands posted on their social media page about this. Brands like McD and PepsiCo were condmen initially by public on twitter.
Boycotting is one stand however donating funds to Ukraine raises the brand’s lookout in public eyes. Netflix’s initiative on broadcasting the feature film to sensitize people about the condition is a smart step taken which will inform people and decision makers in taking further steps. It was very considerate of PepsiCo to continue selling of essential food for babies and for survival was an intelligent step and otherwise would have invited criticism on human grounds. Airbnb has raised the bar high at being the most human brand for the welfare of the people by giving shelter to refugees.
Insane response
Pantone: Released a color scheme
When Pantone posted an image of the two colors, labeled “Freedom Blue” and “Energizing Yellow,” not everyone was impressed with the gesture by the color trend experts. Their gesture intended to show support however it didn’t convey the value of empathy nor sympathy.
Ben & Jerry’s: The chief executive of Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever, has criticised the ice-cream maker’s controversial tweet about the Ukraine crisis, saying it should stay away from issues where it does not have “expertise or credibility”.
AppleBee: The Applebee’s commercial aired during a moment in CNN’s coverage when a news camera was panning over the rooftops of Kyiv, air raid sirens blaring. Many Twitter users clocked the oddity of the moment and posted it for posterity, with captions like “Someone didn’t pause their ad spend fast enough” and “Russia Invades Ukraine brought to you by Applebees!” The brand was condemned. However their spokesperson retaliated the blame by puting it on CNN and safeguarded the brand.
Why is it important to take a stand?
Whether the brand’s reach is large or small, whether it is a product or service industry the customers are talking about their presence online and formulating their opinions. The impact of brand communication on the consumers is huge, that online communication cannot be underestimated. The viral nature of today’s information can create or destroy reputations in a micro-moment. People judge brands and even celebrities in no time if the stand they take is irrational and without conviction. Online Reputation Management(ORM) is a program which takes care of the online reputation for brands and people so that their communication doesn’t go South.
Signing off,
G
