What do brands do in a crisis?
As we all know, the conflict with Russia and Ukraine has recently been a hot issue. Every minute, every moment, we are all constantly updating and discussing the newest update. And I’m pretty sure, as every second passes by, our hearts is as hot as fire. As humans, we are empathetic and actively find ways to help support Ukraine and its people.
And how about brands?
What do brands do in a crisis? Is it genuinely or pretendedly?
As the pandemic slowly passes by and the travel ban is lifted, people start picking up on traveling. However, with the recent conflict between Russia and Ukraine, travel might not be as fun in Europe.
HostelWorld, one of the biggest accommodation platforms for travel that embraces traveler experience, has really stood up and shown its voice toward the issue throughout its communication platforms. The brand was able to show its support toward the local hostels in Ukraine, travelers, refugees, and the community in a variety of ways.
Encourage Donation
The website is the main face of the brand and HostelWorld has made its announcement bold and clear, right on top of the website.
We stand with Ukraine. Help refugees caught in the conflict by donating today
This announcement has shown and guided us to ways to help refugees caught in the conflict through donation. The donation page was re-directed to UNHCR — UN Refugee Agency, a trusted source, to donate with different amounts.
Change in Policy
HostelWorld has announced a new way to support local hostels in Ukraine, help fund these small businesses and their families. By booking a room in Ukraine with a Non-Refundable Rate and not showing up, these hostels can charge the full hotel fee, making this become a direct donation. Thus, HostelWorld will also donate the booking deposit received to the UNHCR’s Ukraine Emergency Appeal on “donors” behave.
For travelers who planned to travel to Ukraine, HostelWorld also announced its flexible cancelation policy with a full refund for those travelers.
Partnership with Local Hostels
HostelWorld has created a directory of local hostel partners near Ukraine that can provide free accommodation for refugees. By doing so, the company was able to help minimize refugees' effort in finding a place to look after themselves and their families.
Although this is a brilliant way to support the people, the directory is very hidden on the HostelWorld website as it’s located in the Forum/Help section without any navigation from the home page. This might reduce the visibility of the directory and might not be able to help the refugees in need.
Russia Hostels are no longer available
By completely taking off all hostels in Russia, HostelWorld is really affirming its stand in this conflict, and somewhat putting pressure on the Russian side.
Brands and Standing Up on Issues
In such a crisis as we are facing today, brands act as an advocate. Consumers choose to believe and support a brand base on their values and beliefs. 41% of consumers say what brands post on social media influences their opinions on public issues, and 61% will conduct further research into an issue that a brand promotes. There is always a big demand from consumers on how brands should use their platform to speak up, spread the word on opportunities, and educate others to help people who are in need.
With the evolving world nowadays, 70% of consumers want brands to take a stand on social and political issues. With brands standing up on causes that align with consumers’ values and have the power to make a difference, consumers reported that they are more likely to purchase and follow the brand. However, with a flood of brands joining the conversations for causes or responding to crises, it doesn’t always feel genuine for the consumers. In fact, 53% of consumers think that brands do so for PR and marketing purposes. It’s important to brand to take a stand and provide support through reasonable and effective actions, and not just empty words.
For HostelWorld, it’s obvious that they are standing up and speaking up against this crisis, but regarding the effort they put into the cause, I don’t see any “go out of their way” effort being put in here. Although HostelWorld’s actions are impactful, but redirecting website to UNHCR’s Ukraine Emergency Appeal for donation (and not organizing their own donation fund), or creating a directory of hostels with free accommodation (though super-hidden) are things that every other company can do, and it does not require much resources or effort. The same idea applies to their flexible cancellation policy and updating the list of Russian hostels.
It’s understandable that brands choose to do things within their range of capability. But for me, with such adequate effort putting into this ethical issue, HostelWorld doesn’t stand out much to me, accompanied with an impression of “another company doing things” not to get backlash.
But, I guess, in the end, every effort (regardless of big or small) counts toward our progress to support the people in need throughout this whole crisis.
And you? How have you supported the people in need?
