How did brands respond to the earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria?
When natural disasters such as earthquakes occur, brands often assume a responsibility to respond promptly and effectively. This response can help mitigate the disaster’s impact on affected communities while demonstrating the brand’s commitment to social responsibility and ethics.
It is expected for the national, international and local governments to respond to natural disasters and their efforts are already defined by domestic and international regulations. However, brands are not legally responsible for taking action in such incidents.
Are brands responsible for taking action in a disaster?
Yet, with the rising interaction between people and brands, they are more embedded in daily events and the cultural sphere. So, they assume a responsibility to make the world a better place by supporting ideas, values, and ideologies that align with their value proposition. Still, when taking real action in the face of a devastating disaster, they may fail to put their money where their mouth is. Literally as well as figuratively.
For example, in the aftermath of the tragic earthquakes affecting Turkiye and Syria, some brands immediately used social media to raise awareness of the tragedy while at the same time donating to and helping the people involved. But some brands failed to take action, and tinkering with support made everything worse for themselves.
Because an earthquake is a natural disaster that destroys everything, including basic needs such as shelter, toilet, warm clothes and food, taking immediate action may save thousands of lives.
Some global and local brands have provided support after the disaster.
For example, the IKEA Foundation announced an immediate donation of €10 million to support Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). This will help deliver essential aid, including medical assistance, psychological support, and healthcare services, to those most impacted by the devastating earthquake. IKEA Foundation has also sent 5,000 flatpack shelters to southern Turkey, and northern Syria to house people left homeless by the earthquake last week, while brands like Amazon, Google, and Apple send supplies to help survivors of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.
The fashion industry has also supported the victims by providing them with clothing. Inditex, which includes Zara, Bershka, and Pull & Bear, donated three million euros and 500,000 pieces of warm apparel to the Turkish organisation Red Crescent for the humanitarian emergency. In addition, a Danish brand, Bestseller, immediately announced sending 10.000 winter jackets to the earthquake zone, 4.000 of which were immediately mobilised from their warehouses in Istanbul.
In addition, the popular e-commerce platform in Turkey, Trendyol, supported Turkiye and Syria by donating food, water, clothing, and hygiene products. Moreover, Trendyol has used its social media channels effectively throughout the disaster, which has won the public’s appreciation.
Cryptocurrency platforms supported the community.
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance pledged to donate a total of USD 5 million in cryptocurrency to individuals who are natural disaster victims in the region. Also, the leading Turkish cryptocurrency exchange platform announced its actions and disclosed several NGOs’ cryptocurrency accounts for people who want to donate in cryptocurrency form.
According to Blockchain records, wallet addresses shared by AHBAP, a local NGO which became one of the main actors after the earthquake and has more trust than government institutions, have accumulated more than 3 million USD only in one week after the quake in cryptocurrencies.
The food industry showed solidarity and took immediate action.
Global fast-food brand McDonald’s announced that it would distribute food in the affected areas, and even its competitor Burger King reshared their post. In addition, world-famous restaurant owners like Nusret Gokce (a.k.a. Salt Bae) and Burak Ozdemir (a.k.a. CZN Burak) sent food trucks to the region. Burak Ozdemir is originally from the area, whose restaurant represents the food culture of Hatay, and he participated in the rescue efforts in person.
There was (and still is) incredible solidarity and support from the gastronomy and food leaders and influencers in Turkey. Internationally known chefs like Maksut Aşkar, Murat Deniz Temel, Esen Hünal and Cem Ekşi and many others, and lifestyle and travel influencers like Burak Kan (@gurukafa) and many others immediately arrived in the region, leaving their work and restaurants. They organised supplies, established kitchens and cooked warm food for the earthquake victims. The solidarity of the food industry was so heartwarming and gave hope to the people.
And some brands were cancelled after the earthquakes.
Digital platforms, Spotify, Netflix, and Disney+, as well as Starbucks, have been under fire after the earthquakes because of their silence after the tragic event. People were annoyed with their silence since these brands have the highest daily engagement with their audience on a cultural level. However, all these brands that became silent and less vocal brands stood up to take action. But, unfortunately, that did not make many Turkish people happy.
Even though they chose to make statements after the backlash, they lost subscribers and damaged their brand’s reputation in the eyes of the people. This is because they failed to stand up for the ideas, values and ideologies they stood for.
These global brands are not the only ones that received criticism after the disaster. The leading telecommunications operator in Turkiye, Turkcell, also received backlash after they replied to an earthquake survivor requesting the invoices of the victims to be cancelled. Turkcell’s response was to postpone their invoices “for a week”. That created even more immense backlash, and Turkcell had to apologise.
Why does it matter for brands to respond to such disasters?
Supporting people in the aftermath of disasters is a socially responsible action that is humane and raises brand image in the long run. Moreover, especially in eastern cultures such as Turkiye and Syria, people always remember who was with them and who wasn’t during calamities and challenging times.
It is essential to understand that if brands and businesses claim responsibility for shaping the culture and the future for a better world, they must never forget this, especially in natural disasters like this. Some brands failed this test, and some showed how they cared for lives and demonstrated they cared more about improving the world than making a profit. And people are grateful for the solidarity and will never forget that.
And finally, that can positively affect a brand’s image, reputation, and customer loyalty and contribute to the community’s recovery and, ultimately, the brand’s long-term success. Not for PR but for actually being what a brand claims to be.
The brands and people are examples of countless brands, businesses, and people who took action to help the victims and people in the region. They are neither better nor worse than others. We came across them after two weeks of the devastating earthquakes in eastern Turkiye and northern Syria on the 6th of February 2023.
