It is being called “America’s Tsunami,” and just as they were in January, brand manufacturers and retailers are faced with a conundrum in the midst of a crisis: how to tread the line between providing aid to the victims of a natural disaster— enhancing corporate image— appearing to exploit the situation?
The crisis in this case is, of course, the devastation wreaked throughout the Gulf Coast region of the U.S. as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Even in advance of the storm’s landfall on Monday, many companies were gearing up for an enormous natural disaster; Katrina and its aftermath have lived up to that expectation. With 80% of New Orleans inundated and entire towns flattened by the hurricane, it is now believed hundreds may be dead throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and neighboring states.
Most retailers have sustained immediate damage, but they are also most responsive to the needs of their constituencies in the South.
Office supplier Office Depot and home improvement chain Lowe’s have each made pledges to help provide cash aid. Lowe’s is accepting cash donations from its customers and has said it will match up to $1 million of those donations to support the American Red Cross disaster relief fund. Office Depot plans a straight donation, also to the Red Cross. Other large retailers are expected to make similar announcements in the days to come.
Wal-Mart announced yesterday it has closed 123 of its stores throughout the region. The Times-Picayune, New Orleans leading daily newspaper, reported on Tuesday that a Wal-Mart in the Lower Garden District was looted, and the entire gun collection was taken. The Associated Press has also reported that roving bands of looters were breaking into stores in the Carrollton area to get guns, food and supplies.
At a Walgreen’s drug store in the French Quarter, people were running out with grocery baskets and coolers full of soft drinks, chips and diapers, according to an AP report. Around the corner on Canal Street, the main thoroughfare in the central business district, people sloshed headlong through hip-deep water as looters ripped open the steel gates on the front of several clothing and jewelry stores.
Despite such reports, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Webber told CNN on Tuesday that the mega-retailer has pledged a $1 million donation for relief assistance via the Salvation Army, which is providing meals for victims and emergency and rescue personnel.
Those workers have sometimes had to pre-empt retailer donations. “Emergency workers have seized the food and water and drinks from Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart and other groceries for evacuees,” said Louisiana’s Emergency Operations Director Walter Maestri, but that those supplies were all gone by Wednesday morning. “We have no food or water for the evacuees at this time,” he said.
Instead of (or in addition to) cash aid, some brands are providing material donations. Anheuser-Busch announced on Monday that it was preparing to send 12,600 cases (302,400 cans) of drinking water to Louisiana from its Cartersville, GA, brewery. The cases are being shipped to Baton Rouge, the nearest major city to New Orleans, and will then be transported by the A-B wholesaler Mockler Beverage Co. to the Red Cross.
Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines says it is weighing a federal request that the company use some of its cruise ships as emergency shelters or transport help in relief efforts in some other way.
Whether in cash, goods or services, retailers and manufacturers are becoming more familiar with the implications of their business and philanthropic actions in times of crisis.
John A. Greco Jr., president/CEO of the Direct Marketing Association, released a statement yesterday in which he advised direct and interactive marketers nationwide to look for ways to reconfigure marketing and business efforts in the Gulf Coast states. He said the DMA had recommended its members suspend any telemarketing in the area.
“In reality, just about every marketer is a direct marketer, whether they realize it or not,” Greco said.
And marketers have a unique two-fold vision of the short- and long-term implications of their actions.
“No company should enter this arena to get a measurable return on investment. If it doesn’t come from the heart of giving, then it’s likely to be come across as opportunistic and insincere,” said Clive Maclean, president-U.S. Agency Services, The Marketing Store, Chicago. “That said, over the long run I believe some percentage of the people remember who helped in a time of need and there is likely to be some long term loyalty that comes out of it.”
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