#FreeSentsov: how the Ukrainian business speaks out in political prisoners support

Domestic entrepreneurs are beginning to get used to the think that consumers have changed in recent years. Now we can win their loyalty not only with discounts and sales, but also with the patriotic civil position active demonstration.

The Ukrainian political prisoner Oleg Sentsov has been held in Russian captivity for more than 4 years. More than 100 days have passed since he went on a hunger strike. He demands to release all political prisoners from Ukraine held in Russia. The aggressor-state government refuses to release the captured hostages, despite the most powerful support of Sentsov and other prisoners, which spread throughout the world: from Poland and Canada to Brazil and Chile.

The political prisoner repeatedly was supported in Ukraine: both private individuals and politicians, and business. Four years after the Revolution of Virtue, the brand civic position and its representatives began to play a central role in CSR (corporate social responsibility). What is clear on a simple example, when retailers conflict with own customers by reason of the language issue — the lack of Ukrainian language in communication has already become almost synonymous with reputational losses for any B2C-company.

At the same time, most retailers and SECs in our country live in their parallel reality, in the center of which often only discounts and entertainment activities. But this works every year worse for the consumer loyalty formation.

The reasons for ignoring the “social chain” are clear: the civic position manifestation on the company behalf is a delicate matter, and the initiative is fast punishable (especially when it suddenly differs from the ultimate owner position). So Ukrainian marketers prefer to work with conversion and stimulating advertising: “discounts”, “sale”, “new collections”, and they can react to the events around except perhaps only with the help of careful situational marketing.

The personal position of the brand’s representatives also influences the situation. A vivid example of this situation was the action in support of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia with the hashtag #FreeSentsov. May 14, 2018 Ukrainian producer Oleg Sentsov, illegally imprisoned in the Russian Federation, announced an indefinite hunger strike with the only demand for the release of all 64 Ukrainian political prisoners held in the Russian Federation and the territory of Crimea. Thereafter among domestic retailers and SECs turned up those whom were close and understandable the situation. This allowed not only to create a viral effect in social chains among the not indifferent public, but also to get new consumers loyal to the brand, and also to receive reputational dividends.

Our showcases are our voice

The first to respond was the multi-brand platform Vsі.Svoy, which in May 2018 posted posters in its windows in support of Oleg Sentsov, and also made a statement on Facebook.

“Our showcases are our voice – this was written on Facebook’s page. — If you share our position, put in the comments the Flag of Ukraine ️. We urge to join us all who have at own disposal showcases and windows. All showcases in Kiev and the country should speak in one voice! We must draw attention and are sure that the actions will follow. There are no strangers in the list of Ukrainian political prisoners. There are all their own”.

In the shop windows, three banners were put up: with Oleg Sentsov portrait, his illegal imprisonment story in the Russian prison and a list of all Ukrainian political prisoners’ names held in Russia. The action was timed to the holding of the UEFA Champions League on football final match in Kiev and allowed to draw attention to the problem of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia.

Own political position was shown by the capital’s SC Pyramid, located on the Mishugi str. in the Pozniaky metro region. In early June 2018, users noticed that a poster with the Oleg Sentsov image and information about other political prisoners appeared at the entrance to the shopping center.

As it turned out, the initiative belonged to the investment company Dragon Capital, which purchased the SC Pyramid in 2016. Posters with the same content appeared on the Dragon Capital building itself; the investment company reported about it on June 1 on its Facebook page.

“Oleg Sentsov is a prisoner of the Kremlin! He is Ukrainian citizen, film producer and writer, ready to give his life for freedom to more than 60 Ukrainian political prisoners illegally detained in Russian colonies and pre-trial detention centers”, — this was written on a poster.

This example was also followed by the Lvov SEC Victoria Gardens.

The KLO chain filling stations was also seen with an interesting initiative: huge inscriptions are appearing on the big screen every 30 seconds to support Oleg Sentsov. Also KLO offer on its Facebook page to sign a petition on the White House website, calling on US functionaries to officially demand the release of Oleg and another 64 Ukrainian political prisoners.

At the same time, this initiative does not occur at one KLO refueling station, but at least a few.

Undoubtedly, nobody has analyzed the effect of such statements. But one can assert a positive effect for the brand, even without conversion accurate measurements for each case separately and only promising social chains. Sometimes it’s better to follow the spirit of the times in CSR manifestations than to waste efforts to predict the benefits to the brand and, in the end, ignoring the social challenges so important to the society / consumer.