Businesses supporting the occupation of Parliament risk reputational damage - marketing experts

Monday, 28 February 2022

As the parliamentary protest enters its third week, marketing experts warn that businesses seen to be supporting the protesters could suffer damage to the reputation.

Red Stag Timber chief executive, Marty Verry, has been open about his financial support of the occupation of Parliament grounds.

Verry contributed $250 to the protest group to be used for supply of food and toilets.

He said he was not concerned with any damage to the reputation of his Rotorua business.

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Red Stag chief executive Marty Verry says it is not hypocritical for him to support the protest after taking $2.3 million from the Government wage subsidy because he is both pro-vaccination and anti-mandate.

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“What is more important here is not reputation, it is how we can get this country open again,” Verry said.

A shower block is delivered to the occupation of Parliament by Colin Wightman, owner of Eco Cottages.

At the end of last year, Red Stag used funds from the $2.3 million of Government wage subsidy it recieved to pay $3000 bonuses to each of its workers who agreed to be vaccinated.

Verry said it was not hypocritical to be now supporting the protest, which contained a large number of anti-vaccination groups. He said he was pro-vaccination, but anti-mandate.

“If you want an analogy it is like I have seen someone being assaulted in an alleyway, and I have gone and helped. Now I am getting a few arrows in my back, but that’s okay, sometimes the helper gets attacked. But that is inconsequential to the people who are being attacked in the first place, which is our tourism and hospitality sectors.”

Verry said he did not support the actions of some protesters, but any bad behaviour had little to do with him or his donation.

Eco Cottages owner Colin Wightman of Canterbury was another businessman openly supporting the protest.

Head of marketing at Auckland University business school Bodo Lang says if business owners are in the same information bubble as protesters they may not realise what damage they are causing to their reputation.

Wightman provided a prefab shower unit for protesters use on Stout St next to the law school.

When approached by Stuff Wightman expressed a strong distaste for media and skepticism of Covid-19. He has previously been involved in directing anti-vax messages to primary school children.

Auckland University of Technology senior marketing lecturer, Marilyn Giroux says it was difficult to see any benefits to a business supporting the protest, from a marketing perspective.

University of Auckland business school, head of marketing, Bodo Lang, said there was potential for long term damage to reputation for businesses supporting the protest.

“The key is how these protests continue to evolve. If they change in size, duration and violence then the public patience with this will run out further. The longer this goes on the more risky it is for businesses to support the protest,” Lang said.

Lang said it was easier for businesspeople outside of Wellington to support the protest because their own regions had not experienced the civic disruption caused by the protest first hand.

He said it was likely the business owners were in the same information bubble of many of the protesters, and so did not realise what their business involvement looked like to the rest of the country.

“Some people are so entrenched in their position that they only consume information that approves their beliefs. Because of that, some of these businesses may be unaware of the real world consequences of having their brand name attached to the protest.”

Auckland University of Technology senior marketing lecturer, Marilyn Giroux said by throwing their lot in with the Parliament protesters, some businesspeople may be sidelining most of the country.

“It seems the protest at this point is less about the mandates as about disruption to the city. People are getting tired of it, and at the extremes we are seeing bad behaviour. As a brand it is just dangerous to get involved,” Giroux said.

When a brand supports a cause, it could align the business closer to consumer values, she said.

But it was difficult to see the benefit of any business getting involved in the protest.

“This protest is now costing money, it is dragging on and even starting to turn away people who may have supported its cause initially. There is little positive to be seen here for any business getting involved,” she said.