Rezidor Hotel Group’s Klara Zakis, manager PR and communications MENA, explains how the group took the bold step of relaunching its popular charity campaign and reveals how it has already reaped the results and helped 10,000 of the region’s labourers
Last issue, Hotelier reported that The Rezidor Hotel Group was relaunching The Box Appeal, its charity campaign formerly known as the Shoe box Appeal, in order to raise increased awareness and generate much-needed practical support for labourers in the region.
In the weeks following, the campaign has been an overwhelming success, with Radisson Blu and Park Inn hotels in the UAE, Bahrain and Oman taking part, involving their local communities and filling thousands of boxes with basic items.
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The process actually started way back in January this year, however, and here, Klara Zakis, manager PR and communications MENA for Rezidor, recalls in a step-by-step diary how the initiative started, challenges overcome and suggests useful tips for hoteliers looking to develop their own CSR programmes.
January 2011
So there I am, the new girl. I’ve only been at The Rezidor Hotel Group for one month, so this was my first time in one of our monthly meetings. Then the now infamous sentence was muttered.... “Let’s make 2011 the biggest box appeal ever, who wants to lead the campaign?” said Marko Hytönen, VP.
Here’s my chance, I thought; time to make a good impression. So before I knew it my hand shot up: “I think it would make sense if PR took charge of this one.”
“Great” he replied, “this year I want to fill 10,000 boxes, let’s help more people than ever before.”
I walked away from the meeting and suddenly it dawned on me — 10,000 boxes! What was I thinking, how was I going to do this?
May
A few months on and all nine of our UAE hotels are geared up and ready to take part, plus Cairo, Bahrain and both our hotels in Oman. The hotels needed no convincing to come on board, but that 10,000 target is still very much on my mind.
With the campaign destined to be bigger than ever, we decide the appeal needs a fresh new look, a unified brand. So no matter what country the campaign is run in, it has consistency and is instantly recognisable.
First up was a new name, we wanted to move away from the word ‘Shoe box’ to something that would translate to all regions and so The Box Appeal was born. It took several more hours of brainstorming (and doughnuts) to come up with just one short, memorable, punchy sentence that would describe what The Box Appeal was all about. Then finally it struck us — Small Box. Big Difference.
We approach branding agency North55 to help us and they agree to generously donate time and resources to create a brand new logo and most excitingly, a new design for the all- important boxes.
I work closely with North55 over the next few weeks. They come up with several ideas but we decide to go for an eye catching red design. The logo was inspired by Rezidor’s current Responsible Business logo and around the edges the logo depicts the journey of The Box Appeal, from the shop, to the delivery truck, to the happy labourers at the end.
It’s exactly what the campaign needs — eye catching, modern and fresh. We love it so much we decide to create banners, email footers, leaflets and even t-shirts, all of which will be used later to promote the appeal.
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