This is the story of two brands in the hospitality industry. The first is an international hotel chain. The second is Airbnb.
It was October 2016, and Hurricane Matthew was slamming into the southern United States. Millions of people were forced from their homes and needed rooms.
While the big hotel chain allegedly quadrupled the prices of its rooms, Airbnb responded by offering thousands of free rooms to hurricane victims.
Social media did what it always did: it took notice, and it passed judgement. People cheered Airbnb’s generosity, and condemned the large hotel chain’s alleged price gouging.
“This is how reputations are broken and made in today’s connected world,” writes Miriam Ellis on the marketing website Moz.
But what if things had gone differently, Ellis wondered:
“Imagine if, instead of raising its prices during that dreadful emergency, the big hotel chain had offered a deep discount on its rooms to be sure that even the least fortunate community members had a secure place to stay during the hurricane.”
It might have been messy for this hotel, but they’d have fostered some goodwill.