Issue #49: Brand Bite of the Week

How brands are offering support during the LA fires 💔

Happy Sunday, friends! Back with my second edition of Brand Bite of the Week.

This one’s a bit heavier, as the LA fires have been on my mind all week. Having spent most of my life in California, I feel deeply connected to the incredible natural beauty and people of the state.

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Brand Bite of the Week: How brands are responding to the LA fires 💔

This week, I’m covering a few brands that I think have responded to the crisis in really thoughtful, empathetic, helpful ways.

• Airbnb – Airbnb is providing free, temporary housing for people who have been displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires in partnership with 211 LA. They’ve previously offered free housing to people displaced by natural disasters over the past several years. As a home rental service, Airbnb has the ability to provide one of the most important needs for people, positioning the company to take action during times like these.

  airbnb

  

  A post shared by @airbnb

• Chatbooks – Chatbooks, a custom photobook site, is offering free reprints of photos lost in the fires.

  

  @chatbooksOur hearts go out to all who have been impacted by the fires around Los Angeles. If you’ve lost your photos, we want to help you reprint them free of charge. #california #photos #pictures #losangeles #californiawildfires #wildfires #support

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• Planet Fitness & 24 Hour Fitness – Both Planet Fitness and 24 Hour Fitness are opening their doors to people who have been affected and first responders, giving them access to gyms and locker rooms.

• Bobbie – I was already a huge fan of Bobbie, the infant formula startup, but now they’re offering free subscriptions to parents who have been affected by the fires until their baby’s first birthday. And this isn’t just for previous customers – Bobbie is offering this to everyone.

@bobbiebabycoToday we are introducing the Bobbie LA Fire Relief Fund to ensure that parents who have just lost everything do not have to stress about how they will feed their baby. For the past 24 hours, our team has been figuring out how we can show up in this moment not only for our Los Angeles customers, but all Los Angeles parents who have lost their home. Here’s what we are doing: 1. Any parent — Bobbie customer or not — severely impacted by these fires can apply to have the rest of their feeding journey covered by Bobbie. As a team of moms we fiercely believe you should not have to worry about how to pay for formula while you figure out how to rebuild your entire life. Visit the link in bio to apply. 2. We are donating 1,000 cans to nonprofit and grassroots organizations who can immediately distribute donations on the ground. We will share locations as soon as we have them. 3. We are doing individual outreach to every subscriber in the impacted zip codes to understand what help they need during this time. If you need anything you can email us at hello@hibobbie.com 4. We are activating our Give a Can site for anyone to be able to donate a can of Bobbie to the parents in LA who need it. To help us give cans, visit the link in bio. This is where we’re starting. There will be more to come. Thank you to our community for continuing to show up for each other. To all of our Bobbie Fam who have lost their homes– we are so sorry and we hope that you are safe.

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The support that each of these brands have demonstrated over the past week not only encourages positive sentiment among audiences, but also deepens consumer trust and loyalty. When we feel aligned with a brand’s citizenship efforts, we also feel aligned with their values. And as we know, social responsibility and values alignment is so important in building brand loyalty, particularly among Gen Z.

Of course, this isn’t to say that corporate citizenship efforts aren’t intrinsically valuable – they most definitely are. It’s the right thing to do during a time like this. And at the same time, consumer decisions are tied to brands’ citizenship efforts and impact on the world, and offering support is a smart way to make an impactful difference.

Have you seen any other brands step up to support people during the fires? Let me know in the comments. I hope everyone stays safe, and I’ll see you on Thursday. xx