Vancouver’s downtown looked like a post apocalypse movie scene following the Canucks loss to the Boston Bruins last week. Thousands took to the streets, store windows were smashed, and cars set on fire. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt, but for the locals that call Vancouver their home watched the events unfold on TV it was a painful display as they saw the city they love have it’s name tarnished as a world-class city as over 100,000 people took to the streets. While about 1,000 were actually responsible for the riots, social media was buzzing with comments and photos shared.
As the police confined the chaos to a couple blocks, many felt the disgrace of the actions as a small group eroded the brand that is Vancouver in just a few short hours. But the sense of pride for the city was later exemplified by the many volunteers that were downtown. Thousands took to the streets after midnight once things were under control to help with the clean up. When I walked by Granville and Hastings the following day and looked up the street it was as if nothing had happened. Possibly a little more trash in the street than usual, which is typically none, but it was hard to believe this was the site of the same events that I witnessed on CTV the night before.
Do the recent events harm the Vancouver brand? After several years of making it on lists like ‘best city to live in’, host to the recent olympic games, and many other accolades, much of its brand equity seemed to be undone in one evening. Macleans commented the city’s damaged reputation as incalculable. The Province declared it resilient and believe tourism won’t be hurt. As a reaction to the events, Tourism Vancouver in partnership with DDB launched This Is Our Vancouver as a testament to the commitment of the city’s citizens to set things right.
I had held back on posting on the subject as I considered what I might say, but after being contacted by CBC for commentary regarding reputation management and what happened in Vancouver I felt compelled to post on the matter.
I think that while this might be an embarrassment for the city, Vancouver as a brand will not feel long term impairment. The city has built considerable equity in their brand and handled things as well as could be expected. I thought they could have made arrests and taken control faster to reduce the damage, but I’m sure there are reasons for the way it was managed at the height of the madness.
While this was a city and not a consumer brand, there are things that could have been better managed if such were the case. Social media could be used as platforms to alert the masses to efforts in communication to address the situation, from engaging in comments to make those following the story aware of newly setup websites to direct flow of discussion to releasing more information faster and rallying supporters quicker. The incident was anticipated and preparation might have been better in terms of brand support.
As social media sites like Mashable and Digg mentioned posted photos and video, the comments that followed were very interesting.
Also see Huffington Post for more.
A couple days later I found myself at The Bay, which was ground zero for the chaos. While the ground floor windows had all been boarded up, it looked more like a memorial than a department store from the outside. There were at least a couple hundred people looking at all the messages left on the plywood, and that was just on the block I was on. Everyone shared a feeling of disbelief as they read the words of others that shared similar sentiments.
Over 45,000 tweets mention Vancouver riot, and more than 150,000 mentions on Facebook, along with nearly 5,000 media mentions. While the media portrayed it linked to the Stanley Cup loss, many believe that this was coordinated regardless of the outcome. I know a few people that had seen a few individuals walking around Granville wearing a scarf over their face at around 5 PM, when the game had just started, which suggests to me that many individuals were planning to riot regardless of the outcome. It’s worth mentioning that the majority of these hooligans that defaced downtown Vancouver were from outer areas like Abbotsford and Langley. Thanks to social media, the numerous photos and videos taken have helped Vancouver police with their investigation.
Saying thanks to Vancouver Police after riots click to enlarge
Possibly one of the most memorable photos from the incident:
Vancouver riot couple
Backstory to above image – The police laid an unprovoked beating on Alexandra Thomas (Canada) and her boyfriend Scott Jones (Australia) gave her a kiss to comfort her as she lay on the road in pain after the attack. While Jones feels these officers may have overreacted somewhat, both he and Thomas think the cops were simply overwhelmed and coping as best they could.
Tags:
branding,
Online Reputation Management,
Vancouver 
