Cervecería Nacional, the largest brewery in Ecuador, created the Unidad de Héroes
(Hero Unit) wellness space for doctors, nurses, police officers, and other professionals working to combat COVID-19. Built this month as a permanent annex to the Ceibos Hospital of the IESS (one of the main hospitals in Guayaquil), health and safety workers can spend the night, eat, enjoy entertainment and relax in the Hero Unit. The space can host up to 70 workers in cubicles at any given time. To finance the Hero Unit’s construction, Cervecería Nacional switched their beer labels to a cheaper material.
The thinking behind Cervecería Nacional’s Hero Unit caught our team’s attention: as CEO José Luis González explained, “We could have made an economic donation and stayed to wait for the moment to reactivate our industry, but we could not stay with our arms crossed, and this is how we began to devise strategies and see how we could be an active part of the solution.”
We implore you to also uncross your arms as you contemplate what your brand’s response(s) will be to recent events; and consumers do expect you to respond, as 62% globally believe their nation won’t survive the crisis if brands don’t play a critical role in addressing these challenges. To make an even bigger impact, don’t just be a rainy-day brand – one that, like a less-than-reliable friend, only offers real support during times of crisis. Cervecería Nacional reworked a key part of its business (its beer label production!) to create a lasting space that will continue to serve front-line workers, even long after the worst of COVID-19 is over in Ecuador. So what permanent, enduring resource can your brand establish for your community? Are there key changes your organization must make – to your supply chain, operations, product, allocation of funds, etc. – to build it?
Stay healthy,
The TrendWatching content team
